Tuesday, February 9, 2010

don't move...

IMPROVE!

well, this is what we hope to do. for those that are not in the know, we took our house off the market about a month after putting the sign in the yard. did i ever mention how much we love our house? well, if not. we really love our house. and deciding to sell was very much a blessing in disguise. as we didn't realize that we really, really love our house. so i guess the fact that i cried the entire day that we put the for sale sign in the yard was a pretty good sign that selling might not be the best choice. well that, and the fact that we were canceling showings in fear that the house might actually sell. so, after a little convincing on my part, the dreaded sign was taken out of the yard. woo-hoo! considered that victory #1.

now onto, victory #2--convincing byron that our dream improvements are in our budget. 3 contractors , 1 architect and 1 possible pulled muscle later(from doing the 'yea, i told you so dance' after each of the before mentioned professionals left our house), we are one step closer to adding some square footage. whoot-whoot! yes, these are the sounds of joy that byron is now subjected too, pretty much on a daily basis.

before i get to the specifics of our dream improvements, i feel like i should list a little disclaimer that i am my father's daughter. and that my father just so happens to be a contractor. just a minor detail, in my book. but a detail that byron likes to remind me of quite often. specifically, when i've tried to talk him into doing some diy projects around the house. you see, byron and i have two completely different ways of thinking about home projects and diy. while he'd rather pay someone an outrageous amount of money to do it, i'd rather try it for much less and have the satisfaction of mastering something. and i tried to explain to him that diy does not refer to any project that you do around the house. i mean, if you are working on something that you wouldn't think to call in a professional for (i.e. changing screws in a door frame), then you're not diying, you're maintaining. i'm sure byron would explain these differences in another light, but hey, i don't see him writing on this blog any, so i guess you lucked out with my point of view.

while i'm sure byron would much rather all house of alday projects be referred to as diya (do-it-yourself-amy), i'm certain that i'll be able to rope him into some projects. i mean, surely he won't leave me to tile the entire kitchen backsplash myself, right? and i have just so happened to come across a handful of great blogs here, here, and here that have only increased my propensity to try some diy at our own little abode.

now, onto the dream improvements. approximately a 150ish square foot addition directly off the back of our house, which will house the following:

1. master bath addition--not really in the sense that most people think of a master bath. just happens to be referred to as that because it will be connected to our 'master' bedroom. including a laundry closet.

2. kitchen nook--we spend a lot of time in the kitchen and would love to have an area for mary adelyn to work on her coloring skills, while still being able to cook and interact with her.

now, obviously, the above projects will not be diy. but, they will lead to other diy projects that i, err i mean, we hope to accomplish at some point before mary adelyn graduates high school. you know, easy things, like removing a small portion of the kitchen entry way to promote a better flow, painting the kitchen cabinets, installing a new backsplash, building a bench seat (oh yea, byron, forgot to mention that one to you in person, whoops), and well, i should probably stop there before an executive halt in placed on the project.

and just so you'll have an idea of what i, dangit i mean, we are thinking, here's a few inspirational photos...

wouldn't this be a great way to get clean every morning?

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or maybe this...
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photo: bhg

i don't think we'd know what to do with more than one sink.

and here's the vision for the kitchen nook.

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pretty self-explanatory.

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and new kitchen colors (cabinets, countertops, etc...)

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so, if any of you that actually read this blog, have any insight in home renovation, please feel free to share. i'm sure we'd appreciate all the info, and of course advice, that you might have.

and you better bet that we'll have some before and after photos, as this is my new favorite thing to look at on home improvement blogs, if this dream project actually does get off the ground. stay tuned. i promise, i'll update this time :)

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

OMG! That first bath pic is of the house we have decided to build as soon as we can sell this one! We want some land and a few chickens!

Courtney

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