wide open

the house of alday addition is moving right along. one of our kitchen walls is now officially down. woo-to-the-hoo! unfortunately, the flies and mosquitoes are just as excited about this open access.

every weekend i make byron help me move the kitchen table to it's soon to be eternal resting place, just "so i can get a good feel for the room."

can you tell how excited he is about that?

here's a view of our unbelievably messy under construction kitchen. i'm just trying to keep it real on this blog. the far wall doorway is due to be expanded this week, allowing for a much more open feel between the former dining room (which now houses are unusable washer/dryer) , kitchen, and nook.

we initially tried changing shoes and wiping down the dog paws anytime we walked on the addition space to keep the dusty floors to a minimum. obviously, that idea did not last long.

here's a view of the bathroom, towards to pedestal tub.

and another view of what will be the built-in shelves with a hamper pass through to the laundry room...

i think delia might suffer a major heartbreak when she realizes her new favorite sitting/drooling/squirrel stalking area is actually a bathroom. this big slab of lab detest baths. despite her love for swimming. figures.

up next, finish sanding sheetrock, painting (yikes! no decisions made as of yet on colors), siding and trim.

"they're working!"

this is what mary adelyn proclaims every morning when the workers arrive. she's not going to know what to do when handy mandy stops coming to our house every week.

we are well on our way to having a dried-in space. the electrical, plumbing, and hvac were all completed this past week. up next, sheet rock and drywall. i guess i should start thinking about paint colors. i'm sure the mere thought of paint samples sends chills up byron's spine. have i mentioned before that i'm not one for making quick concrete decisions? well, at least when it comes to decorating :) enough talking, here's the current view of our lovely abode.

view of the kitchen nook

view of the master bathroom

(tub/shower under the far right windows. chair & ottoman under the windows on the left)

view of the back and with a larger than planned deck (thanks to a little thing known as the exposed sewer line incident). now, i have one more space to gather inspiration photos for :)

view of master bathroom windows from the side of the house

the pedestal tub with shower enclosure will be directly under those windows. here's a little insight into the master bathroom inspiration...

luckily, i scored a great chair at the habitat restore for only $10. this will be my first ever reupholstering project. any and all advice welcome!

we are looking at maybe one more week of no disruption in our living areas. after that, they'll begin to open up the walls and windows to the new space. this will also lead to the removal of all things (cabinets, appliances, etc...) in the kitchen for the new wood floors to be placed. fun, fun.

where did it go?

this might end badly one day.

yes, i'm the mom that is just not quite ready to let the water explode on my child's face. i completely understand that one day i am not going to make it to her rescue in time and that will most likely be the end of splashville as we know it.

splashville!

mary adelyn's new favorite thing to do in town. every time we leave the house to go to the water fountain she says, "water, i'm coming!"

i'm pretty sure i have just as much fun watching as she does playing.

note: any visitors to the house of alday will be subjected to this local attraction, because it is quite possibly the cutest thing i've ever seen.

the latest and greatest

foundation: check

sub-floor: check

framing: check

(from left to right: two large windows are the master bathroom; next window is the laundry; dutch door entry to the kitchen; and then the kitchen nook)

here's the view from the kitchen door onto the new kitchen nook.

another view of the kitchen nook

here's a view towards the master bathroom. the far wall has yet to be framed since we have yet to decide on the specifics of tub, valves, etc... ahh, the joys of construction. mary adelyn doesn't seem to mind that she is eating breakfast in the soon-t0-be master bath. she just likes to look at all of the tools.

and what used to be our backyard.

looks like sod needs to be added to our project.

snack time and the living is easy

there's no turning back now

remember that post a while back where i was dreaming about convincing byron that we should add on some of that much loved square footage? well, it's hard to believe, that it is finally happening! as of last monday, we were officially "under construction." it's definitely been an adjustment to say the least. living without laundry and a 19 month old is not advisable.

so, here's a little recap of our future plans...

this is the view of the back portion of our house
not the exact plans, but pretty close

master bathroom, check
laundry room, check
kitchen nook, check

what else could a girl want? actually, just a few more things that i've saved in my "bring these up post addition construction" file :)

so, here are the before pictures of our wonderful bungalow (backyard view)...

master bedroom on the left and kitchen/laundry area on the right

and yes, the tv is gone. we were just waiting for the dumpster to arrive, i promise.

here's the view looking into the kitchen from the soon-to-be family room, former dining room...

and after just 3 days of demolition (of a perfectly good house, i might add)...

delia and layla are still trying to get used to the fact that they can't just walk out the back door anymore. they are actually tempted to jump every time we open the door. but don't worry, we walk their old lady legs around the side to the back yard. and just for caution sake, we've asked that the door be screwed shut. byron blamed it on mary adelyn's increasing ability to reach the door knobs, although, i think it's because he's afraid he might just forget and walk out one morning. we've each had to make the climb into the house on separate occasions, after having left the house without a front door key. not fun at all.

here's one of mary adelyn watching handy manny work on our house...

she thinks it is too cool that we have our own personal handy manny at our house. although, she keeps calling him daddy, because i tried to explain that he is working and she thinks that the words "daddy" and "working" automatically go together. interesting.

please stay tuned for pictures and much needed design advice! i can't close my eyes without seeing vanities, light fixtures, tubs, banquettes, kitchen colors....the list could go on and on.