The First Steps to the Remodel

When closing day came the end of August, 2014, I wasn’t completely sure how I was going to proceed with the house. My youngest son was still in high school and had two more years to complete before I was ready to move from Ohio completely. I wasn’t sure I wanted to start working on the house right away or if I wanted to wait until later. I knew that at least for the next two years I would be able to live in the house no more than two weeks a month.  Did I want to work on the house, or did I want to do something like rent it out until a later date?

Conventional wisdom says that it’s always a good idea to live in a house for a while before doing any work on it. Actually spending time in a house allows you time to see how the house “lives,” where there are hot spots, cold spots, which spaces feel unused, too tight, or limit you in one way or another. This is especially important advice if you’ve never before owned a house, and even more important if you’ve never done any renovations.  I knew I could accomplish this process pretty quickly because I’d been through substantial remodeling on both of my previous two houses. I had a very good idea of how houses are built, what can and cannot be done, the pitfalls of construction and more. 

Went to this!

This overgrown mess . . . 

Before I could decide whether to either rent the house out or start working on it, I needed to let my neighbors know that I would do my best to be a good neighbor, and so the first thing I decided to tackle was the severely overgrown garden. It was summer’s end so I started with cleaning up the overgrowth. After about four hours of working by myself and getting an area that measured approximately six feet by six feet done, I knew that I’d never get the whole lot done before I had to head back to Ohio if I didn't get some help. I made a phone call and had McAdam Landscaping, a company owned by friends, come out to do the cleanup. It was worth every penny and, I reasoned, that after this step I’d be able to keep up with it myself.

After getting the mess in my yard cleaned up, I turned my attention to the inside. Before I had ever made an offer on the house, I knew I would want to reconfigure the bedroom and bathroom layout to create a real master bedroom with ensuite bath. I liked the idea of having a bit more privacy for those times when my sons were there, or if I had houseguests.

Original bedroom/bathroom area layout

The area was configured with two bathroom entry doors about five feet away from one another and a large linen closet in a small hallway off the main hall. It felt awkward and busy and every single person who walked in immediately asked why the two bathroom doors were right next to one another. What is listed in the graphic at right as Bedroom #2 was the largest and, thus, was considered the master bedroom. Yes, I knew before even buying the house that I would be changing this configuation!

I knew also that I would remodel the kitchen. The living room and dining room are one and the kitchen, right off that space, would function beautifully as an integral part of that space by removing the wall between them an opening the kitchen to them. Not only would it make it a more intimate space for entertaining, but it would add to the kitchen some of the beautiful light that pours in the huge windows in the living/dining room.

Finally, I knew, although with a less refined vision, that I would redo the main space in the basement.

After spending those first two weeks in the house, I was very sure I wasn’t interested in renting the house out: I wanted to get started on my house. I knew that "now" was the time!

And so . . . I contacted a contractor.  Before my contractor David and I first met, I honed my vision of what I wanted to do and how. By the time he and I sat down, I had already decided on how I wanted to redesign the bedroom/bathroom end of the house, and I was far down the path of deciding how I wanted to remodel the kitchen. David could see that I had clear vision, understood the process, had clear ideas of the finishes I planned, and was good and organized (I believe he may have seen a tad bit of obsession!), all which he felt would work well in our collaboration. David and I decided to move ahead on phase one, the bedroom and bath space. We agreed we'd do the kitchen later.

Bedroom/bathroom layout after remodeling.

There are few major wall changes in the new space, but those that are going to be made will have a substantial impact on how the space functions. The master bedroom has been moved across the hall. I've captured additional space in that room from the closet of the room and the closet of the adjoining room. What was the hall linen closet will be removed and the hallway closed off. That space will now be a walk-in closet, accessible from the master bedroom. You'll now enter the master bathroom through the closet space. The bathroom layout will be tweaked to accomodate additional closet wall space and a slightly larger shower. The second bathroom will now open onto the main hallway. To do this, we will need to move the sink to where the entry door once was. Now, while the room will still have a shower, it will have more a feel of a guest powder room. Finally, since I'll lose the closet in the old master bedroom, I will be adding a free standing closet system, most likely the PAX system from IKEA.

Next post . . . . construction begins!