Floor Stain

We were lucky enough to be able to keep the original hardwood floors from the house.  They were protected under a thick layer of green shag carpet - and in great shape.  We had a few different shades of stain to pick from and decided to go dark.  

DEMO: Kitchen that will become our Dining Room

Rhys and Bobby totally dominated the kitchen demolition. It was impressive!  They turned our 1950s kitchen into studs and boards in one morning.  Once they finished, Andrew worked his tail off scraping up our flooring. What a transformation!

We are opening up the entrance to this space.  Instead of a pocket door, we will have an open floor plan between the Living Room and Dining area.  I don't think we want to make an archway, per say, but there will be something to define the two spaces.

Main Level Floor Plan

Here is the floor plan for the main level of the house.  

Floor Plan courtesy of Kerry Vanderzanden

Kerry Vanderzanden was our architect and did a great job on the plans.  He was easy to work with and got us plans quickly.  This was important as we were incredibly eager to see what this house could become.  We would recommend him and work with him again. 

As you can see, the garage is extended creating space for a mud room.  Grandma's bedroom, the main bath, and the living room all stay in the same location.  The other bedroom becomes the kitchen. The existing kitchen space becomes the dining room, connected to the new kitchen with a great breakfast bar.  Hopefully we will love this new, more open layout.  It should be light and bright!

Note: These plans aren't final. Some items will change.  The washer and dryer will not be located in the mudroom and the deck will be larger, allowing for sliders from the dining space.

Green Shag; the talk of the town

Everyone who steps foot in this house comments on the green shag carpet.  It is everywhere! Anyone who comes by wants to know if we are keeping or replacing it during the reno.  It is quite popular. 

Something is hiding beneath the shag.

Hiding under the mass of furry green carpet are hardwood floors!  They are in such great shape. This green fluff protected them from scratches and scrapes. We are really quite lucky.

Living Room

The living room will get a face-lift, but the floor plan will remain basically the same.  This room gets a ton of natural light and has views on both the south and west windows.  South looks out towards downtown and out the west facing windows you will see the industrial area on Swan Island.  It is equally impressive on a sunny day as it is on a clear night.  The city lights are beautiful.

Pocket Door to Kitchen

We will take down this built-in to allow for a more open floor plan. The kitchen will become our dining room.

SHAG!!

The fireplace.   

The never-been-used-EVER fireplace.  Dom's Grandma kept an organ or a piano in front of this baby for as long as he can remember.  We aren't sure what our plans will be for the fireplace yet.  Do we keep it as a wood burning fireplace? Convert to gas? And don't even get us started on finishes... We have so many decisions to make!  All we know so far is that the TV will hang above the fireplace.  Sounds like a good enough start to me!