Saturday, February 25, 2012
Friday, February 17, 2012
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Feb 16, 2012: Storage
Today we had a 20-foot shipping container delivered, so that we can clear out our main floor of all the furniture and boxes that won't fit in the basement. It fit quite nicely up alongside the house, and Thurmon got to make friends with the truck driver. Just one more step down in the reno process...
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Feb 15, 2012: The Plans
We've been mulling over our renovation ideas long enough that the design of the plans we've been tweaking now seem inevitable. It remains to be seen if they'll keep that form once the professionals go over them for cost, code, feasibility, etc, but we're hoping they won't change too much.
The footprint of the house remains the same, compact at approximately 875 square feet, although we hope to add on a sunroom at the back, giving us a bit more space and a better connection to the outdoors. We'll accomplish this as well with larger front porches and back deck. The kitchen, dining room and living room will all become integrated into one open-concept room, to give the illusion of it being larger than it is, as well as creating more actual counter space and storage than currently exists in the very outdated, ramshackle kitchen. The two bedrooms will stay the same size, but with more closets and built-in storage.
Windows will be replace throughout, with a few enlarged/moved, and insulation will be dramatically increased. Between southern sunlight and a central woodstove (the Vermont Bun Baker, in which we'll also be able to bake pizzas!) we may rarely need to turn on the furnace.
One of the biggest changes to the standard bungalow format will be moving the staircase, part of a plan to improve the connection to the (already nicely renovated) basement by making an architecturally interesting vertically focus, topped with clerestory windows for natural light and ventilation. We've even left room for a large planter of bamboo, which can grow from the basement all the way to the top of the clerestory, should it be so inclined. The staircase will be wrapped around with an open-shelving bookcase, keeping reading at the heart of the house (as is only proper).
So, here are the (still somewhat theoretical) plans, overlaid on the actual survey of the current house, and with additional details of ceiling and furniture.
The footprint of the house remains the same, compact at approximately 875 square feet, although we hope to add on a sunroom at the back, giving us a bit more space and a better connection to the outdoors. We'll accomplish this as well with larger front porches and back deck. The kitchen, dining room and living room will all become integrated into one open-concept room, to give the illusion of it being larger than it is, as well as creating more actual counter space and storage than currently exists in the very outdated, ramshackle kitchen. The two bedrooms will stay the same size, but with more closets and built-in storage.
Windows will be replace throughout, with a few enlarged/moved, and insulation will be dramatically increased. Between southern sunlight and a central woodstove (the Vermont Bun Baker, in which we'll also be able to bake pizzas!) we may rarely need to turn on the furnace.
One of the biggest changes to the standard bungalow format will be moving the staircase, part of a plan to improve the connection to the (already nicely renovated) basement by making an architecturally interesting vertically focus, topped with clerestory windows for natural light and ventilation. We've even left room for a large planter of bamboo, which can grow from the basement all the way to the top of the clerestory, should it be so inclined. The staircase will be wrapped around with an open-shelving bookcase, keeping reading at the heart of the house (as is only proper).
So, here are the (still somewhat theoretical) plans, overlaid on the actual survey of the current house, and with additional details of ceiling and furniture.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Feb 06, 2012: Reno Work Begins
Today we (and by "we" I mean our friend Phil) started with our renovation work, taking up the maple flooring in the living and dining rooms. We hate to lose our classic, wooden floors, which show the house's history (built late 1940s) and still look pretty decent. So I'm hoping they can be salvaged and re-finished, then used to clad the lowered ceiling alcoves/halls that I have in mind (as I channel Frank Lloyd Wright for my design).
Phil estimates he's been able to get them up with only about 5% lost to splintering, so we've got lots to work with for the next step of sanding. The good thing is that it won't receive any wear after being put on the ceiling, so it doesn't have to be as technically sound as it would for floor use. We'll see how it looks, and whether it will be suitable to re-purpose.
Here's a photo from Houzz that shows an idea of what I'm thinking of:
More photos of the actual work, and our (still somewhat tentative) plans to follow soon!
Phil estimates he's been able to get them up with only about 5% lost to splintering, so we've got lots to work with for the next step of sanding. The good thing is that it won't receive any wear after being put on the ceiling, so it doesn't have to be as technically sound as it would for floor use. We'll see how it looks, and whether it will be suitable to re-purpose.
Here's a photo from Houzz that shows an idea of what I'm thinking of:
More photos of the actual work, and our (still somewhat tentative) plans to follow soon!
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