Bedroom Remodel, Part 1

We have entered into, yet another, major home project!  Staus quo doesn't last long in this 100 year old house!  Our 10 year anniversary of living in this Fake Farmhouse occurs July 12 of this year!

It's not like we hadn't been planning on re-doing our bedroom...we've just been a little busy re-working all the other rooms of the house, the yard, and oh, there's that store that we need to keep stocked...

So, after initially pulling up the rust shag carpet and the subfloor, and giving the room a bright, apple green paint color (the first year), we have lived with it.  Isn't mom and dad's room always the last to get done? 

Monday morn after the long, hot, weekend in the store, I was re-grouping (laundry, dishes, bathrooms)...I realized that for 2 weeks, I have 2 of my 3 kiddos gone!  A revelation struck!  We have space to put ourselves and our "stuff" and work on our bedroom, without  extra bodies around!! I immediately texted Mr. Fix-it to see if he was game! In true "20 years of marriage/I have a crazy, idea-filled wife/ I can roll with the puches" form, he texted back-"I'm game"!  "Let's empty the room tonight"! YEAH!

I know I'm a little crazy, but I just LOVE a good construction project!  I should have been a contractor, because the demolition, and the future beauty that will emerge, just gets my blood pumping!!  We have lived with this yucky bedroom for 10 years, and I can't wait for the transformation!  We moved our clothes to anyplace we could put them-Big Boy's room is totally filled, there's clothes in the hallway, Happy Girl has some hanging in her closet...our mattress and boxspring is in Mr. Freckles' room, and will be moved to Happy Girl's room next week, when she goes to camp!  We are in construction mode-kinda like camping.  The boys are going to wonder what hit this house while they were gone! 

Thought I would share some of the reasons we are attacking this room, a.k.a., what we've hated for 10 years!!

First of all, let me tell you that there is no 100 year old character left in this room!  Maybe the floors...but we'll get to that in a minute.  Our whole house was stripped of the "originals" that I would have loved, and is a mish-mosh of different eras that don't match with the character of a 100 year old house. That's why we have been tirelessly re-creating the charm, along with more modern ammenities...probably would have been easier to light a match...

Let's take a look at that first pic. again:

This is the north end of the room.  The his/hers closets are way to small.  They had a single shelf, and a single rod.  All of our off-season clothes had to be put into the kid's (already re-modeled) closets.  The storage cupboard in the middle is way too deep.  I shoved photo albums in there. There were bi-fold doors on the closets.  Since they fold out, that was another 16 inches of un-usable floor space. See them leaning against the wall to the left? Every inch counts in this house!

Notice the dark finish on everything?  The woodwork, the closet doors, the door to the room were all highly grained wood with marine varnish!  When the sun steamed in, I needed sunglasses to damper the glare! I would love this look on a vintage Chris Craft boat, but not in my bedroom!

In the photo above, notice the lighting...or lack thereof.  There are two can-lights in the whole room, and they are not in the middle.  At night the lighting is horrible.  We use lamps, but sometimes when you're packing for a big trip the night before, a well-lit room can come in handy!

Take a closer look at the floor. We pulled up the rust, shag carpet the first day we moved in!  The sub-floor came next. I have always dreamed of beautiful, pine floors, just like they show in Country Living Magazine, but the reality of bringing this floor back to life, and living with the grooves open to the 100 year old house...remember my "groovy life" post? We sanded a portion, and they could be beautiful, but they are right on top of the stringers.  The creaking is noisy, the grooves get dusty, and there's these great little sections where some previous owners kept their money...

And then there's this thick, brown paint on the perimeter of the room, that I am sure is lead-based.  As much as I'd love to live out my magazine fantasy,  Mr. Fix-it is doing all the work, and he longs for waking up and sinking his toes into carpet! It's only taken me 10 years to give up this dream!

Let's look up!  I love popcorn, but not on my ceilings!  Especially when there's sparkles in the popcorn!  If I wanted to see the stars at night, I would install a skylight!  I am not a bling girl-give me rustic. A spray bottle and a putty knife is what is needed here!

Last, but not least, is the windows.  This house is a 2 story, four-square type house.  The windows were originally the almost-to-the floor, tall ones.  Great sunshine, great view.  Rambler-type, horizontal windows just don't work on this type of home...but that's what we've got in this room!

And crank-outs!  Don't get me started!  Whoever thought the idea of having a screen inside was a good idea?  When the windows are open and the lights are on at night, all matter of wildlife is attracted to the screens!  I close the windows at night, and am greeted by a big half-squished tree frog staring me in the face in the morning!  Give me traditional double-hungs with the screen on the outside any day!  Can you see how the windows above should be about 14 inches lower?  I'm sure this was originally 2 windows that they decided would look more "up-to-date" this way.  We'll see if the budget allows new window installation.  I may have to settle for awhile!

Well, you've heard my 10 year pent up gripes with this room.  Now you know why I'm so excited with the demolition!  Let's cover what I want to accomplish in this re-model:

1. More Storage/Better Closet Space
2. Better Lighting
3. Carpeted Floors
4. Flexible Floor Plan, a.k.a I need to be able to move the room around!
5. Light, bright, happy colors (I need all the help I can get in the morning!)

Stay tuned.  I need to decide on a floor plan that will accomplish all this!   

 

 

 

Comments

[Cheryl Jarl]

I remember when you moved in 10 yrs. ago and I asked your husband "what needs to be done on this house?". His reply "NOTHING", well guess that didn't hold water.

[Lora Bloomquist]

So funny Cheryl! I don't remember that comment! He could have been perfectly happy with the harvest gold appliances, the gold linoleum, and the big box flourescent light. Our kitchen was just like the kitchen in "The Help"!