RenovationsWe Have Sheetrock! May 29, 2015 This week has been so exciting over at The Buffalo Bungalow, friends. Who knew sheetrock was exciting, right? But when you have walls ripped apart like I shared here and here, a little sheetrock goes a long way. The existing house is fully sheetrocked and now you can really tell more about the layout and how the rooms are going to feel. You’ll see that we’re doing this reno in two phases. Phase one is to finish existing house. Phase two is addition. They’ll definitely overlap (the addition will be starting soon!), but at first, it didn’t make sense to me why we would sheetrock the original house and a month or so later, sheetrock the addition. Same story with the floor finishing, painting, etc. We’re doing it this way for a couple of reasons that all have to do with our tight timeline. The addition will likely not be done when we have to move at the end of August. So, we want the existing house completely finished so that we could close off the addition and go ahead and move in while it’s finished. We won’t have a kitchen for that hopefully really short stint, but we will have two fully renovated bedrooms and a bath. Second big reason is that we’ve been waiting on the permit to come through before the addition can even begin. If we don’t move forward on the existing house, we’re just sitting around and waiting while all that comes through. We don’t have time to waste! On to the tour! Just a warning, it is super long. I know it’s hard to tell what’s what at this point, so I decided I’m going to do each area in a series of photos: before, gutted/in-progress and sheetrock. Hopefully, that’ll help! And I know you’re tired of seeing the floor plan, but here it is again for reference if you need it. Why don’t we start with what will be our new entry. Here’s the before: In progress: And here’s how it looks now: Oh this entry makes me giddy! I have always wanted a “true” foyer/entry and in a lot of these old houses, that just doesn’t exist. This one is so perfect because it’s spacious with just enough room to be functional and pretty, but it isn’t a large room with wasted space. I know it’s hard to gauge the size right now, but once I put a long entry table on the right wall, you’ll have really good clearance and a pathway, but that’s about it. No big open room. Here’s the mudroom/left side of that wall. It was a cased opening to the living room before. Here it is framed out: And here it is now: The doorway is the coat closet and remember the jut-out that mirrors that on the other side of the bench is the closet for the living room turned bedroom on the other side. In this room, it’ll be a blank wall that the front door opens against. I’m so excited about the mudroom area. We’ll do hooks and some pretty organization in there. We had worked in creating the floor plan to try and find another way for us to enter as a family and have the mudroom there and keep this is a “pretty” and more official entry, but that didn’t work out and I’m really okay with that. I’ll find ways to make this area organized, but also pretty and not have stuff dropped everywhere hopefully. Now, let’s look at the right side of this room. Remember before, this was a long room with the tiny kitchen on the end. We walled that off to become my closet that will join the master on the other side of that wall and the laundry. For reference in image above, front door will go to the right of this. And now, it’s a pretty blank wall. I know blank wall doesn’t usually equal excitement, but for me this one totally does! I’m picturing a long entry table, mirrored lamps, and some awesome artwork to really create a welcoming introduction to the home. I also love how open this area feels! The wall we opened up that will shoot straight to the kitchen in the back of the house was only about 6 feet wide, but it still makes the area feel really open, I think. Okay, now let’s look back at this room. Here it was before: Here it is in-progress. The door went into the left side of that window above. And here it is now. Let’s step back a little. Remember, before we opened up this wall, this was another bedroom. Now, it’ll be the walkway to the back of the house with the dining area on the right. In-progress: And now: The door that’s to the left of the opening goes into the laundry. I can’t tell you how excited I am to have a 7×8′ laundry! It’s also at a perfect location being directly between the master and the two bedrooms (refer to plan above). The open door to the left of the laundry is the old exterior door that was in that tiny mudroom/entrance and it will now be our door into the new master suite. Here’s another view of this room that will be part of the dining area. We’ve decided to extend the dining area into the addition across from the basement stairs. It’s just too small otherwise. This wall and the back wall didn’t get sheetrocked yet because it will be affected by the addition. The hallway and bathroom got sheetrock and are looking good. For reference, this shot was taking with me standing in the new dining area, by the current exterior wall. This is the view from inside the front bedroom. The purple sheetrock you see is the bathroom. We lucked out because the original cast iron tub is in good condition, so we’ll keep it and just do a tile surround. And last on today’s tour are the two bedrooms. Let’s start with the front room that’s converting from living to bedroom. Before: In-progress: Now: Another view of this room before: In-progress: And now: The rest of that room may not look that different from before to now, even though we took it down to the studs in between. But a lot actually happened. We removed plaster, put in all new wiring, and then put up nice new sheetrock. Before: Now: Miss Rosie is just chilling in the new guest room. And don’t worry, she was only in here about three minutes for me to take photos and ALL of the “old” dust has been cleaned up. We didn’t bring her in the house at all until all of the demo was done and the old dust was gone. And this was the first time she’s really been in it since we saw it the day we bought it. Okay, and last room on this seemingly endless tour is the back bedroom that will be Rosie’s nursery. This one, like the front bedroom, doesn’t have much transformation yet because most of what we’ve done isn’t really seen. So here are a few in its current state: This room does have the smallest closet known to man, so we’re working on ways to get her more storage. Whew, I know you thought we’d never get done! But I promised to detail every single step of this reno here on the blog and I’m making good on it!
Blair says May 29, 2015 at 11:20 am the sheetrock makes it look like a house again! thanks so much for sharing all of the pictures and providing lots of explanation, it’s really enjoyable to follow the progress. Reply
Lindsay says May 29, 2015 at 2:02 pm Blair, I’m so glad you’re enjoying seeing it! I love sharing each part of the process. Reply
Sara says May 29, 2015 at 11:51 am It is so much fun to follow the progress! In Rosie’s room, could you build in or add a closet/armoire or two flanking the fireplace? Reply
Lindsay says May 29, 2015 at 1:57 pm Great idea, Sara! We’re doing a built-in bookshelf there. The addition is giving us some additional space in this room and we’re going to find a way for more storage somehow 😉 Reply
Megan says May 29, 2015 at 12:36 pm I love when sheet rock goes up! My dad has built houses my entire life and when it came time to working on MY house, it was so exciting! I can’t wait until it can happen again for us (a future bathroom AND kitchen remodel!). Reply
Lindsay says May 29, 2015 at 1:54 pm I love it too! It’s the first time I can actually visualize it! Reply
Katrina @ hurricane sandwich and the casita says May 29, 2015 at 8:38 pm I love getting the detailed view! I’m always excited when you have a new progress post up! It’s a lot more exciting than our current house projects 😉 Reply
Laura says May 30, 2015 at 3:07 pm I’m excited for you too! Have you ever consider putting a time capsule of you and your family in your house. My parents built their house and my dad put small things of the time and our pictures in a small jar and placed it in the wall. Just an idea. Good luck with the new bungalow. Reply
Katrina @ hurricane sandwich and the casita says June 1, 2015 at 3:13 pm That is such a fun idea! Reply
Tressa says June 1, 2015 at 1:37 pm Just a thought on Rosie’s closet situation: you could close off her existing closet and open it from the bathroom for a perfect linen closet or even creative built-in cabinetry/storage space (since I’m assuming that bathroom will serve guests as well). Then, run a closet (or even a closet and desk or “dress up” area) along her room on the wall opposite her fireplace (using the area beside the basement stairs), which offers a larger space for a closet. I realize it would make her room size a little smaller, but the added storage in both her room and the bathroom might make up for it. Just a consideration. Reply