Back To Blogging - Upstairs Bath

OK, I won't make any excuses about how busy we've been or all of the things that have happened that took priority over working on our new home,'cause we're back!  After a couple of months on hold, Andrew has started working his magic on the bungalow.  We are getting ready to start the two bathrooms, so hold on tight, Andrew works fast!  Here's what we have so far...

This will be the upstairs bathroom.  The shower will be in the back, up against the outside wall (it takes a brave woman to have a window in her shower, but I assure you that glass will not be see-through!)  The toilet will be on the right wall about midway, and the sink will be on the right wall, closest to the door.  The door will also be a sliding door to keep unity in the design of the upstairs where we will have two other large barn doors.  Isn't the shape of this little bathroom great?

We are going with white subway tile, and this is the style of sink I've picked.

 

Here is a picture from the apartment therapy website that is similar in feel to what we want for this bathroom. Although ours will have a tile floor, the shower in this pick is really close to what we have in mind.

 

 

 

Beautiful Idea

I think this is absolutely beautiful.  We are planning to use this idea in the downstairs bathroom so I'll need to be on the lookout for old door knobs.

My First Fig

Hey, figs are here!  I ate my first fig ever off of our tree.  Andrew declined.  They have been ripening for about 3 weeks now.

Pretty yummy!  A friend has given me instructions on propegating new trees from this one.  I can't wait to try this when we move in.

No Room for Junk

Our new house has one small closet!  One.  That's it.  Can you believe that?  Of course, we will be using the dead space in the upstairs walls for storage, but downstairs we have to get creative.  We plan on using ALL of our spaces wisely.  So, we will use the space under the stairs.  But we won't just pile stuff up under there like we do here.  More like these pictures...

 

 

 

 

The drawers will be accessible from the downstairs bedroom and not from the living area. 

 

This will help keep us organized and hopefully things will be easily located.

 

By the way, the sheet rock is up in the room I will be using as a studio.  Pictures will be posted soon!

New remodeling term alert!!!   Andrew sistered the joists in the ceiling.  Sistering is basically placing new wood along side of the existing wood.  He did this for more support and also because the ceiling was sagging just a little bit.  So, once he sistered the wood, he cut the sag off of the old wood.  Now the Sheetrock could be put in without a bow, nice and flat.  The Sheetrock is now up in the ceiling for both the living area and kitchen! Here are some pics.

You can see we completely removed the wall in between the kitchen and living areas.  It makes the space feel a lot larger.  We also opened up the stairs by removing part of that wall as well.

We were there today discussing lighting and other things.  Next up is rewiring and plumbing.  And I think we have decided to put the washer and dryer upstairs.   Getting more and more excited!!

Squeezing In

One of the things we love about this move is the downsizing and simplifying that this will allow us to do.  Just enough is a phrase that we need to remember in this world where excess is the norm.  We are going from 2,650sq ft (way too much for two people without kids) to 1,950sq ft.  The new house is smaller, but really not tiny.  BUT, there are some challenges to overcome with the style and size of the bungalow.  The first challenge we come to is where to put the washer and dryer??  We have debated upstairs vs. downstairs and bathroom vs. kitchen.  Right now kitchen is probably winning.  We have been looking for ways to make the laundry unobtrusive.  We'll probably have to buy a new smaller washer and dryer and they'll probably have to be front loaders.  (UGH.  Hate the thought of the price!!)  And, we're thinking that we'll hide them away in cabinets.  We found some pictures of examples on atticmag.com.


Here is a washer/dryer area hidden in a kitchen. Pay no mind to the yellow cabinets. There will be no decorating with yellow in our new house if I can help it. Yellow is way too sunshine and happiness for me. (No offense to any yellow lovers. I am just not a bright colors kind of person)

Here is an example of stackable front loaders, and this could possibly fit in the downstairs bathroom.  Although that top one looks like a neck breaker.  Maybe a tad too awkward?

Here is a brave idea.  Having the laundry in an upstairs landing/hallway area.  See, you can do whatever you want.  No one would know unless you showed them.  The only problem I can think of with this is the plumbing aspect and how close this area is to the water.

Other things to consider:  A space for folding.  Storage for detergent.  Enough hiding space for dirty laundry while it waits to be washed.  How to keep the cats from thinking front loaders are tiny caves/beds.  How to trick someone else into doing all of the laundry. 

Slacker Apartment Update

Well, I've been a slacker, but Andrew sure hasn't.  I have been pretty busy and haven't taken time out to blog anything about the house.  But Andrew and his guys finished up the studio apartment, and we have a renter!!!   It turned out very nice....

  

The area in front of the door is pea gravel, and once the ghetto plywood was removed (it keeps dirt from getting tracked in and out while the work is being done) looked even better.  More landscaping will be added when we move into the main house.

VIEW FROM THE FRONT DOOR...

We put in a ceiling fan in the main living/bedroom area, and there is an AC unit mounted in the window which seems to easily keep the entire apartment cool.  The closet in the back left fits nicely in the space and is big enough for someone to put a lot of their stuff out of sight.  The floor is vinyl tile which is easily cleaned and individual tiles are easily replaced when damaged.

KITCHEN AREA

The under cabinet lights make the kitchen area inviting.  I would have never thought to add this in an apartment.  Great idea, Andrew!  You can see him standing in the bathroom doorway to the left.

BATHROOM...

Small but functional and attractive.

That's about it for the studio apartment.  More posts soon!