We Have a New Addition to Our Family!

Okay, not exactly. It's an addition on our house, but boy was this our "baby" for the first year living here. It took all of our time and attention and we didn't quite anticipate the long days and sleepless nights. 

Why the addition?

Our home didn't come with a dining room, just a long table shoved against the wall in the kitchen. 

It did come, however, with a covered patio that spanned the length of the living/dining room area. It seemed like the obvious choice for expanding the house and creating a proper dining area and breakfast bar, as well as a great place to put my husband's home reno skills to the test. It was a pretty big undertaking for one man and his moderately helpful wife.

Here's a reminder of what it started out looking like:

The framing begins

Then windows and wiring were next. 

Now we have a wall of 9 windows that face the river.

We hired out the spray foam insulation...well worth it!!

Removing the vinyl siding was pretty quick, but taking off the old shingles and nails underneath it was a time consuming task which is not adequately represented by these photos. Though I'm the one behind the camera here, I also enjoyed being pretty hands-on for this project, removing hundreds of large nails from the old wall with a crow bar.

There was something so satisfying about the loud squeak of the nail being pried out and hearing it drop to the ground. It's addictive!

Future Breakfast bar

The next job was leveling and insulating the floors, which required an attention to precise detail that is beyond my capabilities. This was all Bob. 

Hey! Who put their big thumb in this next photo?

 Not the Realtor®. I know better.

 (Yes, I just used the registered trademark symbol... in case the real estate police are watching.)

Getting to the stage of having real walls put up was very exciting!

 Bobby wanted plaster (a/k/a blue board) instead of drywall. We hired that out, as well. Again, well worth it! It helps to know what is worth doing yourself and what isn't. We've learned the hard way from previous projects. 

Why plaster? If you're into the details, here's an article about it:  https://homefixated.com/plaster-vs-drywall/

All I know is the acoustics of the plaster worked out nicely for me! I love singing in that room!

Before and After (and an EXTREMELY rare selfie of my handsome husband)

There were many steps in between those two photos. We had to hire a structural engineer to approve the large openings we wanted to put between the living/kitchen and the addition. Walls came down and beams went up. 

Above is the plywood and concrete that was put on to finish out the floor leveling. And it's perfectly level! Or is it? I'll talk about that in a future post. 

Now it's time to paint. Uh oh.
"Rebecca, what color do you want? You've had a lot of time to think about it while I built this room, right?"
Umm... Well... I'm still deciding.

If I tell you how many years I've been painting rooms, I would give away my age so let's just say a long time, but I still have trouble perceiving that a paint swatch always appears much darker against a white wall than what it looks like when you paint the entire wall.

I originally debated going with a white, so I ultimately chose a pretty safe and pale color. Benjamin Moore Quill. It's a light greige with hints of green or blue, depending on the time of day. At certain times of day, I love it, while other times, not so much. More importantly, a decision was made, so on we go!

BEFORE: with the house ending at the left window

                                      DURING: wall removed where the window was before