The Master Bedroom and Bath

Before the renovation there really wasn’t a master bedroom and bath.  There was only one full bathroom in the house, which we closed off to the main hallway, added a linen closet to and ultimately converted into the master bathroom.

As far as the master bedroom is concerned, there were three different ways to get to the sleeping area before we gutted the joint.  Through the bathroom, through the “third bedroom”/den type area and through what was the closet.  We tore out that closet and the interior door and created an archway that became the entrance to the master bedroom.  We also took about a third of what was the “third bedroom” and converted it into a walk in closet, giving us more than double the closet space that was previously available.  Now there is just one way in or out, unless you count the windows, and it feels more like a true master suite.

    

    

   

The Second bedroom and bath

During the renovation this was one of the trickier parts.  The house, as it was marketed, had three bedrooms, but the middle bedroom had no closet and was the only way to get into what is now the master bedroom without going through a closet or the only full bathroom the house had at the time.  In what should have been that middle bedroom’s closet was a water closet, if you will.  There was a single toilet and a pedastal sink, right behind a set of bi-fold doors.  One of the weirdest things we’d ever seen.

As a result, what is now the second bedroom lost a good chunk of real estate to accomodate the aforementioned water closet.  Combined with a cedar closet that was built out of the opposite corner of the room and a closet bar stuck between the two this room was extremely tiny.

During the design stage we ultimately sacrificed this oddly placed “middle bedroom” and carved it up into a good sized closet for the second bedroom, a walk in closet for the master bedroom and a second full bathroom that the house did not previously have.  It made the flow of the house floorplan a lot more logical.  From an appraisal standpoint this was never a three bedroom house because quantifying a room as a bedroom requires that it has a closet.  Since that “middle bedroom” had a toilet and sink in what was supposed to be its closet it was really just dead space, well, maybe just a glorified den.

Regardless, we reclaimed that wasted space and squared the room off, gave it a functional closet and, ultimately, close access to the second full bathroom in the house.

    

   

The lights are on…well, almost

The light fixtures have been installed and the electrical trim out is about 90%…

    

   

More color…

  

A touch of color…

with the trim work done and the bulk of the interior work taken care of it was time to put some color on the walls!

    

    

    

    

A door…in a pocket…

 

It’s starting to look like a house…

The trim and casework has started in the house and things are really starting to tighten up and look like a house.  All the windows and doors have been trimmed out and the first of the three built in bookcases are up.  With this in progress most of the walls that didn’t get drywall are now covered.  With any luck we’ll be able to finish this place up soon.

  

And somewhere Bob Vila is shaking in his boots…

That’s right, the hardwoods are in.  Well, they are about 90% done.  But still they look awesome!  Not bad for a subamateur (me) and a semi-pro (our friend Jim).  After three and a half days hunched over a pnuematic flooring nail gun and the best tricep workout ever we have some sweet new white oak flooring in the bedrooms and the common areas.

They blew their horns, and the walls…er, went up?

WHOO HOO!!! Drywall is in.  We never thought we’d see this day come!  After a month in suspended animation where we thought we’d be living in a house that had a VERY open floor plan we finally have the drywall up and the first round of mud and tape has been applied.  We had a few areas to fix after the drywall went up, but we are good to go.  There are a few walls where there is no drywall - which was intentional.  We have a number of built-ins and some architectural wood details planned for the fit and finish phase that will hopefully set our house apart. 

2nd Bathroom:

2nd Bedroom:

Living Room:

Kitchen & Dining Room:

Mudroom:

Master Bedroom:

Master Walk in Closet:

Master Bathroom: