House Reno- Nov and Dec 2024

Working to get the latest updates 

for November and December. 

Seems like the past 2 months have been a blur.

Getting the extra space ready for littles has been fun. 

We had to bring home all the things 

stored in the storage unit on December 4.

  So it was a juggle to unpack all that 

AND get Christmas decor out for the month.

John's office space, music room and guest room.

Fun to see the big table ready for meals together.

 Shiny Brights in bowls and on trees.

Just using what I had in the house- but maybe new ways.

A few more views from the office space.

Nativities are all around and some 

long-time loved ornaments and displays.

 The children's book cupboard, guest room with bed swag

 and the great room space.

Some living room views

                                       and collections in the step-back cupboard.

Details emerge and exploring seeing where the old things 

                     fit in the old spaces and new spaces.                          

 

The past few weeks have been busy ordering 

final house things and returning things we didn't need. 

Still finalizing getting some replacement things.

Spent some time redoing wreaths.

It has been awhile.

The  very old ceiling tile piece got hung.

Purchased this about 20 years ago at an antique store.

The story is that it is from a Civil War era 

 old building in downtown Richmond.

The deck got finished and sets off the back of the house.

Stairway to heaven?

Just having great fun sharing it with family.

What a blessing that our very long wait 

for a remodel has finally happened.

Thank you, Lord.

House Reno- October 2024

 

  October was a very busy month around here.

Started to side the shed. Put the not needed 

kitchen sink window in the shed to reuse.

Been trying to take things to RESTORE-

 but they have become rather picky these days.

Trying to keep things out of the landfill.

Moving along in the Shop space.

Daughter Number 3 thinks

 it looks like her guest room.

It really makes things look tied together

 when the side is going up on the house.

Loving the darker color with the brick.

In John's new office space, music room, guest room 

we went with the Sherwin Williams- Evergreen Fog. 

Then opened a new magazine that came to the house

 this month and it was the chosen color 

for their advertisement.

Went bold- and painted all the 

trim and doors the same color.

Perfect frame to see out of all the windows.

Then kitchen cabinets began to arrive.

This is the really fun part of a renovation.

Now I see why people pack up 

and move out on HGTV.

Living in a remodel is just plain challenging.

We give thanks for a helpful 

GC- Aldo Razo and his careful crew.

Primer on the feature gallery wall in the Hallway.

Custom shelves for John's books in the office

 is a great use of that bit of vertical space.

The LORI bed  (Murphy Bed) 

arrived ready to be put together. 

John's books include the library of his grandfather-

Rev. Fred Droegemueller.

Tried to make an Old Testament and New Testament side.

Sliding door for the space. 

Finished LORI Bed.

Monumental day-10-10-2024- 

all the carpet went out of the house

Countertops arrived.

Appliances starting to arrive.

THAT changes a space.

GE Cafe Appliances.

4 bar stools to fit the family 

with the most littles.

New stair railing.

Flooring is red oak hardwood 

with a light gray wash.

A monumental day to have an ice maker.

First one in our lives- seems like a great luxury 

to not have a freezer full of ice trays.

Trying out the coffee maker to 

replace the battered and leaking old one.

Continuing to give thanks that the years

 of "waiting"

to fix and repair are moving forward 

to make such a great space 

for our family and friends.

The Reno Story- July 2024

 

The first part of the month

 they cut the top windows out.

What a stunning view appeared 

as now we saw clouds floating along.

The house got wrapped in Tyvek.

A new charcoal black roof covers everything now.

Some new doors went in all sorts of new spaces.

The deck was started.

A small storage closet was removed to enlarge the shop.

It was actually the backside of the house they took out.

Closets were framed out in the office.

 A couple of loads of trash were removed.

It is still easy to see the stable side of the yard

 and the part that is "under construction."

Things continue to move forward.

Waiting right now for the windows to arrive.

The Reno Story- June 2024

The Reno Story- June 2024

So I am  continuing to document the process.

Moving more dirt.

 Holes were dug for the footers

 for the upper level deck and stairway.

We are loving how the "crawl space" 

actually became a usable storage room.

A pile of stone was delivered.

Lots of wood was stacked in the driveway.

The roof trellises were unloaded on the lawn.

The lower patio extension was poured.

They pulled out the non-working for a long time

dishwasher and cut a hole in the side of the house 

to do a temporary move of plumbing.

You could see the original burnt orange vinyl flooring

 under the white 1990's update.

Great for hearing the chirping birdies better.

Some walls started to go up.

The floors and walls happened very quickly.

Windows were cut out and 

they started to feel like rooms.

We were at the beach for our family vacation 

and our contractor Aldo Rizo texted us more updates.

Was pretty amazing to see the little house now

 flanked by the tall spaces.

You can't see any of this new space

 from the front of the house.

So our little rambler will have a surprise out back.

The architect was able to do the addition

 and not lose any of the windows for sunlight

 in the original back of the house.

How fun to see this really start to look like 

"something."

Aldo Rizo Construction

The Reno Story- May 2024

 

Our family has lived in this house for 34 years. 

We added this deck right after we moved in and have loved it. 

It was showing the wear and tear of time and weather 

and we needed to redo the space.  

Years of talking about how we use the house

 and how we Want to use the house,

 led to the decision to make some big changes.  

Since this blog is for telling our family story,

 I will document the changes here each month. 

I publish the blog each year into a book

 so that we can REMEMBER

 the flow and rhythm of life.

Many of our friends are downsizing.

But we added 13 to our family.

It was a great house for 5.

18 is a different story.

So we are upsizing.

May 2024 included taking down the deck 

and some site prep work.

We have talked about this for SOO LOONG

 that we are a bit stunned to finally see something happening.

(so are our neighbors and family)

So there were alot of plants to move 

and rehome or give away.

Whole tubs went to new places to love.

Forms went up and concrete got poured.

So this was May.

I will give more directions

 about just what is happening as things 

begin to take shape.

May had LOTS of rain so things were slowed up a bit.

But, that is kind of the story

 with this much outside work to do.

We will see what the month of June brings along.