A New Roof and Dormers Coming Soon...See What You Think!

Hey everyone!  I wanted to share what I have been up to this week.  You've heard me yapping about this " Major Project II" that is supposedly coming soon.  Well...it's happening so let me tell you more about it.  We live in a 1 1/2 story bungalow.  Small, yes, so we want to maximize space for our growing family rather than leave the house/location we love.  So, like I always say, when you can't go out, Go Up!  So we are gutting and finishing the upstairs.  Yay!  I can't wait.  I love a finished project, even though while construction is happening I moan about how it's the bain of my existence, but I'm hoping the end result is worth it.  Hope hope.  Let me show you what it looks like right now, mess and all, check it out!  Everything is being moved to the basement.  It's half empty...

The half wall surrounds the steps going down to the main level.  Also, behind that beautiful yellow smoke alarm in the upper left corner...is a beautiful brick chimney that will soon be exposed;)
The previous owner's had split this space in two for a bedroom for each of their boys, but it has seen better days.  The particle board panel ceiling is falling in, and when that is re-done with drywall, I envision doing away with the flat part of the ceiling and giving a hair more headroom with a peak instead.  Here's a view looking back towards the steps.....Don't judge me it's a mess!

Beautiful floors huh?!  I want to refinish those hopefully.  The biggest part of the project is the new dormers that will be added to each side of the roof.  I hope it will help enlarge the look of the space by adding a little more square footage and A LOT more light!!  Here's our house sans dormers as it is right now...

In this pic below I did a little cut and pastey job on a photo to get the idea of what dormers could look like.  My main concern is that the new dormers do NOT take away from the original Arts and Crafts bungalow style.  If it doesn't look somewhat original to the house, it's going to feel off.  Boy I hope this works!  What do you think of adding dormers???  These are definitely NOT to scale, but this pic is just to give you an idea...

In looking at pics of other half story re-designs, I found this kids area that is really cool below!!  I really dream of an all white master suite, kissed by the warmth of finished wood floors.  Ha ha.  But we are seriously tossing around the idea of a great big space for Evan too.  He'd love it!!

 

eclectic kids design

Maybe with some great storage solutions for toys??

traditional bedroom design by seattle kitchen and bath Kitchen & Bath Design Center

Maybe my living room won't look like this quite as often?? :)  Probably wishful thinking huh?!

Well, that's what is happening around here! Just a lot of box moving, toy shifting, soon-to-be wall gutting weekends until the contractor starts in April. Let me know what you think... and I'll keep you posted! I'm going outside to sort barnboard for the "still-going" Major Project I - The new shed.  Ugh!
Have a great weekend!
-Jess xo