New Roof/Skylight Reveal

Hi Everyone,
Again, it's been awhile.  I still can't seem to get myself back into the blogging groove that I enjoyed so much "pre-cancer".  But I do miss my old life and maybe blogging again will reveal a glimmer of what once was and give myself at least a little bit of normalcy.  So...on that note, what I would normally work on would be one of the few loves in my life...my house.  I'll show you what we have been up to.  The roof needed redone so badly it was a must that it get done immediately.  I'm talking, we had buckets in the eaves to catch the drips, bad!  So, I have gotten some random messages from you peeps wondering what color of roof we did and I can now reveal (drumroll...), it's black.  The "shake" style with the random width shingles.  I guess that aspect isn't as visible, but, I love it!

 

So, we didn't get our dream dormers in the end because the money we had saved ended up in the pocket of the University of Iowa hospital, so we opted for skylights instead.  I only did skylights on one side of the roof, the side you don't see when you pull up to the house.  I actually don't care for the outside look of skylights, but it was a must that we get more light into the upstairs.  I think we accomplished the light the dormers would have given, without compromising the bungalow style as you pull up to the house. Do you remember the little cut and paste pic I had posted a while back of what a dormer would have looked like. 

 

 Woulda been great huh?  Oh well, things happen and this will do.  For now, I'm going back upstairs to keep gutting it.  Check out all of the original ugly paneling I have to take down...gross. 

 

 

But in the end I really hope one of my dream pinterest pics can come true and maybe the space could turn into the master suite with the walk in closet of my dreams yet! 

Maybe a little something like this perhaps...

 

Source: hometalk.com via Jessica on Pinterest

 A girl can dream, right?!

Toodles, back to work.

 

-Jess xoxo



Square Footage...How Small Can You Go?

Hello Everyone!
Another busy week and I'm lagging on the blog-front, but I'm back!  Does anyone watch "House Hunters" on HGTV?? 



http://hermanchan.net/blog/2010/03/19/herman-on-hgtvs-house-hunters/

I do love that show!  I find it funny and slightly disturbing any time a couple goes through a

Gi-Normous house and they are sooooooo disappointed because, how on Earth will their kids ever be able to share one bathroom sink?!  Or, "We have 2 children, 5 bedrooms will not be enough!".  Is it just me that finds this strange?  Maybe because I have never lived in a gi-normous house and do not know what it's like to be able to spread those wings!  When you look around at what other people live in, especially on these shows like...Selling LA and House Hunters it's hard not to compare your own home, look around your living room while you watch, and think...how'd I end up in this dump!.Ha.  Then you watch Selling New York and see bidding wars over million dollar apartments the size of a tissue box and think...Girl I got it gooooood:)  Don't get me wrong there are times when I think we should find a bigger house, maybe we will some day, but I keep looking and coming up empty on style and character when it comes to getting more square footage.  So, here we stay!  It takes real saavy and organization to live well and raise a family in a small home and I'm proud to say I am one of those people.  Cheers to the little houses of the world! 

Here are a few of my favorite petite styles.  Timeless, Classic, Beautiful....

http://www.essential-architecture.com/IMAGES2/BUNGALOW(4).JPG

The Craftsman Bungalow.  My very favorite!  The dark/white contrast lets the details shine.

http://www.sbconservancy.org/reminiscing.htm

The Spanish style Bungalow.  If I ever moved to Cali, I would be crazy to not live in one...so many are serious architectural gems!  By the way, I had a thought, if you did live in a California style climate (which unfortunately I do NOT), if you need more square footage, take it outside!  Outdoor rooms could be a whole other post that I'll touch on at some point, but this one is Spanish style so I'll just pop it in:)

mediterranean landscape design by san luis obispo landscape architect Jeffrey Gordon Smith Landscape Architecture

This Victorian Bungalow is fabulous!  Even more fabulous because it's from my beautiful home state of Iowa.  Let me just say, I would not have energy to own this house.  Can you see yourself out there on a ladder year after year working on that paint job?

Let's face it, owning a small home may be less maintenance, but when you have an old architecturally detailed house like the ones above, it's not going to be a walk in the park. The exterior maintenance can be all consuming sometimes. They are not for everyone, I just wanted to remind myself that it's not always about square footage.  I know the tniy house revolution is here, however, square footage CAN make some difference...
I mean, could you live in this???



http://livingroomrealtors.com/tiny-house-revolution/

NEVER!  So cute though:)
Have a great weekend!!

-Jess xo

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