Room by Room Renovations

Hi!  It will be a while before we have any measurable progress with the house, so I thought I would share some "before" shots. 

The first room is the guest room turned nursery.  We aren't doing much in terms of renovation.  We'll refinish the floors and paint the walls and ceiling.  And we are adding a bathroom by breaking through a wall off to the left.  Here is the "before" shot:

Ready for baby!

Yes, those are two toilets that you see.  The nursery is currently where we store everything that we might re-use in the renovation.  We are going to re purpose as much of the old cypress wood doors and trim that were removed during the demolition as possible.  That fan is going to be a craigslist special eventually.  We also have a sink, dish washer, and at least one of those toilets that will be sold. 

Anyway, here is my "vision" for the nursery!  

Here's the rug:



Via


And I bought a white Jenny Lind crib:


 

Minus the wheels.



For the bed skirt and a few pillows for the glider, I'm using this fabric:



Via



And the windows coverings will be this fabric:



Via


As far as the wall color, I'm still undecided (it's not like we have a deadline to worry about, right?).  I was thinking of painting the ceiling a light blue and painting the walls cream, but Christian isn't sold on that idea.  What do y'all think?  I still need to pick out some sort of chair and a lamp, so recs are welcome!


JLB

Progress!!

That's our permit to begin work!

We didn't give up on the blog, there really just hasn't been much interesting to report.  We started with the demolition work and about 80% of the necessary areas are gutted.  We FINALLY received the plans from the architect, and he taught us our first home renovation lesson: whatever time frame your architect/contractor/plumber gives you, double it.  On July 30th, our architect told me he would need 10 days.  We received the final plans On September 13th.  I'm a lawyer, so math really isn't my specialty, but I'm pretty sure that's more than 10 days.

Anyway, moving on.  My intention was to show ya'll the plans, but I can't figure out how to post them as a pdf.  I'll ask Christian to do it soon.  He will also post all the "before" pictures of the rooms soon with our detailed plans.  In the meantime, here's a picture of our "demo team" at work.  They are neither licensed nor insured, but their rates are cheap!

"Demo team" = Christian and my dad. 

We're looking at cabinets and appliances right now, so if you have any suggestions, we would love to hear them!



JLB  

Restoring the Center Hall

While Jennifer and I are waiting on the architect to finalize plans, I started removing cabinets, doors, and other semi-permanent structures we no longer wanted. The first things to go were the double closets placed at the end of the main hallway, toward the front of the house...

The first closet, facing the living room.

(There's a gap between the back wall and the floor that's hard to see in the picture.)

The back wall of the closet was a thin board of sheet rock that easily came down in one sheet when I kicked it...

Closets with back wall and second door removed.

Behind the sheet rock board was the second closet and a door that opened onto the hallway, its frame attached to two-by-fours nailed to the wall. After spending several hours prying the frame off, I was able to restore the original hallway...

Hallway without closet, looking toward front of house.

Now you can walk in a straight line from the front door to the back of the house.

CRB

On the Thunderdome

We're still waiting on the architect to finish up the plans.  Hopefully, we'll have something this week.  In the meantime, let's talk about the Thunderdome!

Our house has a second story that originally functioned as an attic.  The previous owner converted the space into a studio apartment and rented it out.  It's a pretty big space (approximately 800 sq. ft, i.e. the size of our Foucher St. house!!) with a separate bathroom and small kitchenette. 

We are going to leave the area as it is for the time being and use the space as an attic.  During Mardi Gras time, it will function as the Blackwelder wing of the house, where all of our guests can stay with plenty of space.  

The namesake of the Blackwelder wing.

Eventually, when we have children, we envision the space as a mild-mannered Thunderdome.  

Just in case you need to refresh your memory.

We won't provide actual weapons, obviously.  But it will be nice to have an entire area just for the kiddies where they can sleep, play, and iron out any differences on their own.  Growing up, we had a play room where my sister and I would play Barbies, record made up songs, and generally hang out.  The Thunderdome will function the same way, only it will be upstairs and out of our earshot should someone cut Barbie's hair off.  We'll keep the decor casual and easy to clean, too, so if someone writes on a sofa cushion or spills some red drink, it won't be a big deal. 

So what do you think is essential for the Thunderdome?  Soundproofing on the walls and floors?  I would love your opinions!

JLB

It has begun!

Work has officially begun!  On Wednesday, the roofers started repairing the roof. 

There they are, working away.  I hope they stay hydrated!

And here is the progress, after the first day of work:

Here's a little history about the red tile roof: 
The origin of clay roofing tile can be traced independently to two different parts of the world: China, beginning around 10,000 B.C. and the Middle East a short time later.  From there, the use of clay tile spread throughout Asia and Europe, where the ancient Egyptians, Babylonians, Greeks. and Romans roofed their buildings with clay tiles.  European settlers brought the roofing tradition to America where it was established in many places by the 17th century.  In New Orleans, both the French and Spanish settlers used the clay tiles.  Clay roofing tiles fell in and out of fashion in Colonial America, but experienced a resurgence of popularity in the 20th century, when our home was built.  Source.


Whew.  Now that we got our learnin' out of the way, I'll wrap up with some fun stuff.  On Tuesday, we welcomed our first visitors.  Jessie and Miller stopped by to take a quick "before" tour.  Miller and Nancy Pants became BFFs right away, with Miller laughing uncontrollably at Nancy.  It was really, really cute. 

Here's the lady of the house enjoying her front yard.  Again, excuse the poor photography and bad camera position.  I promise I'll get better!

Up next: I'm hoping the architect will have our plans finalized soon.  We will share all the "before" pictures of the house along with the plans.

JLB

Our own little money pit

Hi and welcome!  Christian and I decided to start a blog to document our house renovations.

On Monday, we purchased a 1920s style crafstman bungalow in Uptown.  It needs a LOT of work, but we are excited to tackle the project and transform the house.  The house has a lot of potential and great bones, but it just needs some (major) TLC.

Here's a shot of the exterior.  Excuse the wonky angle.

We are going to eventually paint the exterior and the front door, and add a porch swing and furniture.  But for now, here is our own little money pit, on the day we purchased her.

Up next: roof repairs, shoring work, and installation of central air and heat. 

JLB