Our remodeling has begun. I came home last Monday evening to find that all the furniture had been moved out of the living room, and carpet removal was underway. Now the steps have been dismantled, the gas fireplace removed, and the drywall cut out to the level of the new floor.
Remodeling background: we have a sunken living room (converted from a garage by the previous owners, 21″ below the rest of the house), and no accessible bathroom on the ground floor (powder room with a 23″ door). Next to the living room is the family room. The family room is going to become a bedroom and laundry room; the living room is going to give up about half its space to a master bathroom and closet.
Raising the living room floor puts the existing windows (which are not going to be changed) at 21″ above the floor, which should be an interesting decorative challenge.
Right now I’m sliding little bathroom fixture templates around, trying to find the best way to fit a roll in shower, two lavatories, a toilet and some sort of storage into a space which is plenty big enough (almost 8′ by 12′) with this goofy window on one end. I really can’t put anything on that window end except maybe a low bench with some storage under it. Design fun!
Holy smokes! What did you do, sell a kidney? I would love to do an addition some day, but I’ll end up doing myself and having to live with a Frankenstein Monstrosity.
No actual addition is happening – this is all within the existing walls. We’re also not touching any windows. So it’s all flooring and framing. And I am married to the Man Who Must Do Everything Himself, after all! He does it very well, too.