I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season. We celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary, took a trip to Key West to celebrate, hunkered down with a houseful of sick kids, and then got healthy in time to really enjoy Christmas with our families.
It’s amazing what can happen in a month.
Phew. Now we are solidly into 2023. Which is weird since it was just 2019 last week.
And while I’ve been sharing some details on Instagram stories about a big project we have been working on at home for a few months, I haven’t posted about it here. But with the start of a new year, I wanted to share the entire project here as well to have it in one place. Buckle up, this will be a long one.
In short, we are in the process of adding a bedroom on the first floor of our home.
Just a little thing. 😉
Ryan and I will move into the first floor bedroom and the kids will move around upstairs to each have their own room.
We started talking about this when we were pregnant with Owen, but decided to wait and see. When we built the house, we only had Henry. Who would have thought that within 7 years, we’d be packed into bedrooms like sardines? (Not really. It’s fine.) Life just changes so we are ready to change with it.
So far, the kids have been totally fine with sharing. (They have shared in various ways, but currently Owen has his own room and the older two share a room.)
But as they grow up, it’s just become more of a priority for them to have their own space. No one has complained about the shared spaces, but the closets are bursting and the rooms are packed full with furniture. None of the bedrooms are very large and it’s just become tight. We did actually debate having a first floor bedroom or flex space when we built the house, but it just didn’t make the cut. We wanted our bedroom near our young child (soon to become children). But as they get older, they are on their own. (KIDDING. Sort of.)
And with Henry on the cusp of pre-teendom (the HUMANITY!), we thought it was a good time to move them around and give them each their own bedroom. We had the plans drawn by our draftsman a year or two ago to prepare. (Actually prior to starting the flip house.)
We had to make some adjustments and save the money, but we are well into the process and it’s actually a room.
Ryan is, as always, a rock star and the only reason anything gets done in our home. We had been talking about it for what felt like ages, but summer and fall are just plain busy in our family. Our kids are in tons of activities and our weeknights and weekends are full of baseball and soccer for our oldest.
We spend a lot of time (like, all the time) shuttling kids. Ryan works an actual full time job that pays and would need to find time to build on nights and weekends. And also, we live in the Midwest. Where it snows and freezes and makes outdoor projects a challenge anytime after November.
But this is our life. It doesn’t change anything. And come April, our crazy season starts again. So our window of time was winter.
Sometimes, being a family with projects is just a game of Tetris. In late October, Ryan just walked outside back with a mallet and started measuring the addition and driving stakes in the ground. That’s how I knew he was actually starting the addition.
He brought in the dream team (our dads, for the uninitiated), and they quickly got the post and decking built, and then the framing of the room up. They lucked out with several weeks of wonderful weather in November and Ryan even took off a few weeks of vacation to get so much done.
They almost managed to get the room built, shingled and sided in time for the cold to hit. Almost. But it was weather tight and they were able to get the windows and doors in before the first of December. Which was great because before the windows were in, we also managed to trap a poor (giant) owl onto the porch and we didn’t want that to happen again. (This is also a story for another day.)
In December, we had the room spray foam insulated to keep it as weather tight as possible and Ryan and our long-suffering friend Ian blew insulation into the attic space.
As you can tell, the room is post and pier construction, meaning it doesn’t have a poured concrete foundation. The beams are set in concrete to hold the full weight of the room. This side of the house is on a substantial slope.
So this makes the insulation more important. Nobody wants a room that is the same temp as outside. (We will have a mini split to heat and cool this room, but right now the insulation helps keep it pretty comfortable.)
Most recently, right after Christmas, Ryan cut the hole into the mudroom to allow access from the house. (We didn’t do this sooner to help keep our house from becoming a total construction zone in the interim, and he was able to access the room through the screened porch in the meantime.) It has been wild to actually have a room connected to the house! It feels so close.
The door is in the same location of an original exterior window, so it was fairly straightforward (I’m told) to make it a door. The only picture I can find of this angle is from an Instagram story. This is part of the reason I haven’t blogged this process. I have been really bad about truly capturing the steps. But you’ll forgive me, right? I’m a professional, obviously.
We used the two existing windows from the mudroom and the garage to make a large double window in the bedroom and Ryan drywalled over were they were before. The perk of using what we already had was we didn’t have to order and wait for windows – and we saved a significant cost. And the windows and view are so great.
I think those are the major plot points of adding the bedroom addition. Ryan finished priming and painting the room, he’s working on electrical and heating/cooling, and then come the finishing touches. (Trim, doors, carpet, etc.)
This will be the bed wall.
This is the closet wall and the door to the mudroom and bathroom.
And this is the peek at the door to the screened porch.
The porch originally had a small “grilling porch” off the screened area. That was removed when we added the addition (because we never used it) and the screened area and door became the connection to the addition.
A few other details:
How big is the room and where is it located?
The room is 16×16 feet, and it’s connected to our mudroom and downstairs bathroom. It juts off the back of the house and is also connected to the screen porch.
Where’s the master bathroom?
To save money and project complexity (and an additional bathroom to keep clean), we skipped the ensuite bathroom when we added the addition. The main floor bathroom has a shower that’s been used only a handful of times and it’s about 6 feet from the bedroom door. We have never had an ensuite bathroom and it just didn’t feel necessary for the budget and complexity. I don’t think we will miss it.
We did make some updates to the bathroom last year that I still need to share.
Which kid will get your room?
Our oldest will move into our bedroom, which he’s very excited about. There is a small desk and ample closet space in our bedroom, and I think he’ll put that to good use.
The other two will stay put, but we will be making their rooms their own.
The kids are also already plotting how to decorate their “new” rooms, so I think we’ll be busy for the foreseeable future.
When do you think you’ll be done?
Hopefully in the next month or so. I’ll let you know when I know. 😉
Happy 2023! Thanks for reading!
Let me know what you think and leave any questions in the comments.
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Christine says
exciting changes, and crazy to read you’ve been in your house seven years, I remember remodeling the yellow and grey houses in town and the barn and first building this house, amazing how quickly time flies.
Kait says
So interesting! Thank you for sharing
daisy says
So glad you updated us here, as some of us are not on Instagram, Facebook, etc.
Looks good and I’m sure you’ll all love the extra space!
Joanell West says
Love the new addition. I know the kids are excited. Happy New Year!
David Goad says
Congratulations on your new addition, looks great, well done! I hope you’ll share more pics once it’s finished. Ryan and company have certainly shown their talents. Thanks again for sharing the results of your efforts and its progress. I’m sure you and your family will enjoy it for years to come.
David says
Congratulations on your new addition, looks great, well done! I hope you’ll share more pics once it’s finished. Ryan and company have certainly shown their talents. Thanks again for sharing the results of your efforts and its progress. I’m sure you and your family will enjoy it for years to come.
Jena says
Love the new addition! Seems like forever since I had an email! Wow, it was only little Henry when I started following you! Glad to see although it’s crazy busy, as life is, that it’s going well!
Kim Woodward says
It has been a long time since I wrote a post and sent an email! Hoping to do it more in the new year! Thanks for sticking around. Appreciate you.
Donna Baker says
I was just thinking about you the other night ❤️! Your addition is great. I’m glad you gave yourself a door to the outside. That’s one of the first things we did to our bedroom and it’s my favorite improvement. Can’t wait to see it completed and what the kids have planning for their rooms 😊🤩
I just added myself to your insta gram. I don’t always remember to do that 🤦🏼♀️
Happiest of New Years for 2023!! ❤️🏡
Kim Woodward says
You’re the sweetest – always so encouraging. Glad to hear that you like the door to the porch. I think I’ll like it, too. Happy new year!