jess and the gang: The Back Room Renovation

We have so many plans for our house, but everything takes time and money. And I have quickly learned that I am a ball of stress when work is being done on our house, so for my own sanity (and Ian's) it's probably important that we spread out the love. This small reno that we had done to our back room is just the beginning of our plans for back there. Eventually, half of it will be turned into a master suite and the bathroom would be completely torn out and redone, with the entrance to it being in the master bedroom. But lets not get ahead of ourselves because that is a bit off…even if we did already buy the flooring for that project, so it will match what we just put down in half the room.

Let's start with a quick before and after picture form the same view. The before picture is actually from when we were in escrow almost 4 years ago, but it still gives you an idea of what things looked like.

We ripped out the bar and had a small laundry room put in. We also had all the wood paneling on the walls ripped out and replaced. The moldings were all replaced, as well as the flooring in half the room. We decided to paint all the walls that were touched with the grey that the main parts of the rest of the house are painted (kitchen, living room, dining room, entrance and bathroom) with the intention that we will eventually paint the rest of the room that color.

After debating about what kind of door we wanted on the laundry room (normal door, folding closet doors), we decided not to do anything and I made a curtain instead. I am really happy with that because it is super easy to use. Except for the first time, when I didn't put the bar up tight enough and it came down and hit me on the head, it has worked out great. Plus, I love the extra pop of color the curtain adds.

^^ This is the view from the kitchen

^^ Ian thought adding the rug made it look a bit living room-ish, but I liked it, so yeah. That big picture hanging up was Ian's Christmas present this past year. It is a picture of "the shore" in Edinburgh and happens to be where we lived. Our exact building is just out of the frame, but you can see our bus stop that we used every day in this picture and that's kind of fun.

I've never shown pictures of the kids playroom before, but here it is. It is actually the room in the house that gets changed the most often. I am rearranging it all the time. The couch has been against every wall (or non wall) in that room. When we moved in, even after Isla was born, this room was completely empty. It didn't get any furniture until our neighbor moved and gave us her couch…which Ian said we probably need to replace soon. That thing is an eye sore, but it is literally the most comfortable couch ever. In the right corner, behind the cabinets, is my desk (and random stuff storage) area.

^^ This table and chairs was actually mine as a kid. I painted the chairs, but never got around to painting the table…which really could use a fresh coat of white paint on it. But, I must say, that paint looks good from being from the 80's!

I put up the decorations on the ceiling over a year ago. I originally set out to made one banner to hang across the room to give it some flair. It hung too low, so I tacked it up in the middle. Then I decided to add another one. Well, then there was a middle point that was just screaming to have something dangling from it, so of course I added a pompom. Ian has always thought it is a little over the top. I have always loved it…but lets be honest, I am a little over the top.

So there you have it, our little project completed. It was supposed to take 3 days and ended up taking 9 (well, they did take one day off in there). We lost power in the back of the house for a couple days and didn't have a working washer and dryer for more than a week. But, it's all behind us and I am super happy with how it turned out.