The Start of Something Beautiful - Part One

As soon as we moved to our new house, we had to get started making changes.  Lots of changes.  But to start, new kid's rooms.

The entire upstairs was a master suite, while the two bedrooms downstairs were supposed to be for the kids.  This just seems crazy to me, not because our kids will sneak out while we are sleeping, but for safety & security's sake, for any late night knocks on the door or dog barking fiascoes.  We didn't want one of them hearing or responding to any of the above.

We moved us and our home office setup into one bedroom downstairs, with the kids in the bedroom across the hall together while the upstairs demo began.  They bickered, giggled, fought and pranked each other regularly, so we knew we had to hurry.  Things got a little ugly sometimes, but I think they did bond and maybe become closer friends.  I like to think that anyways, I'd rather not think they are scarred for life, ha.

Caught them getting along on the trampoline (which we did not set up properly and had to redo twice!)

I came up with a perfectly even plan, both had the same sized rooms, closets, and a very nicely arranged shared bathroom.  There was a long home office/play area across the backside of the house with their bedrooms on the front.  One look in the attic revealed this would not work, unless the furnace was moved and ducts reworked.  It was going to add time and money to an already tight time and money budget.  So we changed the plan.  It wasn't the plan we had in mind, but it would work just fine.  Funny how that happens, right?

Our carpenter/handyman got started, ripping out the enormous jacuzzi (along with it's stage it sat in), the gigantic and odd walk-in shower, endless tile, and loads of 16 year old berber carpet.  He framed in the walls, called his brother to help him with the drywall...and they both headed to another project!

Each tile is 12", this tub took up so much space!

This is the landing at the top of the stairs.

He didn't want to do the drywall himself and his brother had larger fish to fry.

After lamenting to probably everyone we knew, trying to find a replacement, many friends and family said they had done it themselves here and there, we could too!  We decided it couldn't be that bad.  We wanted it done quickly and to save some money so we decided to tackle it ourselves.  We watched a lot of Youtube, read a lot of This Old House, and asked a lot of questions at Lowe's and Home Depot.

Boy were we wrong!

It was time consuming, heavy, and all out hard.  I don't think either of us have ever physically worked so hard in our lives.  Drywall sheets are heavy, dusty, and give minuscule fiberglass cuts, scratches and splinters.  It's a pain to cut, a pain to get even and level (especially when the framing isn't straight!)...we were almost thinking plaster and lathe would be easier.

We spent every evening, weekend, the entire week the kids were at camp, and even sheetrocked in our sleep (not good dreams, for sure).  A friend showed us how to mud, tape and sand.  I'm going to be real with you, it was not pretty and we were beyond exhausted.  Think almost new baby tired, but not quite.  The baby was super heavy, but at least slept all night.

I had stripped the bed, we had taken a break and someone fell asleep just like that.

You can tell where we started, it's a little uneven and lumpy, but by the time we finished, we were pros.  I could probably win an HGTV mudding and sanding competition at this point!

Things you don't think about...no ceiling fixtures yet equals table lamp on floor to work after dark!

After weeks of drywall mudding and sanding, we were ready for paint and floors.  We were moving on and getting closer!  ...stay tuned for Part 2!

Oh!  And about this time, barn construction started.  And the backyard fence.  Both items took an inordinately long time, far longer than either contractor had told us.  At one point, the fence contractor said he could have had that barn finished three weeks ago...he had been working on our fence at least that long.  The fact that he didn't see the irony in this made it even funnier!  We definitely did not tell the barn guys what the fence guys were saying.

And as they say in the country..."Y'all come back now!"

"ya hear"...