a wreck.

my parents' house is a wreck. literally. last fall, my mom realized that she really hated our house and that it was dark and old feeling. um, hello, it was built in the 30s so it definitely didn't have that new feeling like the lakehouse. the closets are small, the bathrooms are small, and even though there are just two of them, the house was just small. and my mom thought it felt 'dark'.

they started contemplating a move, a renovation, or a complete new build. so, they looked at a lot of houses and i got to go along for some of them (fun!!), but none were exactly what they were looking for. they were either way too big, not the right floor plan, the street wasn't good, the house didn't feel like home or for some other reason they just didn't think it was 'them'. they thought about building something, but lots are super expensive and then to build the house on top of it... well, my mom just couldn't envision what she considered her 'dream' house and therefore couldn't figure out what the heck she would build if she could even find the perfect lot. and they just finished building the lake house so she wasn't sure she wanted to do that again. plus, she loves our neighborhood and just felt safe there. and she raised us kids there... they moved in in june of 1980! so then they consulted an architect and a remodeler and decided to put them to the test.

the remodeler came up with some novel ideas and my mom thought wow, yep, this just feels right. this is home... but upgraded! so, now my parents are living in an apt down the road while the house gets a two story addition, a new bedroom/bathroom, a ball jar gallery (what's that!? oh, just a place to show off my dad's jar collection), a brand new kitchen and about 1000 more sf. they are knocking down walls, putting in new doors & floors, and pretty much changing the entire place!

this is what they came up with:


this will be the new first floor.



the new second floor.



the new kitchen


same living room, but new family room... the dining room stays in the same place off to the right.

i realize you have nothing to compare to, but eh... oh well!

once my parents decided this is what they wanted to do, they had 2 weeks to move everything out of the house! omg, 30 years worth of STUFF. and i mean STUFF!!! so glad i didn't have to undertake that project!!!!


the former back of the house...


this used to be mom's bathroom and the open wall used to be where dad's closet was...


this was my old closet... i shared this b/c that purple was the color of my walls growing up! it was kinda a depressing shade of lavender. i had a matching bedspread and curtains... lavender with white small flowers.


this took me a while to figure out: it's a view from my parents' bedroom in to my dad's old office. the big hole on the left was my mom's closet, the hole on the right was the door to the office. that door will be gone and there will be a big walk in closet there.


this... this is... ummmm, actually i have no idea what the heck this was... i'll have to think about this...


this is looking out from our old dining room in to the old backyard. this is where the two story addition with the gallery is going! the thing in the middle is an aquarium. mom and the cats very much appreciate that aquarium!


this is the framing of the new jar gallery. it used to be yard. you can see the aquarium behind one of the wood poles.


more framing. in the new addition. looking towards the back door/kitchen area.


framing of the new area




this used to be my bedroom... it will now be my dad's new office and a laundry room. and off to the left is a hallway that will access the new bedroom/bathroom (which will be mine) and dad's old office which will be mom's new exercise room.


mom's standing in my brother's old bedroom which had been used as her office since he moved out years ago... it will stay her office.


and here is the addition from the outside... from the backyard.

did you guys get all that?!?!?!?! if you did, you're rockstars b/c you must have some serious spacial abilities!! impressive :) if not, no worries... i grew up there and still get confused by some of the pics! don't worry, i'll post more pics as the work progresses... at some point you'll see the finished product! they say they'll be done in june!