For the final two days, I’ve not been ready to focus on something aside from the brand new plan for our home. After canceling our addition that we’ve been planning for years now (you possibly can learn extra about that right here), and deciding to primarily work inside the footprint of our present dwelling, including on only one room, my thoughts has been in overdrive. I’ve been at my pc for hours transferring issues round on the ground plan to provide you with the right association for all the pieces that we want. I’ve been strolling round the home with a tape measure in hand, measuring nearly each wall and opening in the home.
It took me a number of tries, numerous consideration about our particular wants (particularly Matt’s wants), and plenty of transferring issues round and tweaking completely different concepts, however I’ve the ultimate flooring plan. Right here it’s.
Essentially the most thrilling half is that the brand new room that we add shall be a model new kitchen!!! So let me clarify my thought processes for all of those choices, and I’ll get to the explanation why I made a decision to make that new room within the kitchen.
First, let’s begin in the master bedroom. Since we have already got the grasp toilet accomplished, it simply is sensible to show the bed room subsequent to it into the master suite. As soon as the remaining partitions left over from the closet, areas are taken down, this room shall be fairly a bit bigger than the room we’re in now. And we desperately want a bigger bed room, so this may work out completely. It’s undoubtedly not as large because the one we had deliberate for our authentic addition, however this one shall be spacious sufficient to maneuver Matt’s Hoyer elevate round with out me continually operating into it, hitting my head on it as I attempt to stroll previous it, or tripping over it, that are all frequent occurrences in our present bed room.
Since there isn’t any room contained in the precise bed room for a closet (a closet in that room would make that room the identical dimension because the bed room we’re in now, and that’s simply not doable for the long-haul), I’m going to be turning the present visitor bed room into a giant walk-in closet/train space/storage space for Matt’s tools. I’ll lastly be capable of use IKEA Pax wardrobes and have a giant, lovely, organized closet on one facet of that space. And because it’s actually the scale of a bed room (as a result of it’s a bed room) and I don’t have practically that many garments or footwear, there shall be loads of room for the important train tools that we wish to hold, in addition to loads of flooring area within the center to maintain mats tools (Hoyer elevate, bathe wheelchair, and so forth.) when he’s not utilizing them. It is going to be the right large, open area that we want for all of these issues. I shall be closing that room off to the hallway, however I additionally determined to go away the present door in place (it’s a pocket door) and simply drywall over it. That method, if a future proprietor needs to show this again right into a bed room, will probably be so simple as drywalling over one doorway, and eradicating the drywall from one other doorway, after which, identical to that, it’s a bed room once more. And it’ll have already got a door.
Now let’s discuss in regards to the music room. Each single time I deliver up flooring plan concepts, most individuals appear to wish to put the music room on the chopping block. However I actually can not stress this sufficient. The music room can’t be modified, can not have furnishings added to it, and can’t be utilized in every other method. Whereas it’s not used as an precise music room (sadly, I simply don’t have time to play the piano proper now), this room is at the moment one of the used rooms in our home, and it’s a room that we can not stay with out.
Initially, simply from a visible standpoint, I actually just like the view from the entrance door by way of the again of the music room. I actually don’t wish to put something in there to hinder that view.
However even when I needed to alter that room and do one thing else, like flip it right into a eating room, that will simply be unimaginable. That might make life so tough for Matt as a result of that is probably the most excessive site visitors room in our home all through the day. With Matt in a wheelchair, I regularly have to consider site visitors circulation and never placing issues in his method in order that he can get by way of the principle areas and to all the exits in the home. And as you possibly can see, with the music room proper in the course of the home, it will get a lot a lot through-traffic that the present association is probably the most excellent solution to make that room look fairly, and completed, and purposeful, whereas additionally maintaining it open for Matt to get by way of simply. I simply couldn’t even think about what hardship I might create if I attempted to show that room into anything.
That can also be the world the place I switch Matt to and from his wheelchair utilizing the Hoyer elevate. It’s the one room in our home that has sufficient area for me to place his wheelchair simply the appropriate method, after which pull a Hoyer elevate proper as much as it. So if I had been to go and put a eating desk or anything like that, in that room, it might destroy its very priceless performance for us. So whereas the identify “music room” is a bit deceiving, this is without doubt one of the most functionally helpful rooms in the home simply as it’s. There’s no method I might change something in regards to the music room format.
Now let’s discuss in regards to the enjoyable stuff! My new kitchen! I thought of so many choices for that space together with making the brand new room a eating room, making the brand new room a laundry room, and even making the brand new room a TV room. So why did I resolve to lastly make that space a brand new kitchen? Due to the potential of home windows and pure gentle instantly within the kitchen!
One among my least favourite issues about our home is that the present kitchen is correct within the center, and has no home windows with direct daylight truly within the kitchen. I’ve opened it up in order that it may well get daylight from the adjoining rooms, however I might love a kitchen with numerous home windows and pure gentle.
So after I was attempting to show that space right into a laundry room, and including all these fantastic home windows, it dawned on me that that must be the kitchen! I may simply think about having a sink with vast home windows over the countertop. That’s the start of a dream kitchen for me! And within the final 24 hours, I’ve checked out so many lovely and inspirational galley kitchens that my thoughts is spinning! I’m so enthusiastic about having a light-filled galley kitchen!
As soon as I spotted that the brand new room was an ideal place for a the brand new room was an ideal place for a brand new kitchen, all the pieces else form of fell into place. If the brand new room goes to be a kitchen, then the position of the present pantry doesn’t make any sense. Plus, this new kitchen shall be larger than my present kitchen, which just about eliminates the necessity for a pantry anyway. So if I alter the place of the doorway into that room, that’s the excellent place for a laundry room/utility room!
After which, with the doorway into the present pantry/future laundry room moved, that stable wall can now be the TV wall in what’s now the TV room. I didn’t notice till yesterday, as I used to be strolling round and measuring all the pieces, that the present sitting room is just about the very same dimension as the world of the entrance room that we use as the lounge. However what makes the sitting room really feel so small is the association of the furnishings as a result of I’ve to go away that stroll method by way of the room open. However with the present doorway to the pantry closed off, and with turning that wall into the TV wall, the rearrangement of the furnishings will make that room really feel a lot larger. Plus, there’ll not be a kitchen peninsula making that room really feel so closed in.
After which that leaves the right room for a eating room. The present kitchen will grow to be my eating room. It’s the right place for a eating space, proper between the kitchen and the TV room in the lounge. It’s prefer it was meant to be! And I can have a desk and chairs in there with out blocking the site visitors sample by way of the room.
I’ve given this a lot thought, and a lot time, and I’m feeling nearly 100% assured that that is what we’ll find yourself with. In truth, I really feel so assured that I’m able to get began instantly! Which brings up the problem of timeline.
The primary precedence is to maneuver into the larger bed room. So with that purpose in thoughts, we have to get that bed room prepared. Which means demolishing the ground and the subfloor, putting in new subfloor and flooring, eradicating the remaining closet partitions, and making a doorway from the brand new bed room into the present visitor bed room. Our present breaker field is correct the place the brand new doorway must go, so that can must be moved additionally.
As soon as that’s accomplished, I’ll shut up the doorway from the present visitor bed room into the hallway and start turning that into the closet and train space.
After that finish of the home is completed, then we are going to begin on the kitchen addition, in addition to turning the pantry into the laundry room. I’m actually hoping I can reuse most, if not all, of the present cupboards that I constructed for that room.
So I don’t know precisely after we will begin on the brand new kitchen, however that’s the order through which we wish to do issues. And Matt has additionally mentioned that he needs to construct my woodworking workshop on the identical time we’re doing the kitchen. So we’ll see how that goes.
I’ve determined that I’m going to let different folks do the work within the bed room for me, as a result of whereas they’re doing that, I wish to end up my studio and studio toilet. And I additionally hoped to do the makeover on the hallway toilet earlier than getting began on the foremost stuff. But when I don’t get to the hallway toilet earlier than the bed room, I do not less than wish to end up within the studio and the studio toilet earlier than transferring on to one thing else.
That’s the plan! Over the past week, I’ve gone from indignant, to unhappy, to disenchanted, to intrigued, too excited, to utterly giddy. 🤣 It’s been a heckuva week!
Right here’s yet another comparability. Right here’s what we have now now…
Right here was the unique addition plan..
And right here’s the brand new, a lot smaller plan…
Notice: Y’all, I’m so sorry for all the typos, fallacious phrases, considerable use of random commas, and so forth., on this authentic submit. I believe I’ve all of it mounted now. I wrote about two sentences on this submit and the keyboard on my laptop computer stopped working. Simply stopped! It’s been giving me hassle for the final couple of months (the W and L keys don’t work, so I’ve to actually copy and paste any time I wish to use these letters), however now it has fairly working fully. (I HATE getting new computer systems and having to switch/replace all the pieces, so I put it off so long as attainable.) So I ended up having to jot down this submit on my telephone. And since I didn’t wish to sort all of it out on a tiny display, I used voice recognition. Nicely, not solely does voice recognition not perceive my Texas accent at instances, however it additionally loves commas greater than I do! 🤣 Anyway, all that to say that I believe it’s all mounted and readable now. I hope. And I assume I would like to go out this afternoon and get a brand new laptop computer. Ugh.
Addicted 2 Adorning is the place I share my DIY and adorning journey as I transform and embellish the 1948 fixer higher that my husband, Matt, and I purchased in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do bodily work, so I do the vast majority of the work on the home on my own. You can learn more about me here.
