We are taking a huge plunge in the days, weeks and months to come. We have mortgaged the house to do some much needed repairs and upgrades. From the history that we've gotten from the neighbours we know that the original house was only the 2 bedrooms that we use now. In 1977 or there abouts the kitchen and living room half of the house and basement was added on. Part of this we can tell by the pitch of our roof. One side is much stepper than the other. You can see some of it in this picture. The original roof is actually still under the longer side of the roof.

The window in the middle is the bathroom and the window on the right is my bedroom. I want a window on the left. That's were the side door and stairs to go to the basement are. The stairs are so dark and dreary. We have been toying with closing off that door and building a porch/mudroom at the back of the house. Nothing too big. Maybe 8x8. I think we have 3x4 now and the stairs are right there. It's dangerous. Split entries should be banished.

The first thing (I want) we are doing is paving the driveway. We have small gravel and I am so tired of it coming into the house. Another reason is so we can use sidewalk chalk and ride the new bike that the Easter Bunny is bringing.

The next priority is a new furnace. This one has been here since the Reno’s in the 70's and it's time for a new one. They are much smaller and more efficient too. We are hoping to get rid of the chimney too. It runs inside the house in my bedroom. We have big plans there too.

We need new windows and siding and while we are doing that we are taking the window out of our bedroom and putting in French Doors which will come out to a deck.

The electrical needs an upgrade too. We are still on fuses which isn't really a problem except for one set of fuses which burnt in the panel and there are a few outlets that we can't use as a result. The wiring is crazy too. The plug for my fridge is wired with the dryer. Only half the outlet works upstairs and if the fridge and dryer run at the same time I lose the fridge and the heat in the dryer. I don't know whose idea it was to take 110 from 2 different places wire the dryer that way.

The rest is really only cosmetic (sort of) we plan to use the existing living room upstairs as our bedroom and knock out 2 walls between the kitchen and our bedroom now which we will use as an open concept kitchen/dining/living room which will have the doors out to the back yard. The back of the house gets the morning and afternoon sun, so I can't wait for that. I think it will be more convenient too for Jo to run in and out and for the dog too. By doing this I'll be gaining another wall in the kitchen to put some pantry cupboards and we hope to build an island too. We were given a gas cook top and a built in oven so in order to put both to use we need the island. My stove is on its last legs as it stands now. The bottom element only works when it wants to.

I'll be drawing everything out in the next few days and will scan the before and what we hope will be the after. The house is only 30x30 and we'll have to be careful where we spend the money. I guess it's time to start shopping and getting quotes for some of the work. Hubby and I will do a lot of it and we are hoping only to pay labour on the pave, electrical and furnace. I think the order of the list is going to change and we'll probably start with the electrical and then the furnace, driveway and so on.

Am I crazy to be doing this with a 30 month old? Only time will tell. I can't wait to get started and see the progress. I might be cursing myself this summer wondering what I was thinking, but most of it needs to get done and I figure that we might as well "Go Big or Go Home!"

Any suggestions? Any other ideas?

posted by Northern Mom @ 9:32 p.m.

6 Comments:

At 6:15 a.m., BeachMama said…

Sounds exciting to me!! My SIL remodeled her house out in Squamish while on bedrest with her dd, and it was completed during the first six months she was around. Their first house (that they now rent out) was remodelled when thier ds was born! So don't worry about doing it with a 30 month old, it will all work out. I look forward to the photos :)
At 9:49 a.m., Good Things I Find said…

It sounds like you know what you want. I can't wait to see photos.
At 11:43 a.m., Silver Creek Mom said…

YOU GO GIRL! There is never a good time to do a reno, so just do it. I can't wait to see it. I'm sure it will be awesome.
At 2:56 p.m., Anonymous said…

agree verbatim with SCM

have fun with this, it'll all be worth it
remember how we survived a kitchen and bedroom reno with 30 month old twins!
At 12:02 a.m., nancy said…

We too are a mere 1 week away from starting a big reno - not quite as big as you, but you know. Yes you can do it, even with Jo, remember our gutted kitchen for 5 weeks with 15 month old boys?

We are doing the basement, family room and adding a mudroom. Yikes!

Like sharon says, there is NEVER a good time. Go for it!!
At 5:38 p.m., Anonymous said…

The babysitter/nanny needs a bedroom.. No more couch.:P LoL