Yesterday started what we hope is a 2-3 week renovation of our laundry room...yes, I am just about 34 weeks pregnant at this point...so we are sincerely hoping that our contractors can stick by the schedule they provided at the beginning!! In talking with builder Bob (yes...his name is Bob and, of course, the boys started calling him Bob the builder!) yesterday, he is pretty sure that they can be done and gone from the upstairs of our house by the beginning of Feb...which would be wonderful!! Why do we need a reno of a 5 year old house's laundry room you ask? Well, when we bought the house, I had to give up my dream of a sink in the laundry room. For the size of our house, the laundry room makes absolutely NO sense! It truly is the size of a small walk in closet with just barely enough room for the washer/dryer and a small laundry bin. When we realized we were expecting another boy...we realized that we would need a larger capacity washer/dryer that was much more energy (and time) efficient. The problem was, there was NO way to have any larger unit installed in our current laundry due to the layout. If we could even get them in there, we would not be able to close the door...and the boys would have to fall asleep to the music of the spin cycle and overall clasps clanging in the dryer. Additionally, I could just see me trying to soak 3 pairs of baseball pants AND dirty bibs/diapers/burp cloths in the bathroom sinks...and it did not look pretty!! Not only are the sinks too small to hold more than 2 to 3 items at a time, but now they both are used for teeth brushing and I didn't want the boys brushing teeth in a sink which just a few hours ago contained bleach and soiled clothes. So resurfaced my dream of a sink in my laundry room. Our builder also included a large, but ill-designed, walk-in linen closet in the hall next to the laundry...and I guess my high school drafting class came flooding back and I could just envision what could be! So, after many months, we have finally begun the process or relocating the roof support that currently sits on the wall that we will be demolished to combine both spaces into (drum roll please) a laundry room large enough for a super + capacity wash set AND a large laundry sink!!! (and the crowd goes wild!) It may sound like a silly request, maybe a little frivolous to some, but to the person that spends hours a day in that little room...it sounds like heaven! I cannot wait! I'll have to post pictures of the before and after so you can celebrate with me!
The other project being tackled is a large attic space off the boys' closet. Right now, it is wide open, unconditioned (no HVAC or insulation and has a screened vent to the outdoors) and though we have an exterior type door separating the closet from this space, there is a significant difference in air temp in the boys room and closet...and their room is typically about 3 degrees colder than the rest of the upstairs in the winter and hot as blazes in the summer! Overall, the space measures around 12x12, but with the gabled roof, the "usable space" is more like 12x7.5. We are having it insulated and drywalled and carpeted and the vent altered so that there is still proper ventilation through the ridge vent but we can seal off the open vent to control the temp a little better. The "conditioned area right off the closet will become a little "play room" with plenty of built in shelving that they can feel comfortable playing Lego's in and not worry about the baby "eating" them! :) In time, it will also serve as a "study nook" so that those that need to go to bed can, and those that still have studying to do can close the door and finish their work. We may change our minds later, but the intention is to have all the boys in the same room. We really enjoy having a guest room for guests and the big boys already share a room and do great and Mathis is chomping at the bit to join them...so instead of having 2 twin beds, we will have 2 sets of bunks! And I truly believe that it is fine for kids to share a room - it may even foster a closer relationship! The times we have camped outside their door to listen to their night-time conversations are wonderful memories...and it is fun to hear them dreaming and laughing together!
So please say a prayer that all goes smoothly (and quickly) and that little No Name can stay put until it is completed and we can make sure all the drywall dust has settled (and been vaccuumed away!). Can't wait to share before and after photos!
Take great care!!
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