Steve & Nita's House Remodeling

Click on any picture to enlarge.

It started with a new master bedroom closet:

Steve's design kept existing lighting, added shelf units across north wall. Cordless drill handy when framing the wall and double doorways. Walls are in; next comes the painting of shelves and uprights. Note "doomed" rust-color carpet. Bi-fold doors, once painted, will enclose the spacious closet.

thus freeing the old closet to become a walk-in pantry off of the kitchen/breakfast area.

Pantry in progress: view from kitchen into former bathroom closet (the opening into bathroom was walled up to create pantry). A peek at some of the extra space (some shelves were removed for painting) The east corner is for ladders, chairs, and table leaves.

The kitchen was refreshed: old wallpaper was removed, new paint and trim was added, new floor replaced the original which had been damaged by fire and water:

Door to new pantry was cut in this wall of breakfast nook.  After today, no more throw rugs to hide the hole in the flooring! 

With all of the new storage space complete, much of the living room and dining room furnishings were stored as the project moved to the middle third of the house. The wall between the living room and dining room was removed and the ceiling was raised in the dining room to match the existing ceiling in the living room:

Let there be light! Looking through dining room wall. Nita was already pleased at this point as light from the dining room windows made it into the previously dorker living room. Two different ceiling heights will be adjusted.

The wall was a load-bearing wall, so it needed to be replaced with a beam in the attic. This beam was 14" high by 4" thick by 18' long:

Beam has been delivered. How do we get it into the house? Note additional wood has been added to the roof rafters to compensate for removing the trusses. Setting the new beam in place.

With the wall gone, the space was really opened up:

Northwest view shows old entry way. Toward front door. Space, space! And the carpet has been rolled up.

Then came the entry wallpaper removal, the texturing, the painting, and the trim staining:

Foil wallpaper replaced with textured paint. Bright new entry way. Skilled experts matched the stain on new wood to the old. Many miles of baseboards, trim, and shelving needed painting...

And the final electrical work:

Steve handled wiring the wall outlets and uplights. Wall sconce number 7 (the last).

Then the floor and baseboards were installed and we were left with a few details, such as replacing door hardware:

Did we have a dance? You bet.

 Finally, furniture is moved back and the decorating begins:

Beth and Nita drive Allen crazy with decisions, decisions. Ideas for the kitchen area, too (for example, remount this print!) Now, where would be a good spot for the Navajo sand painting? Planning ahead -- Nita asks for opinions on Christmas decorations (for a party 4 weeks away).

(Click on any picture to enlarge.)

BEFORE AFTER
Kitchen (before)
Kitchen / Laundry Room		 Kitchen (after)
Kitchen / Laundry Room
Living room (before)
Living Room, facing SW		 Living room (after)
New "Great" Room, facing SW
Living room corner (before)
Living Room, facing SE corner		 Living room corner gone (after)
Great Room, facing SE
Living room wall (before)
South wall of old living room		 Living room wall removed (after)
South wall of house
Front entry (before)
From old dining room toward front entry		 Front entry (after)
New "entry" leads into one large living area
Old dining room (before)
Old dining room, looking east to kitchen		 New dining area (after)
New dining "area" with new beams and lights
From front door (before)
From front hallway looking NE		 From front door (after)
New NE view as you step in our front door

Shortly after completion, we were able to to host an Easter dinner for 17 using the space that had been divided into the dining room and living room:

Looking south toward former dining room windows Looking north toward patio doorway Gone are the days of moving our living room furniture into the dining room to have space for three tables!

This dinner used three tables end-to-end, but for a couple of years we have had our eyes on a table with the flexibility to match the flexibility of this room! This table is five feet long, but we purchased fourteen one-foot leaves, so it can be extended to nineteen feet. (It can be purchased with up to eighteen leaves, but that would not fit even in this expanded room.)

Harry Dossin and Steve Dossin check the extension of the table. Mechanism underneath will be supported by two central legs. Fourteen oak leaves fit easily into the new pantry!

We were blessed in this project with help from many friends, family, and contractors. We are happy to recommend the following contractors to anyone needing the types of services they provided to us:

Framing, painting, staining Terry Miller
Miller Exterior Design
3619 Tanglewood Circle
Dallas, TX  75234
972-484-8993
Floor Don Potash
Custom Floors
10825 Plano Road
Dallas, TX  75238
214.341.0310
Roof Jacobs Roofing
PO Box 270201
Flower Mound, TX 75028
817.430.2932
Table Doug & Brenda Arter
Amish Heirloom Furniture
35-37 East Main St.
Norwalk, OH  44857
419.663.3736

Are you contemplating a remodeling project? Perhaps you would like to look at our timeline first:

February 2000 Visit NARI Show, choose three possible contractors.
March 2000 Set up appointments with contractors to obtain estimates.
Summer 2000 Start electrical work and the building of the closet.
October 2000 Move out of kitchen and master suite; contractors finish building new pantry, mount new bath cabinets, sheetrock where needed, paint & trim east end of house. Flooring contractors install Pergo throughout east end.
February 2001 Move furniture and decorations out of the center third of the house. Hang dust shields on doorways. Contractors knock out dining room wall and ceiling and replace it with a beam.
March 2001 Sheetrocking begins; two weeks off and on to install new ceiling and partial wall, tape and bed, texture paint all walls, match wood staining, install new decorative beams and ceiling trim.
March 12, 2001 Flooring contractors return; Pergo extended through center part of house.
March 15, 2001 Remodelers return for final installation of baseboard and final inspection. Praise the Lord!
April 8, 2001 Passover Seder meal for 15 in the new room!
April 15, 2001 Easter Dinner for 17 in the new room!
Praise the Lord for family, friends, our new space -- and for His promise:
"I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me will live, even though he dies." (John 11:25)
Summer, 2001 Painting and installing shelves, baseboards, closet doors.
Fall, 2001 Decorating: dining table, picture framing and hanging.
2002 Replace roof
Final trim in closets and bathroom

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