I couldn't quite make it to the house on Day 3 (I had some work to do that needed the "internets"), so I had my trusty partner in crime, Steve, take lots of pics for me on the job site. It was business as usual at the house (so I was told); loud noises, dust and debris, and a whole lot of progress. But first I wanted to talk about MY favorite part of Day 3 (as I've also mentioned in Day 2): the brick reveal..“Architecture starts when you carefully put two bricks together. There it begins.”
~Ludwig Mies Van der Rohe
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| BEFORE: Disguised in drywall |
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| AFTER: Brick charm galore! |
Just look at how it instantly transforms the room(s). The ol' brick chimney was covered in dirt and soot, but Steve gave it a nice quick turn with the vacuum and it quickly became the belle of the ball. Don't you think that the exposed brick just gives the place instant charm? I especially love that the brick itself is so full of character, not quite perfect, but every misshapen flaw suggests the years it has withstood. And this is exactly why we love an old house. *swoon*
We'll give it a nice scrub, with some dish soap and salt as I've researched online, and seal it up to protect and bring out those nice antique Old Chicago brick colors. I just can't wait to stare at it day in and day out when we move in.
Ok, I could go on and on about the brick like a lovesick teenager, but there were other things going on in the house too. Another header was placed between the dining room and the family room, finally giving us the open sight lines we've been hoping for. It really is a wonderful feeling, knowing that you've made your house your own, when we first bought the house, I was afraid that I'd have a lot of buyer's remorse, 1) because I've never lived in an old house and 2) because new houses still feel like it has the ghosts of the previous owners and I thought I might never feel like it was ours. But with all these changes we're making, we've made it work for our family and really make it our own. Just the idea of being able to see my toddler (and guests) in the other adjoined rooms, playing or watching tv, from the kitchen really is something I've been wanting for a long time.
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| View from the living room |
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| from the kitchen |
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| from the family room |
I haven't seen this completely open space myself in person aside from the small glimpses in the first few days of construction (I'll head back to the site on Day 5 after windows, hvac, and internet has been installed), but this just gets me more excited about our moving day.
In other news, our electrical being old as dirt has finally been taken care of (Peter, our contractor, is also a skilled electrician!) I'm not exactly sure who did all of the MacGyver'ing in this old house, but the electrical was a huge mess. Peter was able to ease our minds and route, re-route, and update the old scary tangled mess that powered the house. So thankful for that!
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| Electric nightmare |
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| Crafty genius |
OH, and in non-construction related news, we also met up with a couple friends of ours who are interested in renting our old house to shore up some paperwork. We talked over dinner at our favorite Mexican joint, Friaco's (mmm mmm mmm), the timing could not be any more perfect and this pairing is just meant to be.
A little background story. When we first listed our old house in December of 2011, I posted a link to the listing on good ol' social media (Facebook), in hopes to drum up more business, a friend of ours made a casual comment looking for a rental but not for another couple of years. Jump ahead 2 years later, and said friend is still looking and we are now renting. It was serendipity! (Alex and Angela, if you guys ever read this post.. thanks a million!)
So other than that, Day 3 went smoothly, and was a pretty light day, in comparison to the first 2. We even had time to stop at our local Lowe's to browse their lighting department. We found these 2 ceiling fans below. Totally different styles, but both appeal to our senses. Do any of these strike your fancy and if you had to choose (for us, of course) which would you like for the family room.
What do you guys think?
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| Dual mini fans |
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| mini fan within a drum light |
If you guys want to read the rest of this *exciting* remodeling series, CLICK HERE!
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