Reno Finished! Almost...

I recently undertook the renovation of the second floor of my Cape Cod bungalow. I think it's considered a 1/2 story due to the sloped ceilings. The original owner build the house in 1945...and, well, he wasn't a carpenter. According to my contractor, there was a lot of scrap wood used. It posed some problems, but nothing they couldn't work through. For thirteen years, I planned was to raise the ceiling, move the knee wall, and expand the closet. 

When planning this, I kept the history of the house in mind. It's old and flawed (it survived a flood!). I wanted to maintain the 1945 cottage charm. So here it is...

BEFORE:

There are two rooms on the second floor. This is the main bedroom. I had to add insulation to the closet door because there was a breeze blowing through the door!

The queen bed takes up quite a bit of room. Getting a queen sized bed up the stairs was a feat worthy of an award. The box springs are split. It's the gift of an old home!







 



This is the other room. It's small - maybe 8' x 8'. I did not renovate it....eventually it will be turned into a bathroom. But...one project at a time.

Originally, it was the closet. Everything had to be removed prior to the reno. We wrapped the mattress in plastic and stored it in here...there was no other place in the house that we could put it.

This is the only dormer. It's at the back of the house. The ceilings were 65" high. Yes, I wanted to duck every time I walked up stairs.

As for the floors...yes, I LOVE the reclaimed lumber (I pulled the carpet up last year). BUT...they were too thin to refinish and too expensive to patch where the knee wall was moved.

And here is the small closet. The bedroom doors are on each side of the closet. 

















AFTER:

They replaced the banister with black pipe. The bedroom doors where moved about 12" toward the stairs so the closet could be moved out. 

The guys made the barn doors for the closet. My contractor told me, "If you have a picture, we can build it." In the process, he learned about Pinterest! I pinned...a lot. They are made from rough wood.

We added pocket doors to the rooms. There isn't a lot of space up here and regular doors would be awkward. It was worth the expense.

Yes...I still have some painting to do! BTW, the walls are Benjamin Moore Quiet Moments. The floor is from Home Depot - Distressed Hickory.

The bedroom went from 10' x 15' to 16' x 15' - they moved the knee wall back about 3'. It's taken some getting used to - I've hit my head on it a few times! The final knee wall is 48".

They replaced the window, rewired (and added a lot of outlets!), and installed LED lights (on a dimmer).

The A/C unit will be reinstalled in the spring. There are no heat ducts up here. =) The heat just comes up the stairs. It is chilly, but that makes for great sleeping!

Looking into the bedroom. I was standing in the other bedroom when I took this picture. 

The closet. It's about 6' x 6' with sloped ceilings. Planning the layout of the closet system will be tricky.

Looking toward the dormer window and stairs. The ceilings make this once claustrophobic area seem really open.


I plan on covering this window with a roman shade made out of a burlap coffee bean bag. Who knows when I'll get around to it. But I've learned not to rush things. At least I have my sewing room back!











I still have some work to do - mainly painting the trim and touching up some other spots. The entire project took about one month. It was mildly disruptive. There were no major issues. No drama. And I was $46 over budget.