Post date: Apr 8, 2016 8:32:18 PM
So in the intervening five years we've made some changes and improvements (although not as many as we had planned!) The architectural plan that we paid for in 2011 never came to fruition. It seems that after we had lived in the house awhile, expanding the living space into the basement just didn't seem to make as much sense.
The outdoors has seen many small changes over these years, deck improvements with new paver walkways, a new chicken coop for lady chicken farmer Di, and lots of garden additions. The "back 40", as we call the back 25% of our lot, that we found as an unsettled morass of impenetrable weeds, vines, trash and junk has slowly evolved into more useable open space. There is still much work to do here but we have the tenaciously invasive wisteria and english ivy vines on the run!
In 2014 we did a long overdue kitchen update. In 2015 we added a basement bathroom. Why? Because how do you renovate the bathroom when you only have one? Step one: build another bathroom!
The next big thing!
Now we are planning an addition that will add a bit more living space, a master suite (with a modern sized closet) and a new family bathroom, all on the main level of the house. This isn't something that we had planned to do with our 'scale down' house, but came as a flash of opportunity. Our neighborhood has many smaller, older homes (like ours) on large lots that are rapidly being torn down and replaced with $1M 'McMansions'. This, in fact, has happened to the houses on either side of ours! So our thought process says that if we were to sell our house (for some reason) as it is today, it would probably be leveled, so why not modernize it and make it a place suitable for a modern small family? This should certainly leverage our investment in the house and we'll get to enjoy it for years to come. Also, as our kids families grow, the extra elbow room will be put to use for the regular gatherings that are part of our family culture.
It's going to be a big project but we love the projects!