Stoneworks and Stoves

I have been dying for the fireplace/stove area to be finished so I could post the progression of the sitting room.  It still is a work in progress but there's enough done to justify a dedicated before and after posting!

So remember again, our living space area developed from knocking through a hallway between an original bedroom and sitting room.

Original bedroom

Original sitting room

Bedroom and hallway walls knocked out

Working space for the living room

We closed up the access to the 'study/office' on the left side of the fireplace and ripped out that awful built-in unit storage unit to the right of it, as well as the fireplace surround.  The brickwork around the fireplace doesn't look so bad in pictures but TRUST ME, it was not a pretty sight.

Creating a blank space and opening up the right wall to access the kitchen/diner
(above and below) 

Now with all the walls that came down there was A LOT of rubble and stone that was taken out and just sitting outside, so we thought we could use some of it to create a bit of a feature!  At first we thought maybe we would stone the whole fireplace/mantle but then thought it would be a bit too imposing.  The room is open but it's not huge so we thought a touch of the stone on either side of the fireplace would be a better option.

And we really love that all the stone came from the original house!

A new pedestal was created for our little black stove (it looks really little here doesn't it!).  And as you can see the floors are poured and we're waiting on them drying out.  Walls are painted a base white but they'll soon be ready for their final coat of 'French White'.

An off-white on the walls will warm up the space a bit and flooring is to go down next Tuesday, so I think that will help remove the current 'clinical' look of the place.  The fireplace is a bit sparse at the moment but I think we're going finish it off with a simple wood beam or shelf just to dress it up a bit.

It sounds crazy to think that we're aiming to be moved in in 2-3 weeks time!  Now baby ... where are you???

House Plans: Old and New

Sorry to anyone checking in for news and updates to find I haven't updated the blog in weeks.  It's been a bit busy but now that I've started maternity leave (and baby hasn't come yet), I can do a bit of catch up!

As you can imagine, lots has happened at the house which hopefully I'll update over the next few posts (well, depending on baby's arrival).  Things are really coming together and we can really see how the rooms are laid out.  After talking to my sister, she asked me to post some pics of the layout so she could actually visualise what walls were where and what we've changed.

So the original house plan looked like this.  As you can see there are a lot of pokey little rooms and some pretty thick walls in the original house layout.

This whole area is converted to living space and there is a new build extension for the utility and bedrooms that goes out off the hall at the top of the picture.  The new plans essentially follow as below with a few changes to exact position & length of the remaining walls:

As I said before, there won't be an island as the kitchen is a bit too narrow and the dining room table will be positioned in the other direction to fill the space a bit more. Knocking down the centre wall and making the larger opening was such a good idea.  Walking around the space it really feels so much more spacious but as there are some internal walls, it still has a cozy feel to it.  We're really excited about how it's coming out!

Who Needs Walls II

So I was finally able to get back to the house for some updated pictures!

I'm not sure if I've said before, but there is a main structural wall that goes down the centre of the old house.  We didn't think it was possible to do anything with it, so when we first saw the house and plans, we thought we could take down the other non-structural walls to create larger living spaces instead of 5-6 small pokey rooms. Stephen has a cousin who's an architect and we thought we'd ask her to give the house a look over just to get a professional opinion.  Well folks, professionals are there for a reason and if you are ever doing anything major to your house, I'd highly recommend consulting one!

Sinead looked around and though I'm paraphrasing, essentially said, "Get rid of that central wall.  It hits you in the face as soon as you walk in."

So that is what we set about doing.

Well, we just made the decision, Stevie (our contractor) is making it reality.  It apparently is as simple as putting a steel supporting beam in place, but hey, I know nothing about structural integrity so  I think this is a pretty massive undertaking.  We aren't knocking out the whole central wall but just about a 6 foot section to join the kitchen/dining room and living space.  The wall has been knocked out for awhile but this week the supporting beam and lateral concrete pillars are in place. 

The most obvious change can be seen in this before and after pic taken from the kitchen.

So here we are now with the kitchen wall taken down (the right wall) and the open central wall space.  The difference in space and light is just crazy! 

Again, looking from the kitchen, this is the before and after:

From the other direction, looking into the house from the old exterior door:

And here's a different perspective I've not introduced yet.  This door connects the old house (where we're renovating) to the bedroom extension (which was completed before we bought).  It used to be an external door but just hasn't been changed yet.  In this pic, we're standing in the entrance hall looking into the hallway going into the old house.  

Directly ahead is the central wall which you can see does 'hit you in the face' when you walk in.

And now with the hallway walls gone and the central opening.  And thankfully the doors aren't directly opposite each other.  Gotta think about that feng shui!

Who Needs Walls?

Just to show you more wall demolition (and it's not over!), this made a HUGE difference to the space and light.  Alongside the sitting room (not shown here), we are breaking through a few more walls to make a larger kitchen/dining space from the old kitchen, small hallway and old bathroom.  Unfortunately, I didn't take a good selection of 'before' pictures.  This hallway used to lead from the kitchen to a storage closet (1st on the right), bathroom (2nd on the right) and bedroom (straight ahead): 

If you stand on the left, where the yellow/peach walls meet, that's about where the previous picture was taken. 

A corner in the old kitchen (don't you love the curtains!) ...

And now with the kitchen units and wall gone!

And from the other perspective, looking from the old bedroom ...

The kitchen will stay where it is, so we're in the process of deciding on that.  And the dining area will be going in and abouts where the bath is.  Though space looks much bigger, it's a bit narrow, so no kitchen island for us :(

Wrecking Ball

Well, maybe not a wrecking ball but definitely 2 men with equipment to knock down internal walls started in at the house.  I have no idea what they used as I didn't see them in action but one internal wall (a few more to go!) is now gone.

This is work being done in the sitting/living room area where an old bedroom, small hallway, and small sitting room are being turned into our main living space.  One of the walls was quite thick but based on it's placement, wasn't thought to be a load bearing wall.  Thankfully it wasn't BUT once they started hacking into it, an old chimney was uncovered so there was a lot more work to taking that wall out than originally expected.  Here are a few pics of the before and after ...

This is the entry hallway that leads to an external door.  The old bedroom is on the left and the small sitting room is on the right ...

And TA DA!  No more hallway!

Here, I'm standing in the middle of the hallway, looking into the old sitting room (check out the fireplace surround!).

And now I'm standing at the far end of the room, in what was once the old bedroom.  You can see where the hallway used to be!

Here I'm in the corner of the small bedroom (see how that right wall sticks out ... that's the hidden chimney/fireplace):

Same corner!

And last pic, looking from the other end of the room:

I meant to try to get some more external house pictures today but surprise surprise it was cold and rainy so I'll leave that for another day.  Next steps, more walls will be coming down.  Stay tuned!