The Upstairs

The upstairs is a former mother-in-law apartment. We thought it was a converted attic, but I found out from a neighbor that it is original to the home. I'm not sure if it always had it's own kitchen. I'm guessing that the kitchen cabinets were salvaged from the downstairs when it was updated. Luckily the plumbing has already been run up here because this is our future master suite!

At the top of the stairs are two doors. The one on the left leads to a small bathroom. The right door goes to the laundry and kitchen. We plan to turn the bathroom into the main laundry room and the kitchen into the master bathroom.

As you can see, the washer and dryer do not fit here. But they are new. The washer actually has a Handwash cycle. Yeah! We have measured, and they fit perfectly in the bathroom. Having the laundry off of the master bath will truly be a luxury. I'm not sure having the laundry upstairs would be as valuable to a large family considering the other bedrooms are downstairs. Since it's just us...I don't care!
The old laundry room will now hold the toilet. Plenty of room for a magazine rack in here! It's actually the easiest and most economical place for the toilet since a 4 inch pipe runs through the the left wall.

Here is the rest of our new bathroom. A tub and shower will replace the cabinets. I've always wanted a walk-in shower and separate tub. After days of drawing up designs, Luke and I finally came to an agreement on the layout. Luke and his brother completely gutted this room and now it's on its way. I lost the USB cable for my camera in the frantic move so I don't have any new pictures up.
We have seen so many home improvement shows where the renovators happily break things with hammers. It's not that fun. there were two layers of wood paneling and three layers of flooring. Luke needed a saws-all to remove almost everything. I wanted him to save the cabinets for the basement or laundry room but they were all nailed together. I was only able to salvage one small drawer unit and a piece of wood counter top. Hopefully it will fit in the new laundry room.

This room will make a nice bonus room. I'm going to paint the trim and ceiling white. The ceiling fan must die!

This is the view from our master bedroom. It's so private up here. Unfortunately this is the only room in the house with wood paneling. It's real sturdy though, so we shouldn't have a problem drywalling over it. I can't wait to sit out on that deck and enjoy the spring. It's so cold right now...