Transformation of living space continues

Living room update:

This weekend we threw a party to say goodbye to friends and family before I begin my next journey of medical school in London, England. Per normal Roylas fashion, we tackled some major projects that have needed to get done for years in the 24 hours before the party. We got a ton done around the farm: cleared away a pile of building materials from the driveway allowing 3 more cars to fit, adding the final two steps up to the sunset hill (which has been done except for those two final steps for 2 years). And finally, in the hours before the party, and a good hour into the party, we finished (mostly) the entryway between the dining room and the living room. 

Here is the original wall between the rooms back in 2007. We cut a small hole in the wall so that we would be motivated to cut the wall out. That hole became a great place to throw the dog toy, throughly confusing the dog, until we finally cut it down over a year later. 

The house originally only had one bedroom, one bathroom, kitchen, and great room. Now with the addition, we have three bedrooms and a much larger great room by combining the original bedroom and great room. 

Hole in the wall between the houses original 'great room' and only bedroom. 

"Couch" in the original great room and dining table. It was a tight fit. This room is now the dining room.

Here is the living room in April 2012. You can see at the top where the wall used to be and the old return vents for the central air. The living room looked like this for about 6 years (at least).

We moved the return ducts a little over a month ago. 

Here is the room an hour after the party started. Header finally in place- a jack holding it up while awaiting the side beams. 

And the final result!

Living room (original bedroom to the farm house) looking into the dining room (original great room for the farm house)

The transformation is remarkable! Those beams add so much character to the house and really transform the feel of the room. 

To see the living room transformation please click Here

Spring 2014 update

Well it has been some time since I updated our farm's blog. That is probably because I lived in another country for almost 2 years and just recently returned. I am glad to be back for a short visit and in my time back have had a chance to work on a few projects and document the progress of others. So here we go...

About 6 years ago we decided to turn a bedroom into a living room by knocking out the wall between the bedroom and our then living/dining room. There were two doors in this room then, one that was the entrance to the room and the other which was a closet. The closet was turned into a pantry and both of these opening were sealed. 

Here is a sample of how the drywall looked for the last few years. Michael is really good at getting things to the point of functioning, and then quickly looses interest for another project. So things tend to look 'unfinished' for quite a while. 

In this photo you can see where we closed the door and closet of a bedroom after we opened it up into our main living space. I hung photos that I had waiting to be displayed over the wall

Here is the wall after texturing. Great improvement. 

Then painted.

When the wall was finished, I purchased more frames to make a larger collage. 

In the week before, while I was done studying for my board exams, my mom came up and helped me paint our bathroom. 

Here is what it looked like before. 

And after...

There will be a door on this to make a small closet (all things take time)

I don't have a picture of the vanity before but just picture the two towers gone and a large ugly medicine cabinet instead of the mirror. Much improved now with more storage. 

 Then to move outside. Just before I left we had done some major work outside, residing our entire house, staining it, building the entryway, building a rock retaining wall and sprucing up our side yard.

Here is a single image to realize the drastic change.

Before. Notice plastic siding, single door, no porch, many dead trees, no grass, etc. Pretty shabby.

And the same house 8 years later. WOW!

Don't mind the next project under the tarp on the right. :)

In progress. Those are the rock pallets that we used to build the rock wall.

Here is the rock wall the day that we built it. Notice the lack of grass.

Beginnings of the planter boxes

(Mostly) Done. You can see the rock wall in the following pictures.

Look at all that grass!!!

Three planters for veggies.

That 'stick' looking object by the window is the window sill (not installed)

Our fabulous sunset hill.

Here is the property from the street.  

 Well, hope you enjoyed the update.

Front entryway addition

Although it is not yet fully complete we have gotten about 70% of the front entryway installed! Yay!! Incase you were not aware, the entry way is made of 1/4 of a grain-bin, which was the clever idea of Michael.

Now for those of you that do not live in the middle of nowhere where the wind blows and the snow blows and the rain blows, you may not appreciate the significance of this structure, but for us prairie folk, this entryway cover is going to be a game changer. No longer will we be assaulted by weather exiting our house (we will have a chance to slowly adjust to it in the covered entryway.) No longer will we have to bring our muddy pawed friends into the kitchen to wash their feet off. Our muddy boots will not have to live in the kitchen, and track mud all over the main living space on the way to their home. Rain will not drip onto our beautiful door and destroy it. Now we will have to wait and see how badly the snow drifts into the corner of the entryway (my guess is that it will be substantial.)

For now though I am enjoying my new decorating space!

You can see that we have not yet installed the corner post. This is due to the fact that we need to pour concrete for the screened in porch that will be on the east side of the house (next year project). The post, however, is all ready to install- just need the concrete first.

In other news the staining is getting closer; the photo below shows where I am as of today. I should make substantial progress and maybe even finish staining by the end of this week.

Tata for now.

Kymberlee

Farm Progress August/September 2011

So the last time I updated about the farm construction (which was actually the only time) the siding had not been finished, the staining was not yet started and the front entry was a long way from getting started. Well today, the siding is completed (mostly), the shingles are up on the south sid
e, the staining is about half way done (I think it will be done by the close of next weekend), and the front entryway is really getting going. So lets cut to the pictures.

Lets just recap where we started. Here is the house in 2006. Nice right.

Fast forward through new siding, insulation, stone trim, new door configuration, new windows, etc.

And here was my rendition of what the house would look like with the stain.

And here is the house with the stain. Pretty close with the colors. You can also see the cinderblock wall built to support the front entry as well as a template of the arch of the roofing.

Also in this picture you can see the hook that I put up and the wreath that I made for the fall.

And here is the siding completed on the west wall. I

am pretty proud of this wall because I sided it myself (with the fantastic assistance of Hanna's SO)

And here is a mock fit of the grain bin roofing.

Back to this wall. Here is the wall yesterday morning. We finished adhering the lathe to the blocks using a cement like composite.

Then added a layer of mortar. Also you can see the bracket on the far side (black object attached at the top. Ill get a better picture later) Plus test fitting the top cap stone.

Then we moved on to routing a notch in the wall to accept the roofing. This turned into a difficult task that went less than perfect, but it will work. We still have to notch the top by hand where the router would fit, which will hopefully happen today.

Good picture of the craftsman!

Stay tuned for the progress made over the next week!