Part 1 of the Boys' Room : May 13

The ‘up until now’ progress of the boys’ room.  Probably the longest, most drawn out project to date- even the porch seemed to make more progress more quickly.  This has been discouraging for me, particularly having the entire upstairs and porch cluttered with stuff out of place and tools and lumber always underfoot -but the end is in sight!

After Matt tore off the old sheetrock, we discovered the roofline of the original house.  The original house was half the size of the house now and housed grandparents, parents and children.  I try to remember that when I am pining for a separate playroom for the children when company is over and the background playing noise makes it hard to have grown-up conversations or when our one bathroom is being occupied when I need to use it myself.  

We are incredibly blessed.

Matt replaced the single not-functioning outlet (the very thing that started this whole process in the first place!) with six outlets around the room and an overhead light.  There had been no light fixture before and since the only outlet was a major fire hazard- there had been no light in that room (save the window) for probably a year.  It is so incredible to be able to turn on a light with the flip of a switch now.  I realize this is the 21^st century and sentences like that aren’t often said- but it must be!  

It’s amazing! 

After the electric work, it was time for insulation.  I *EVERYONE* really hopes this will help the upstairs stay warmer in the winter…. Up ‘til now it has been, well, freezing. 

After the insulation, it was time to think about walls.  And this is when we came upon a serious roadblock.  

We wanted a log cabin look but everything was so expensive!  Really expensive.  Too expensive.  So we looked into beadboard.  Almost the same price.  Then Matt looked into a few more lumber options and it seemed, no matter what, it was always between $400-$500.  Ugh.  Eventually, he decided to do the boards himself...cutting the edges, board by board, on his table saw.  It added a few more weeks to the project but saved a bunch of money.  And, he had plenty of help!

 

Then it was time for polyurethane…

and hopefully, this weekend, the last of the boards go up!

After that, it is ceiling and then floor and then shelving and then DONE.

It is coming along nicely now and the sun is motivating us to button this thing up.  We are all more than ready for this project to be done.

Matt- so he can get outside and do other OUTSIDE projects now that the weather is nicer.

The boys- so they can have their room back.

The girls- so their room can be next.  (Not for a bit, girls!)

And the Mama- so that the upstairs and porch can finally be put back in order.  Oh, I’ve been positively desperate for that.