Week 1: D-Day/Hauling it all Away

Construction finally began last Monday: November 5th, 2012—almost exactly 3 years since the house first became ours.  It has been a long journey to get to this point, and though we realize that we've got quite the journey ahead of us still, it is exciting to have broken ground.

Walking in through the dining room, via the walkway to the laundry room/kitchen, there is an immediately noticeable difference from last week.  Most of the glass in the house has been removed (and much needed, since that was one of the largest practical issues needing updating) and many areas are now open to the elements.  Here is a before/after from the same perspective, and another photo looking back at the area we walked through (followed by some other pictures of the dining room):

The kitchen had been mostly removed, apart from some of the island.  Walking through here, it was easy to envision the new design.  With the surface removed from the half wall, it is easy to imagine the openness the glass and rail will provide when complete.  It is such a nicer space when it is not compartmentalized as it was previously.  These pictures show the kitchen, both from the kitchen level and from the living room below, with a detail shot of the reverse side of the siding/paneling.

  

There hasn't been any work done in the great room yet, nor have Timothy's room and the guest room been touched.  The office and adjoining kitchen have been torn out though, and the laundry room has been started.  We did find a funny remnant in Melinda's bathroom on the shower tile—a creative way to study vocabulary?

 

The bedroom wing has seen a good amount of work.  The powder room and both Andrew's and Audrey's rooms are mostly deconstructed, and the hall cabinets have been taken out.  It's nice to see the rooms without the cabinets/counters interfering with the view out the windows.

view (from Andrew's room) of his bathroom (left) and powder room (right)

Looking straight through from Andrew's room to Audrey's room. 

Audrey's room: the sink was straight ahead, the bathroom to the left.

Audrey's room: her bathroom (right) and straight through to the Master.

Last but not least, we are finally getting a behind-the-scenes peek at what is going on in the Master bathroom.  It's a bit hard to tell what is what since most of the walls are now just framing, so focus-focus-focus.  :)

From the entrance, doors and closets are gone, courtyard on left.

The bedroom portion.

From the entrance to the master suite, looking straight through where
the closets used to be.  There's a peek of the tub and the courtyard.

From the corner of the bathroom...Chris is standing where our closets used
to be.  You can see Audrey's room in the background.

A funny view from the Master (closet area) where you can see under the house
a bit, and through the hall cabinets all the way into the living room.

All in all, I think it has been a productive week.  We are still hitting the design decisions on a regular basis, really narrowing down our tile decisions, and getting ready to move on to wood finishes.