1 year and loving it

We moved into our house one year ago today!  We couldn't have asked for a better location and are thankful for it daily.  Already so many great memories.

Yay!  It's ours!

I already posted our anti-progress in the yard, but had to repost the crazy fence picture.  That is one stacked truck!  Hopefully the non-yard pictures show some improvements.

We didn't get a bunch of before pics, so here are some from during the reno that at least show some of the progress.  The primary project was finishing the basement and making a suite.

The ceiling was nailed up plywood.  We insulated, most importantly against sound with SafeNSound for high frequency, a 1" metal channel drop for low frequency and 5/8" drywall.  Now you can no longer hear conversations, dogs nails on hardwood and there's a fire barrier.

A lot of rewiring was necessary.  

Thankfully Roger is a pro

The old bathroom was tiny (that's the old wall).  Notice the bare cement to the right - nothing was insulated.

And no before-after would be complete without the requisite yuk-mold picture.  Here's what we got when we pulled up the raised bathroom floor.

Dad working on the shower.  Space made it too awkward to use a standard shower base, so dad made it narrow but really long so it doesn't feel as small.

Matt tiling the shower

Nothing sexier than a man wearing workgloves

Cutting molding with Riley.  Crazy that that was him all along!

A new drain to properly remove water from our new furnace

This wall to close in the furnace was likely the hardest of the whole project.  No studs nearby, trying to save as much space as possible (hall is already narrow) and having to work around furnace pipes at the top.  Add needing doors to access the hot water and furnace filter, and we really appreciated dad's help!

Looking back at what is now the kitchen

Drywalling... we had a pro do the mudding and sanding.

The kitchen was contentious.  We bought a used kitchen for $400 off Craigslist - counters, hardware, sink, everything!  Guess whose idea that was?  Poor Si was stuck with putting it back together (and getting the corner cupboard through the door - had to be sawed in half and reassembled).   Their kitchen is larger than ours, and leftovers components also found in the pantry, the baby room and workshop.  While it was inexpensive, it was also tougher as we had to reconfigure the layout a fair amount, it got creative at moments.

Here's the after pictures.  Some temporary furniture for when our parents come to stay before its rented.
Bedroom

Yes, the "bedroom" has a fireplace.  It was too awkward to have the bed beside the kitchen, and plumbing/flow didn't allow us to flip the layout.  Instead of a wall, we used an expedit shelf as a room divider so the light still comes through.  This basement has nice high ceilings and plenty of light, fortunately. 

Bedroom looking into the living room

Living room into bedroom

Living room from kitchen

 Kitchen.. love the green tiles Si chose

Here's that horrible wall in the hallway. 

Bathroom

And dad's shower. 

This is a bit of a ballsup... the shower tap is too close to the side to allow us to use any generally available lever (the surround round thing around the lever is actually the problem).  Still working on this one.  Determined not to pull out the plumbing just to move it an inch or two.

Thanks to our families for all their help in the renovation!  One day I promise you'll be able to come for a visit without a "hey, can you just quickly help me with...".  For now, thank you though!

Next up:
This summer - Fiddle shop is to become an office.  Possibly close in part of the garage to make Si a workshop, but that seems like it may be more than we're able to take on.  Will likely move that to when we do a big reno...

And sometime soon - extend the garage 8", close it in, extend entry 4-5 feet, add covered entry and overset a peak to break up the roofline.  Here's something close to the idea:

Our existing home:

The "someday" renovations will borrow a lot from this - garage, added peaked roof on the left, extended and peaked entry.  This really helps to break up the style from the Vancouver split-entry we currently own.

I quite like how just painting and changing accents makes this house look better (ideally we can preserve our cedar siding).  I like the garage better on the one above.  If other Vancouver-ites see another split mid entry reno you like, send it along!  We're looking for ideas.

Finally, just a random.  Spot the pointer!  It's his personal mission to rid the yard of bees.