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Tackling the Solarium

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The listing for our house described this unique room as the solarium, and the name has stuck!  It was a room with a lot of issues: leaking windows in both the ceiling and walls, harsh and cold '80s tile floor, built in benches taking up a lot of space along the windows, and even a water spigot in one wall.  The room was drafty with lots of gross old curtains to try to keep the heat in (or out in the summer), and felt like it was closer to an outdoor space than an indoor one.  The room is two stories tall and visible from the great room, so we needed to make the right choices to make it fit.  After a lot of thinking about the possibilities, it was demo time!  This entailed removing the roof and walls, really opening up the house in the hottest part of the summer - but it was totally worth it! Once we got the new windows in and new walls with good insulation, plus fully opening skylights with remote operation, the room really became part of our indoor usable space.  It stays cool in
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Amazing 140+ Year Table

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    Every multigen home needs a big table to gather around for dinner, and ours is no exception.  We were so lucky to get a family heirloom around which to make more memories.  Kathryn's aunt's parents scored this amazing table from one of the original mansions in Missoula in the 1960s.  It seats 12 (it's almost 12' long and 5' wide with all 7 leaves in), or on a regular day seats the 6 of us for dinner plus a puzzle or Monopoly game going on one end.   We rented a U-Haul to bring the table and chairs home from Missoula, then sent if off to the furniture spa for refinishing.  After over 140 years of use and love, this set was ready for an update. The chairs were all taken apart and reglued, the table top refinished, and intricate details on the chairs and table repaired.  We chose a shocking green with blue accents for recovering the chairs, and love the way it all came out.  Looking forward to another 140 years of family gathering around this beautiful table.
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Ari's Bathroom Update

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 We all got involved in the demo of this small and strangely shaped space, ripping out all of the old brown tile, the brown tub, and mismatched vanity.  The biggest trick was getting the tub down the stairs and out to the trailer. We wanted to brighten up the space while working with its interesting footprint.     Ari chose a very cool cobalt blue floating vanity that we planned the room around.  With lots of white tile, brighter paint, and more light, this bathroom has become a beauty.
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Next Project on Tap - Ari's Bathroom

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We've started the demolition of Ari's bathroom (check out that brown tub - yikes!) and look forward to sharing the updates when the remodel finishes up.  For now, here's a look at the before and beginning of the demo job.
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Master Suite & Office

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The master suite was quite large (around 800 square feet) and on three levels, including a fireplace hearth level along two walls, before the remodel.  According to papers we found with the house, it included a "liberated bathroom."  Don't worry, we had to Google that too. There were few walls between the bed and bathroom and no doors.  The main feature: a 300 gallon tiled soaking tub made of solid poured concrete abutting the carpeted bedroom framed by two walls covered in six foot tall mirrors.  A small shower was behind one of the mirrored walls and open to the floor to ceiling windows facing east.  Near the large windows was a raised seating area with tile-covered 4 inch thick poured concrete and chicken wire floor. The bathroom's single sink and make-up counter were in the corner of the third level of the room with even more large mirrors, the toilet, and some of the closet space.  Looking at this huge amount of space, we could see the opportunity to use it more
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Apartment Remodel

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 One of the things that drew us to this property was the attached one-bedroom apartment with large two-car garage.  We could see potential in the apartment, but the bathroom had a claustrophobic shower, overly ornate and large vanity, and was dark and gloomy.  Ari couldn't wait to do the demolition for the bathroom, and jumped into this project on the first day of COVID-19 quarantine in March.  The kid loves to swing a sledgehammer!  Ted and Ari stripped the bathroom down to the studs in a couple of days and had it ready to go for the contractor to take over with the rebuild.  After pandemic delays, construction started in May on this bathroom.  The final bathroom is light, bright, and feels much larger than the previous version! The kitchenette featured a mini fridge and mini microwave, along with a darker countertop.  By adding a built-in pantry we were also able to fit in an apartment-sized fridge.  The area where the mini fridge once stood is being converted to open shelving, a
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Emme's Room

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Emme's room is a large room on the first floor with a sliding door out onto the deck.  Unfortunately for Emme, the large size of her room and closet made it the perfect place to put some of my clothes and Ted's clothes, along with our dressers while we worked on the master bedroom.  Before moving all of these things into her room, she chose a new paint color (Snowfall by Sherwin-Williams) to brighten up her room and make a clean background for the bright accents we had planned.   We chose lots of bright colors and accents to contrast with the pale gray on the walls.  The main accent wall is seen when you enter the room and the smaller accent wall is around the corner.  These walls were fun to create.  Ted laid out a pattern for each wall that I projected and used to guide my tape placement.  To prevent the bright colors from bleeding under the paint, I first painted along all of the paint lines with the gray paint.  Then it was time to bring in the rainbow colors!  Emme and I c
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