Multigen Remodel Madness

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.

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 u...

 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 stoo...

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 ...

 Ari's bedroom is the only bedroom on the second floor.  It had been used as an office, with three large cutouts in the wall looking over the main floor and providing a glimpse of the views through the great room.  Over his vociferous protests, we had the cutouts filled in to make a solid wall and added a door to his room. Quarantined at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Ari's room was the first painting project I tackled.  Ari picked the color (North Star by Sherwin-Williams) and Ted created a graphic template of Mount Saint Helen's (complete with Sasquatch) for me to project on the wall and paint.  Ari wanted one of the later smaller eruptions depicted, with the plume erupting from the lava dome that grew in the famous crater. Above Ari's bedroom door is a loft that had an old ladder for access.  I've always thought library ladders were cool, and this was just the place for one.  I purchased a library ladder kit, feeling like we could build anything...

Looking for a multigeneration home is quite a challenge.  After talking about it for years and checking out a number of properties over the course of a year and half, we finally found a house that met our two main criteria: It was more centrally located in Spokane than our previous abodes. It already had an attached apartment with a large two car garage. It was also a unique property and checked off two extra boxes from my personal wishlist: an awesome view and rooftop deck. The original house was built in 1911, then completely remodeled and raised up to two stories plus an apartment in 1985.  To take advantage of the views, the large great room and kitchen are on the second floor and had been remodeled in 2018.  The rest of the house was interesting to say the least!  Ever wanted a 300 gallon tiled bathtub in the middle of your master bedroom?  Well, we got one! Looking for a house that has an elevator shaft? This is the place for you! We could see the potentia...