Cottage Renovation: Footers

I came home from work one day last week and found this sitting in the driveway:

So I guess this is really happening! Our cottage renovation and small addition is ready to get started. In fact, they dug the footers and poured the concrete towards the end of the week before the rain came in.

Before:

Digging the footers:

Filled with cement (and a couple beagle paw prints...):

It may not look like much, but I'm definitely starting to envision to end product! Up next: the AC unit (towards the back) needs to be relocated to the back of the house and then Bubba will be working with our Mason to lay the block. Let's hope the rain holds off this week so we can get cracking!

In the House:
Currently we are working on downsizing and de-cluttering. Today we switched out our warm weather wardrobes for our cool weather clothing, removed two chest of drawers, and took all of the artwork and decor off the walls in the bedrooms and living room. We've also packed up all of our valuables and fragile items from the kitchen, such as our china and serving dishes and moved them to the living room where they will be safe and sound. There will be a lot of banging and hammering going on on the opposite side of the kitchen, so I thought, better safe than sorry, let's gently package this stuff up and put it in a safe place. Next, I will be cleaning the remaining items out of the guest room and giving it a final clean up. Lots of work to do - AND lots of "before" pictures I need to take!

Building Permit - Check!

This is totally happening! The backhoe is being dropped off this week and then we'll be getting started on the footers and demo. I know what I'll be doing tomorrow...all of the before pictures. Cannot wait!

IT'S OFFICIAL!

The paperwork has been signed and we're approved for our loan. Which means, within the next week we are going to start work on our home renovations/remodel! My goal is to finish getting the rooms cleaned out and to take some "before" pictures. Stand by...those will be coming soon.

YAY!

Cottage Renovation

I feel like I've been writing and talking about renovating our cottage FOREVER. But I'm so happy to finally say that we are about to get started, and I actually know it's really going to happen this time! We have our drawings completed, our loan approved, and our builder lined up. So, within the next couple of weeks, we should be getting started. Here's what we'll be doing:

• Expanding one side of the house to allow for more space in the bedrooms, an additional bathroom and a mudroom.
• Adding a sitting room which will hopefully one day serve as a nursery.
• Adding a hallway off the living room which will lead to the master bedroom, master bathroom, and guest room. This way we don't have to enter these rooms from the living room.
• Creating a mudroom on the back of the house where the bathroom is now to allow room for a regular size washer and dryer and a place to leave Bubba's dirty farm and hunting clothes.
• Adding a guest bathroom, that will be accessible from the mudroom for any guests we may have.

It doesn't seem like much, but it really is going to open our house up and allow for a lot of extra storage and space. I would like to try and get some "before" photos in order to document the process. 

So excited!!! I can't wait to see our ideas come to life :)