Today it's the Safford House. The original design of the second floor included two bedrooms with a small half bath in the hallway. I wish I had photos of that tiny bathroom, but we did this renovation long before we had any idea that this would be our future.
It's fun looking back on some of our first projects. Our skills and design preferences have definitely changed! That and the quality of the photos... the early days show it. One thing that doesn't seem to change is the signature barn wood headboard wall! This is one of our favorite things, and you'll see something similar in the Madison County house.
On the other side of the bathroom wall was a VERY small closet in the master bedroom. Paul kept his “church clothes” in it, and I used the large walk in closet in the other bedroom. There is no way that I would be able to use it even as a shoe closet!
We settled on a plan to take the 1/2 bath and closet and make a master bathroom with a tile shower. Then Paul used part of the bedroom to construct a nice sized closet. The hardest part of this project was probably moving out of our bedroom for almost 3 months! Looking back we didn’t have children and living in a different room with only ONE part of the house torn apart seems like a breeze!
That’s the thing with renovating your residence- you’re probably going to be displaced and it’s best to get used to it. Sure it isn’t convenient, but the sooner you accept that the easier the process will be. Also, don’t think that the initial completion estimate will come true! Always anticipate the renovation taking much, much longer than estimated and that’ll help you out a ton!
If you’re tackling your first project of it’s type (for us this was the tile), give yourself and your family grace. You might mess something up and need to tear it apart to redo it, but that’s ok! It’s part of the learning process.
In addition to the tile, Paul designed and built the cabinetry to perfectly fit the odd shaped space. Because we were just getting started the design was very easy and basic. That's something to remember- you don't need to start huge and complicated. If you want to do your own projects start small and keep it simple!
I hope you enjoyed this glimpse into our past and that you are inspired to try a project yourself. Leave a comment below or contact us if you want more information on a how too.