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The transformation from our bedroom to the new family room is (nearly) complete. This is one of the biggest perks, in my opinion, of the increased space we have - being able to have a family room where toys can roam, unrestricted, without it becoming a major annoyance for me. So here's what the room looked like before:

And now, with a new coat of paint, new rug, new TV (thanks Target Gift Card!) and the rest of our old furnishings, our new family room:

I am really liking this as a family room. It is so sunny, we can actually see out to the backyard (assuming the MN weather will eventually cooperate and we'll have outdoors weather again) and the porch-turned-semi-mudroom will be a major improvement for an entry way. I'll have pictures of the mudroom when it's done, which was last Friday.....oh wait, that's when everything was supposed to be done, but wasn't! Actually, I have no idea when it'll be done, but it's close, as Scott keeps reminding me.
People have told me that the finishing-up "punch-list" is the most frustratingly slow process, as it takes forever for them to complete the job. But I am getting really irritated and called Chris today to express as much anger at the glacial pace he is moving at as I could. We are expecting my sister and family this weekend, and can't use the new guest room until we can move the porch furniture back onto the porch, and then move the nicer futon up from downstairs, and then move the older futon out, and then...and then....
And to make matters even more stressful, we are running out of money. Or rather, we ran out of "money" and are now finishing up with credit cards. But I guess it's all on credit, really, anyway, right? Right.

Finished product

Well, after 6 months, we've moved upstairs and are thoroughly enjoying our new digs. We're slowly working on getting all the furniture we need, but we're just happy to be in the space.
Here is our master bedroom:


We are trying to decide which color curtain we like, thus the multicolored panels. Any preferences? You can let us know in comments. Reid and Devin like running around in our room too, though they liked it better before there was furniture to get in their way.
This is the front window seat area, minus a chair, ottoman, and window seat cushions that we have yet to purchase:

Here is a view of the filled up closet:

And the finished bathroom:

And the boys' room (looking cleaner than usual):


We still got the 'punch list' to go, but Chris says he'll be done by the end of this week. He also is finishing up part 2 of the project: turning our back porch into an entry way and semi-"mudroom" for coming in during the warmer months. He's done laying down the vinyl flooring, and he's installed a regular secure door for the entry. I'll post pictures of that when it's done.
And now we're moving on to the transformation of our former bedroom into our new family room - again, I'll post pictures when we're done. This is happening sloooooowly since I'm doing all the painting, but it's getting there.
Overall, we are really happy with how things turned out, though the process certainly had it's stressors. We think it's been worth it!

The first week

Well, the first week in our new addition has come and gone. Overall, it's been very enjoyable settling in. The boys have had some ups and downs getting used to their bunk beds. Mostly Devin, who before now was sleeping in a crib. So he's wandered around a couple nights after waking up, and needed a little more Mommy and Daddy time at bedtime and early in the morning. But that's to be expected, and overall he's been sleeping pretty well.

Reid threw us a little curveball when one night he declared he didn't want to sleep in his top bunk and wanted to sleep with Devin in the bottom bunk. We kind of just rolled with that and let him; and before long there was enough "Devin's bothering me!"/"You bothering ME!" that Reid decided maybe he did want that top bunk after all.

Jill has been painting the former bed/future family room, and it's looking good. She's also painting the boy's little bookshelf so it matches the red wall. She's been busy. I've been busy too, checking out the reading seat in the bedroom by the front windows, making sure it's comfortable. Needs a little more breaking in, I think.

I have done a couple little things, put the knobs on the cabinet in the bathroom, installed a CO detector in the boys room. When we're this close to being done, I actually have the temptation to ask Chris if there's something I can do. I've managed to resist the temptation so far. Don't want to get too crazy.

Chris is working mostly on the back porch/mudroom now, and I would think it won't be long to get that done. Now we're mostly stressing out over things like furnishings and such. It's a good problem to have.

Finally!

We moved the bedrooms today! Chris came at just after 10am to finish up some final things in the boys' room and help us move our furniture upstairs. It was all going smoothly, remarkably smoothly actually, until....the boxspring. Knowing our queen size mattress barely fit up the stairs with bending and pushing and pulling, we knew the box spring was going to have to go another way if it was going to get up there. Our first try was up the temporary stairway, in through the boys' window. We had to remove the window itself, but still, no-go. The next try was to to hoist it up to the scaffolding (also seen in the previously linked post) just outside the master bedroom window - again having to remove the window - and after nearly giving up, Scott and Chris were able to get it through the window. Thank Goodness. The next step was to try to carry it up a ladder and haul it through the closet window...yeah, that would've been fun.
Anyway, the boys' room is nearly complete, our bedroom-type furniture is in, but we still have to purchase furniture and pillows for the reading area by the window seat. And I kinda got burned out enough that I haven't moved all my clothes up there yet.
The kids went to bed in their new room tonight - and so far so good. This is Devin's transition out of his crib, so we tried to make it appealing for him. Let's hope we don't have a wandering 2 year old tonight.
I'll post more pictures with the furniture in later (again got burned out a bit). Whew! Can't believe we are finally up there!

Ready, Steady, Go!

Well, we made it - sort of. With 3/13 looming as the deadline earlier this week, Scott and I took stock of what needed to be done before we would feel comfortable moving up, and wrote out a list for each area. We told Chris to prioritize the sleeping areas, so at least we could move in there and just use the downstairs bathroom while he finishes that area. So he worked late Friday and some into Saturday, and we're set to move the bedrooms - today!
Here are some pictures of the master bedroom, cleaned and ready to go:

Here's the front 'reading area' with our built-in window seat and bookshelves:

And a closer look:

It's difficult to get a good picture of our closet, but we had Chris add some shelves for clothing:

Here's view down the hallway from our bedroom into the boys' room. You can see the built-in alcove shelves and the linen closets:

The boys' room hasn't changed much since the last posting, though we do now have the (light-blocking) blinds in, and the closets are (closer to being) done.



And one last view of the hallway from the boys' room to our room - bathroom - yet to be completely finished, of course, is on the right:

So if all goes well today, we have spent our last night in our downstairs bedrooms. Devin has now started saying that he doesn't like his bunk bed, so we're hoping that once it's dressed up with CARS bedding and his blankets and everything that he'll be ok. If not....I'm not sure we've thought of the contingency plan of moving the crib up there and I'm not sure where it would go. So our fingers are crossed.
I'll post pictures of the rooms furnished eventually. Next up is the transition of our downstairs bedrooms into a family room and guest room/computer room. I have a day off this week, and the plan is to do the painting of the family room that day. The fun never ends...

End in sight??

So, our builder says he'll be done by 3/13. (!) It's Friday the 13th - should we be concerned? He also says he will help us move our furniture the next day, which is nice. And then the slow musical-chairs begins of moving several rooms into several other rooms, with some painting to boot.
One of the nice features we will have is the built in window seat, which is pretty much done.

The window seat features lift-up seats for storage, and we'll get some comfy pillows for the area. Note the built-in bookshelves - the one on the right is what it will look like with the arch to match the arch details down on our first floor, and of course it will be stained.
Here is a picture of the south side of the master bedroom, with the windows stained with the trim. All the windows will have grilles to give the divided-light appearance as well.

Chris has also been working on the closet - it is hard to get a good photo of this - but you can see the set up at least. The ledge along the wall is covering the duct for the heating/cooling unit but will serve us nicely for shoes, maybe. We will have 3 built-in shelves to either side of the window as well.

And the shower door is in too. We are anxiously awaiting the use of this shower, because the water pressure in our lower floor shower leaves something to be desired.

Up next: the blinds are being put in tomorrow. This was key for us to be able to move up there, given how close we are to our neighbors. And then - we'll see if we're done on Friday!

Bunker down and wait...

The Bunk Beds have arrived! They fit perfectly into the space we have. The boys are so excited, and it has really got us excited to move up there.

But......things still are still dragging. It seems so close, but all I can see are all the little things that need to get done before we can move up there and it is so aggravating! We had 'the talk' with the builder, and he says he'll be able to be more productive this week. So. we'll see.