So we've had a lot of requests for house updates on Building Bensonhurst. Because I haven't found the time to update this blog regularly enough (I know, you've all noticed), Building Bensonhurst most definitely is not on my daily to-do list. Right now my plate is full enough as it is. But that doesn't mean a lot hasn't been going on at the house.
We're almost there! Hopefully only about a month out.. but because the finishing stages came so quickly, I really have found myself scrambling, trying to get decisions made so materials could be purchased before we started really holding any subcontractors up. Yes, Ben and I have talked about what kind of siding we would do for months (no actually years) now, but we always disagreed and then ended our conversation with "we'll figure it out when it's time." Well "time" came very quickly and like most things lately, my decisions have been made in 30 second phone calls with Ben- usually the conversation starts with "We need to make a decision on..." and then I say "Right now?" and he responds with a definitive "Yes!" and then I give him my decision. Of course this isn't at all the way I would suggest anyone make design decisions.. it certainly isn't my typical decision-making process- especially when working with clients, but so far everything has really worked out. To be honest, my instincts are usually pretty spot on and I really can't think of a time when I've changed my mind about anything design related, so I guess this has become our successful way of getting things done.. Now if only picking out baby names came as simply to us.
Anyway, as for progress.. our bathrooms are tiled, our walls are sheetrocked (to be primed tomorrow!) and our floors (well, half of them) are being delivered later this week. The scale and configuration of the space is hard to decipher in pictures, but here goes anyway..
So basically we added a master bedroom suite downstairs and an office, extra bathroom and laundry upstairs. And like many, when renovating old homes, we added closets where ever possible.. now I just have to hope that my energy level stays up long enough for me to actually get to organizing them!
Hall
Our back hall had two bedrooms, a bathroom and our lovely old garage off of it. In order to accommodate our new living/sleeping quarters, we got rid of the garage and continued to build off of the hall. We added a coat closet (heaven!) and reconfigured our existing bedroom closet, since we lost the old one in the demo process.. so right now, our hall looks like an unfinished mess..
Not to mention you can see right into our shower, which obviously won't be the case once the doors are installed!
Master Bedroom
We took the basic outline of the garage and extended it a few feet to make a decent size master suite- while keeping it to scale with the rest of the house. The best part? It's complete with a walk in closet and a small closet for Ben.. at least that's what everyone says when they walk into the space. But the reality is, Ben has way more clothes than me. I prefer to collect furnishings.. and once our closets are done I can clean all of his extra dress shirts out of the attic and store more furniture up there!
The master bathroom was fun to work on because I really tried to be creative with storage spaces. We opted for two pedestal sinks- partially to save money, but mostly because the space allotted for the double sinks didn't allow for the type of vanity I wanted. I wanted to stay away from the double pedestal, double medicine cabinet look. So instead we bought an ikea cabinet to be installed next to the shower and Ben built a little shelving unit for behind it so we wouldn't lose any space. The hole next to the shower is where the cabinet will go..
As for the tile, we went simple, white- with dark grout of course! I wanted to go really classic, in keeping with the style of the house.
Ben practiced his carpentry skills, once again, to build me custom shower niches- above for shampoo and soap, below is a ledge so I can comfortably shave my legs (though Ben likes to say it's for travel size shampoo bottles). The lower ledge became a serious debate in our house- Ben wanted me to do a corner shelf instead- I said if we did a corner shelf I'd never shave my legs again.. I won that one, and I think it looks great.
Upstairs Bath
Or the dogs bath, as I like to refer to it as. Since we now have three full baths, this one will be used pretty infrequently. I decided to do a hand shower up there so we can, once and for all, stop bathing the dogs in the kitchen sink! Ben might think it's easier to just throw them in at counter height but then I'm stuck scrubbing for the rest of the night..
Anyway, the upstairs shower is small, but again classic- white tile with really dark grout- it's hard to tell in the pictures, but the grout colors (up and downstairs) are actually very different.
The bathroom and the laundry are very tight and hard to photograph. Since there isn't much there now- other than some sheetrock, I left them out- but once we get some fixtures in there, I'll be sure to post more.. fingers crossed we get the washer and dryer upstairs ASAP, it's getting hard for me to maneuver up and down the basement stairs with a laundry basket these days..
The Office
Perhaps our favorite room- though it was a little unexpected. The light is incredible and the ceiling height makes this space feel huge, but not too huge at the same time.
And considering I can't step foot in my current office at the moment due to the amount of stuff in there, I'm very much looking forward to this new space.
The Exterior
And last, but certainly not least.. the most exciting change in recent weeks has been the overhaul of our exterior. I'm sure our neighbors have been cursing us for not redoing the siding sooner, but we clearly had a good reason to wait..
In the next couple of weeks the walls will get color and the floors will be finished. Yes, I might have complained about how the months and this project has dragged on, but like I always say, when it's done, you barely remember how inconvenienced you were. In the end, it's always worth it.
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