ADDING ON

When we bought our home three years ago, we knew it was perfect for us at the time. Just enough space for the two of us, the perfect location, a great backyard, good bones, a basement that we can use now and can one day be finished...but as time went on and we fell more and more in love with our neighborhood, we knew if we wanted to stay here for the long run, we'd have to make some changes. Not that we've got little ones on the radar just yet, but we know if we want to raise a family in our little home, we have to make more space.

So, for the past year or so, we've been planning, saving up and doing research on home additions. We've been working with architects and getting bids from contractors for a couple of months now, and we're pretty excited to say that this summer we're going to be making some big changes to the house!

Hellloooooo, new front porch and dormer addition in the back! We are so, so, so excited for this project to begin. The porch is something Eric has been obsessed with for a couple of years now, and now that we've removed the two huge pine trees out front, we've got the space to add one to the front of our house. We need to apply for a variance with the city in order to make this happen, but with the blessing of our neighbors, we've got our fingers crossed that it's going to happen. Moscow Mules while gliding on a porch swing, here I come!

The new porch should give our home a lot more character. It already looks so cute just in the initial drawings! We would finish the new top half of the home with shaker siding to give it a little charm (I'm sort of pulling for storybook-style scalloped siding like a few other homes in our neighborhood have, but we'll have to weigh the cost). I also love how the roof will slightly curve over the top of the porch for a seamless look.

Yes, we're totally excited for the porch, but the biggest piece of the addition is the dormer we'll be adding to the back of our house. Right now, our second story is basically just one big room (the master bedroom) plus a half bath, with a lot of wasted space due to the sharp slopes of the roof. Our dormer will bump out the back of the second level so we'll be able to get about 10 feet of additional space along the entire back of the house.

Here's what we plan to do with that extra space:

From one big room and a half bath, we'll expand the space to include an open lofted area, our master bedroom, a (holy cow, ladies, biiiigggg) walk-in closet, a full bath with a double vanity and a smaller bedroom. With these changes, we'll go back to being a three-bedroom home (we lost a technical bedroom when we knocked down the walls during our first-floor renovation last year), now with two full baths. I can't tell you how excited I'm going to be to take a shower and get ready in a big bathroom right outside our bedroom. Also, I may be just a little bit excited about that nearly 9'x9' closet. Just a bit.

The loft area will have built-in cabinets just under the slope of the roof, which will give us so much incredible storage space. I'm planning on making that space my office area once it's complete, maybe with a little built-in desk where the bump-out window is up there.

I am so excited about all this potential new space. It doesn't seem like a lot, but it will make such a difference in the livability of our home. We want to stay here as long as we can, and if that means we need to think vertically when it comes to adding livable space, that's what we have to do!

I can't wait to keep you updated on plans, how the work is going and, of course, the decorating of this whole new space (you guys, I basically have a clean slate to work with on that entire second floor...I'm dreaming already). It's going to be a rough existence while the work is being done, but the outcome will definitely be worth it.


Have you done an addition to your home? Any advice on what we should prepare ourselves for?