This Old House

Previously, I alluded to the remodel we are having done. This has been quite a different experience for me as I usually do all the remodeling at our house. But we decided to contract it out this time. And we’ve learned a lot in the process.

See, we bought our house over 30 years ago from Nana, Grandma Nettie’s mom. The home was originally built, as close as we can tell, in the 1880’s, by Nana’s grandfather, Bengt Malmrose (pronounced “bent”). (BJ always wished we had named one of our sons Bengt so Grandma Nettie could tell Gramps to “get Bengt”. But that’s another post….)

The earliest picture we have was found in the files at the County Recorder’s office. As far as we can tell it was taken in the 1920’s, apparently as a way to help verify property values. (I think it was because the County bought “one of them new fangled cameras” and they needed to justify the costs.) As you can see, it was not way up on the list of the most extravagant homes in town.

Over the years we have embarked on numerous additions and upgrades to the home including a two story addition on the East, a wonderful grassy area with a patio on the South and a complete remodel of almost every room in the house. This has included removing large sections of adobe walls, gutting and completely redoing the kitchen, replacing an outside wall and roof over the South side of the house and replacing what use to be two large bay windows with book cases and entertainment center. (Not to worry, the bay windows had long ago become non-functional as prior residents had long ago added to the home leaving the windows looking into adjoining rooms, rather than to the outside.)

Each project brought its own set of unforeseen problems that compounded the cost and time involved. Plus, because I did most all of the work, while trying to keep a full time job, it always took way longer than it should have to complete. I think the last project, a minor south porch remodel, actually dragged on for a couple of years or more. On more than one occasion, we have lovingly referred to our humble abode as “The Money Pit”.

The only room that has not had a significant upgrade since we moved in is our master bedroom. (I call it our master bedroom with tongue in cheek as we barely had room to walk around the bed, it was so tiny.) It got a coat of inexpensive blue paint and some cheap carpet right after we moved in and hasn’t been changed since.

So, after 30 years, we decided it was time to do something nice with the bedroom. We made contact with a contractor, got the bid for the work we wanted done, and the fun began......