House oddities

Although things are moving along with renovations here, it took us some time to figure out where to begin. We were anxious to get started with the big projects, but we knew we needed to talk to an architect before we did anything major, so while we waited we did the following small projects:

1. Prior to moving in we bought all of our appliances at Lowe's during the Mass tax holiday, and had them delivered a few weeks after we moved in.
2. We removed the coat closet/2 pantries/fridge home that was blocking the kitchen from the living room.
3. We dismantled the rock planter that lived perpendicular to the coat closet/pantry.  Sorry Uncle Pete, there will be no aquarium to take its place!
4. We removed a weird bank of floor and wall cabinets that was in the "other dining area" at the end of the kitchen.  I'm not sure what its purpose was to begin with.  By opening up the kitchen and living area we could see what the house would look like with a more open floor plan.
5. We removed a badly stained carpet from the living room, leaving us with the same sweet linoleum floors that are throughout the rest of the house.
6. We pulled up the carpet in the basement too.  It was also stained/old.
7. We did some much needed weed and leaf removal in the front garden, thus joining Beth N's crusade against this common invasive vine.
8. We started the process of converting the house from oil to natural gas, getting a gas line brought to the house, hiring a plumber to remove the old oil tank, getting a HEAT loan for the work, getting a rebate for the new super high efficiency furnace.

While we did these projects we focused on finding an architect that could help us with the new floor plan for the main floor of the house, and a plan for adding a second floor.  The process was great, and our architect was/is very helpful and knowledgeable.  He started by getting measurements to create the current layout for our house.  Here is what we have:

Existing floor plan with my labels

 You might notice some weird things going on here.  First of all, because this house was built by 2 Frank Lloyd Wright enthusiasts, there are few right angles.  This floor plan might not illustrate just how strange that is, but it will become more apparent when you see the proposed changes to the floor plan.  Also, take a look at the long bedroom.  There are 2 entry doors, and 2 closets, but it's not the master.  We think there used to be a wall separating the room, but it must have been something temporary because there is no evidence of a real wall there. 
   The other small bedroom has what we call the "take-out window" because there is an opening at about shoulder level that is roughly 3 feet wide and 1 1/2 feet tall.  Maybe this was a den at some time? 
   If you look at the 2 bathrooms you will notice that there is a door between bath #1 and bath #2, but why?  Maybe these people were afraid of getting trapped in the bathroom because there are also 2 entry doors to the bathroom in the basement (the one with the sweet jacuzzi tub).  Either way, because the toilets in both bathrooms were near that door, you could be on one toilet and practically reach out and hold hands with the person on the other toilet.  Don't worry, that never happened.
   Another oddity is the front door.  It's on an extreme angle, and it makes it hard to see anything from the door's window.  Once you enter the house you are greeted with this awesome floor tile and statement light:

Can you believe that someone thought long and hard about what tile to put in their entry, and this is what they came up with?  From the looks of it 1955 was crazy times.

Here's another shot of the entry and the teardrop light fixture, or is that a punching bag? 

It's a punching bag, right?  The first rule of light club is that you do not talk about light club.

How could I forget all of the wood paneling throughout the house?  You can see it in the picture above.  It was on the listing as "real redwood paneling."  I know what some of you are thinking, this is not real wood, it's Irish wallpaper- you know the fake stuff that bends easily, and is seen here and here.  Well, in this case you would be wrong because that is actual wood, it is remarkably easy to remove, you can punch through it no problem, and it gets good air when you toss it into the dumpster.  Here's another shot of the redwood forest, AKA the back hall and back door:

See, I told you it's easy to punch through.  Just look at that hole in the wall. 

Then there's the aforementioned Jacuzzi tub in the basement bathroom.  It's very strange especially when you consider the overall quality of the other items in the bathroom (low). Maybe it was a gift!

Best Christmas gift ever?!! It's not that I don't want a Jacuzzi tub, but in the basement bathroom??

And finally, the last oddity is a major one.  The whole interior of the house is made with cement block.  No, I'm not kidding.  The entire place feels like my freshman dorm room in Reitman (holla Brandeis Judges!!). 

How am I supposed to get my awesome Letters to Cleo and Veruca Salt posters to stick to this?

Needless to say, our work restructuring the floor plan of the first floor has included building real wood walls with actual 2x4's.  As there is no insulation on the cement block walls, we have decided to use foam insulation to make the place airtight.  Right now the new walls look like this:

Yes, that is tile, and yes, it does look like mold.  We will be sad to see it go, but it will live on forever under the foam insulation  It's like a tile time capsule. 

Ok so, I know it doesn't really look like much now, but after the rough electrical work is done (by Dave) the foam insulation people will come in and then the dry wall guys will do their magic and it will look like a real house.  Can't wait!

Blog playlist for today:

• Against Me, "Transgender Dysphoria Blues"- New album out now!  Thank you Against Me for making 2 middle-aged teachers feel like punks!  We love you Laura Jane Grace. (explicit lyrics, FYI).

• The Hold Steady, album Stay Positive.  Check out this song, "Sequestered in Memphis."
• Dave was trying to kill my earholes earlier by playing the Lenny Kravitz album "Let Love Rule," but thankfully he stopped. 
• I am being lured back to the renovations by the sweet sounds of Liz Phair, album "Whitechocolatespaceegg" It's an oldie, but a goodie.  Here's "Baby Got Going" from that album, oh and don't forget "What Makes you Happy."  I think that's my cue...-A