State of the Garage, Vol. 2

As I mentioned in an earlier post, we had a huge ice storm come through town, followed by snow.  This is what our garage looked like Feb. 18.

It was pretty, but made it difficult working.  What does the inside look like?  Here are some shots of the inside of the garage, approximately one month after the last shots.  Here's a view looking left just as you walk in the double doors.  It's so difficult to capture with a camera, but there's a lot more room on the floor to move around now.

Here's the view looking right from the double doors.  There's still a bunch of boxes, but we were able to go through a lot of them and clear some more space.

 This is a new view- the one from the driveway with the garage door up.  You can see the truck on the lift and all the boxes underneath.  Many of those boxes and things are headed to Goodwill/recycling/the dump whenever we can access them, so that should be clearing out shortly.

When people came to the garage last weekend to buy some things and we mentioned what we were doing, many of them looked around and said, "Wow, there's a lot of stuff.  You have a lot of work to do."  We found that funny because when we look around we think, "Wow, look at how we can actually move through the garage now.  We've gotten rid of so much stuff!"  We acknowledge that a lot needs to happen before work begins, but we're making progress and that is making us happy for now.

The Project is Delayed Before it's Even Begun

We know that all construction projects run behind.  To demonstrate our understanding of this, we signed our apartment lease to end 120 days after the construction, instead of the 60-90 days our builder told us the project would take.  We've always had a start date of April 1 because that's when the tenants' lease is up and when we felt we could reasonably begin this project.  Design-wise, we're right on schedule.  Getting started in the yard, and clearing out the garage?  Not so much.  

In January, Scott and I mapped out what needed to happen each month.  January was meant for clearing all the junk (and by junk I mean stuff that needs to go to the dump, not all the stuff) out of the garage and finishing up projects at the rental house.  That went smoothly.  February is dedicated to organizing, sorting, selling and clearing all the stuff out of the garage.  By the end of February the only things meant to remain in the garage are those things for the shed or that we will use in the garage as a living space.  Here's the huge hiccup.  My mother arrived last Friday to watch our daughter for a week.  We knew that this was a really big task, so Scott took the week off work so we could both focus on getting everything listed and sold.  The first weekend we took our first weekend away together since our daughter was born.  We really needed that time to be together.  Unfortunately, while we were gone a huge ice storm came into town.  We weren't able to get back to town until Tuesday afternoon.  (2 weekdays down)  Wednesday we put on as many layers as we could and braved the roads to the garage.  We worked steadily all day, taking pictures, filling bins for the recycling center/dump/Goodwill and cataloguing everything we had for sale.  Scott stayed up until the wee hours of the night putting many of those things for sale.  Thursday (here's where it gets messed up again) we tried to clear away the bins to the recycling center/dump, but the center wasn't open due to ice and we couldn't be told when it would be open.  We got a few things off to Goodwill, but there's still a lot of the garage that can be emptied.  Thursday afternoon when we looked at the forecast, we saw that another storm was coming in on Friday, raining all day on Saturday, and freezing temps on Sunday.  We decided to admit defeat, and canceled the garage sale that we intended to have on Saturday to get a lot of stuff gone.  Since we were no longer having the garage sale, we weren't able to get stuff out of the garage to the dump, and we were never going to finish anyway, we decided to admit defeat and have Scott go back to work on Friday.  There just didn't seem to be a point in struggling through and using vacation time to do it.  

Saturday rained all day, making the roads slick and we just stayed home and worked putting our daughter's things together for a consignment sale.  Sunday, Scott and I were back in the garage and we were able to get some things sold to brave souls, but nothing like what we were anticipating.  

The writing is on the wall that February will come and go and the garage will still be full.  March was supposed to be our month in the yard to build a shed and a fire pit, but it may be that March is meant for cleaning out the garage, part 2.  We've got most of the stuff photographed and catalogued, but now is the time-consuming task of making the ads and organizing pickups.  I really hope that this can be done by the end of March as April begins construction and I absolutely do not want that delayed a single day.  

Design Dilemma: Tub or Shower?

Designing a space to fit your needs is either a wonderful or a terrible thing.  It's wonderful being able to design space to accommodate all the different things we're anticipating using it for.  It's terrible because you have to think through every detail of what you think your life will entail, forever.  My current anxiety lies in the bathroom.  I have always had dreams of a luxurious, tiled walk-in shower, similar to this one:

As you can see from the picture, it's a way to make the small bathroom seem larger and there's nothing to step over to enter the shower.  This is my absolute dream.  But....I have a toddler.  She NEEDS a bathtub, doesn't she?  I'm embarrassed to admit that I spent an entire evening reading up on how parents make bath time work without owning an actual bathtub.  Some recommend using a tupperware tub, while others insist that a hand-held shower head will work just fine.  However, isn't bath time in the tub a right of childhood?  I remember baths in the tub with toys, friends, and lots of bubbles.  I wonder if I'm depriving my daughter of some memories.  

I searched around and found this as a potential middle ground:

This is a way to have an open, airy bathroom while still having a tub.  I told Scott that we could install a tub and when our little one outgrows baths we could then convert it to the bathroom of my dreams.  Perfect, right?  He quickly slammed the idea as wasteful and told me that I had to decide now.  I'm still on the fence.  Any suggestions?  What would you do and why?

UPDATE: After many suggestions on Facebook in response to this dilemma, we decided to go with the walk in shower.  It's my dream and it'll only be a little while until our daughter can also appreciate it.  We'll be sure to look for portable tubs to use in the meanwhile.

Design Digest- Which Option did we Choose?

So the designers went through these three options with some questions peppered in along the way.  I can't speak for Scott, but my head was spinning by the end.  This was a lot of information to take in during a very short time and our decision had to be made immediately so they could refine it for a meeting next week (really tight timeline on this project).  What did we think about each design?  Let me give my impressions on each one.

Option 1.

I included the photo to help your memory.  We liked that the kitchen was large, had a roll-away island and even included a pantry.  Our bedroom was separated from our daughter's for maximum privacy.  There were lots of large storage areas and room for a spacious living space and dining table.  I also really liked the idea of a storage wall that would make all our most-used stuff easily accessible.
I didn't like the fact that we would have to use a ladder to get up to our bedroom.  We have a toddler and the thought of her climbing up the ladder in the middle of the night, or us going down to use the bathroom was less than appealing.  Removing the double doors and replacing with a single door towards the yard would be expensive and might interfere with the landscape design.  The bathroom was also much larger than we needed it to be.  We understand that being under a bedroom that has to accommodate a king size bed, makes it large, but we didn't feel the need for double sinks and would rather have a linen closet or other storage in that space.  I also didn't like the idea of the laundry in the bathroom.  It would look very cluttered with the laundry basket in front of it on laundry days, and I rarely finish the laundry in one day.  I just foresaw the space looking cluttered all the time.  Lastly, our television is quite large, yet we rarely turn it on.  I didn't like the thought of hanging it above our dining room table, even as I acknowledged that's the only wall space that would accommodate it.

Option 2.

We really liked that this option kept the remaining double doors and turned the activity areas so that the focus was the backyard.  Again, we liked being separate from our daughter's room for maximum privacy.  There were a lot of areas for storage and it felt like it had the most open living space.  Rather than a ladder, this space actually called for a really compact staircase.  We have just a few items of furniture that we'd like to keep and this plan seemed to accommodate them best.  There were also options to tuck away tables against the wall which would maximize floor space when we weren't using the tables.
One thing that really worried me was that there was no door going to the alley.  While we were assured that this is to code since the space is so small, it still bothered me that I would have to carry groceries all the way around the garage to get them inside.  Going down a narrow sidewalk, letting myself in a gate and getting across seemed like it would be annoying enough in the long-term to affect my happiness with the living situation.  Again, one of our main storage areas would be in our daughter's bedroom.  This isn't so much an issue now, but may become an issue as she gets older.

Option 3.
This plan seemed to address many of our concerns with the first two options.  We were able to keep the double doors and still have an entrance to the alley.  There was a staircase rather than stairs.  We still had a large kitchen, pantry, roll-away island and could align ourselves to see the backyard.  The washer and dryer would face the living space, making more room for laundry.
Our daughter still had the largest closet and our bed was tightly fit into the master, which may make making the bed difficult.  (In our current apartment the bed is shoved in the corner and I absolutely hate making it.  I know that low-level annoyances like that will affect my long-term happiness in the garage, so it's best to design for that now.)

The Verdict?

After putting the three plans side by side and discussing the pros and cons of each one, we came to a decision.  We chose D- none of the above (sort of).  We had some ideas in our mind going into the meeting of what we saw for the space and they weren't captured in any of these designs.  We began with option 3 as our base (so I suppose you could call that the winner), added some trace paper above, and got to work.

Essentially, what we decided to do is move the alley-side door to the bump out.  This would allow us some hooks and perhaps some shelving to store coats and shoes as we walk in.  We would then make an L-shaped kitchen.  Having a kitchen wall along the yard would allow us to get some windows in and really capitalize on the view.  We could put the dining room closer to the yard and having the living room in the back by the stairs for relaxing.
To address the large closet in our daughter's room, we'll move her bed to the alley-side wall and then put a large closet in the middle of the structure.  Having the closet in the middle also allows us to shrink the size of the bathroom into something we find more reasonable for the space.  The stairs are going to provide our main storage space.  We'll have all our clothes in closets underneath the stairs, and try to use more of the wall in the staircase up to the bedroom for other storage.
There is a storage area upstairs with our bedroom, but looking back at the plans, I can't remember how we're going to access it.  I'll also need to figure out if it'll be open or closed to the rest of the space.
They took the designs and the work we did and are going to come up with the final plan next week.  At that point we'll get our contractor to price it out and see where we need to do some cost-cutting.  Once that is complete we'll really delve into the design of the space and go into much further detail.  For this to work, everyone needs to be on the same page and move quickly.  Our lease at the apartment is up in six months and we have no intention of going month-to-month.  Cross your fingers for us.

Design Option 3

The first option created a streamlined traffic pattern through the garage.  The second option allowed us to focus on what will be a great view of the yard.  What about option 3?

This option is similar to the first, but it keeps the original double doors to the backyard.  It also moves our daughter's bedroom right below ours.  The bathroom is allowed to have a taller ceiling as there is storage above it.  There will also be a stairway with pullout storage underneath.  The kitchen remains large and in charge enough to accommodate the daily meals I prepare.
Here's a cross section of this plan.

The main storage areas would be under the stairs in and in our daughter's room (wait until she's a teenager!) but we'd have a small closet in our room as well.  This accommodated a large sofa with a table behind.  Depending on our preference, we could switch the two.

Here are some inspiration pictures of the storage we could accomplish under the stairs.

So this plan was very similar to number one, but doesn't move an exterior door, uses real stairs to get upstairs and seems to have more 'closets' as storage.
Now that you've seen all three designs, which do you prefer?  There are definitely things that we liked and didn't like about all three designs, but we'll do the whole smack-down rundown in another post.

Design Option 2

After we reviewed the first design there were a million thoughts spinning around our heads.  It's a lot to take in and think about.  After debating whether to discuss it or continue on with all the designs, we decided to proceed with all the designs and then open it up for discussion.  Here's design 2.

You can see that this design keeps the double doors to the yard, but doesn't have a door to the Alley.  They were able to change the orientation of the living space, so it would face the yard.  Similar to option 1, the master bedroom and storage would be upstairs, while the second bedroom and bathroom would be down.

Here's a different perspective of the space.

You can see that upstairs is the master, and the storage area is open to below.  It would make the place feel much more open.  There's also a stairway that replaces the ladder from option 1.  The master would also have room for a dresser and a ottoman.  The largest closet would be downstairs in our daughter's room.  The bathroom would be big enough for a bathtub and would house the washer and dryer.  The living space would also have room for our daughter's art/activity table.  

Here's another cross section of what this option could look like.

I just want to stop and appreciate all the windows for a moment.  Tall ceilings and light will make a huge difference to this space and having a beautifully landscaped yard will give us a great view.  You can see a really large kitchen and living space, but there's no dining room table.  Keeping the storage area open above our daughter's room would mean more light for us in the master.  

Cool design ideas that could be implemented in this space:

The top left corner shows that a cushion could be embedded in the floor.  How fun would that be?  There are fold down tables, storage beneath beds and couches and lots of beautiful shelving and closet inspiration.  There are many ways to creatively fit everything we're looking for.

What do you think of option 2?  What do you think about this plan in relation to option 1?  What do you think will be behind curtain #3?

Design Option 1

To refresh your memory, here's a picture of the garage as seen from the house.

And here's a picture as seen from the alley.

These were taken while the garage/yard were under construction.  What you don't really see in either picture because it's blocked by trees is a bump-out.  

Now that I've refreshed your memory, let's get to the plan.  Option 1 looks like this:

We would remove the double doors to the yard and replace them with a single door moved further over.  We would also add a door to the alley side.  Having the straight shot like that would allow the traffic pattern to stay in a single line which would leave more living space open for dining and lounging.  There was a large storage option along the alley side, as well as the ability to surround our daughter's room with storage, depending on if we wanted to loft her bedroom or not.  

They also included some cross-sections to show more details or ideas.  They thought this scheme could go two ways, so let's look at 1A first.

In this diagram, the master bedroom was upstairs. There would be a few steps up and then a ladder that would go to the master bedroom or storage.  One interesting idea they had was to slide the steps out to access more storage below the landing.  

As for the master, a king-size bed was one of our design requirements.  In a small space, this is not a small request.  Because the bed itself is so large, and having space to make the bed comfortably takes up even more space, the bathroom below it will be large by default.  Adding the laundry to the bathroom made sense to make good use of that space.

As for the kitchen, it's a long, galley style kitchen, but has an island that slides out to give me the work space that I really need.  They also wanted to feel out how we felt about curtains vs doors to block off things like the pantry.  Tip: curtains can save up to a foot of space over even a bi-fold door.  

Option B looks like this:

In this option, we would switch places with our daughter and we would have the master bedroom downstairs with storage above our bedroom.  Our daughter's room would move above the bathroom.  She would have enough room for a trundle bed and a little table in her room.  The washer/dryer would open to the living space and the living room would  be more defined.

We really liked all the open living space that we would have and having a pantry would allow us to continue to capture the savings we get by buying in bulk.  The door to the laundry closet would be thick and double as a bookshelf.

Here are some inspiration photos they showed us to illustrate the ladder, as well as the storage wall they were proposing along the alley.

So that's Option 1.  What do you think?  Anything jump out at your or anything you would change to this design?  I'll withhold my/our comments until I've presented all the plans.

The Designs are Back!

Yesterday was one tough day.  The little one didn't sleep well the night before and really put me to the test during the day.  Luckily, I knew we had the design meeting scheduled for yesterday evening and that was enough to get me through.  Crying because I put the keys on the hook and you wanted to play with them?  Deep breath- 5 more hours until the meeting.  Tantrum because you want me to read to you and I'm trying to cook dinner? Sigh- 1.5 more hours.  You know, one of those kind of days.  I'm honestly not sure if I've ever been happier to have the babysitter arrive so Scott and I could take off.  Luckily, taking off just meant to the lounge downstairs for the meeting.
The designers arrived and we were able to get to work pretty quickly.  The objective of this meeting was to look at three potential designs for the garage and choose one of them to proceed with going forward- I felt like a person on a HGTV show.  There was a lot of information to go through.  Here's an overview of all the designs.

I think rather than have one mega-post, it'll be better to look at each design separately.

Quick Minimalist Exercise: Keys

To live successfully in 600 sq. ft. we are embracing minimalism.  To me, minimalism is a continuum, there are some people who are only comfortable if all surfaces and walls are clear.  Personally, this is too spartan for my taste.  On the opposite end of the spectrum, I get irritable when I look around and see stuff on every single surface.  When I reach that point, cleaning needs to happen immediately.

Most often, in everyday life, we just accumulate possessions gradually and it's much later when we look and realize that we have a big mess that needs addressing.  Case in point- my keychain.  This is what it looked like this morning.

I have keys to both cars, one of which I never drive, several keycards for the library, grocery stores, etc, my apartment key, mail key, key fob for the building, old house key, one decorative keychain from a trip years ago and the wristlet.  It's big, bulky, and difficult to find the things I really need.  In my mind keys have always been an indication of responsibility- the more keys you have, the more you're responsible for.  When I looked at these keys and thought about my daily life, I realized that I needed to have a big clean out.

Here's what remains:

Basically, I have my car key, apartment keys, the most essential keycards that I use all the time and the wristlet.  Any parent of a toddler will confirm how nice it is to be able to wear your keys around your wrist and free up your hand for something else.  It's much smaller, feels lighter, and is more indicative of my everyday responsibilities now.  It took less than 2 minutes to do and feels much better.

TIP: Years ago my mom began putting all those discount keycards on a separate keychain she keeps in her purse.  When she goes to the store, she pulls out that keychain and flips through.  This keeps her from not having to deal with a massive keychain and they're all in the same place.  I have a similar keychain, but I keep it in my wallet.

Any tips you have?  As for the extra keys, I consolidated them onto another keychain and have it hanging separately on our key tree.  While I like knowing where all my keys are, it looks a bit cluttered on the wall.  How would you address this?

January Progress Report/ Goals for February

Am I the only one who can't believe that January is already over?  If January is indication of the rest of the year, it's going to be quick one!  This month was most exciting because it marked the big kick-off for the design of the garage.  We're so excited about our designers and had a great first meeting where we really examined how we're currently using our tiny apartment space and talked about what we could do to make it easier to function, as well as the aesthetics we prefer.  They're busily working on three big ideas and putting together a proposal to be seen this weekend.  I've never been so excited for the weekend (wedding weekend aside).  I'll have more to report on that next week.

A few weeks ago Scott and I sat down with a blank calendar and tried to realistically break down our timeline for the next four months, or until construction begins.  Since we were already half way through the month, our goals for January were simple:

1.  Finish up all the work that needed to be done at the rental houses.  The tenants in the rental house on-site are great and they didn't really have any needs, but the tenants in our suburban house wanted some things done that we just didn't have time to get to before we moved out.  We were able to tick this item off the list on the 31st.  Whew!

2.  Haul off/clear away all the junk in the garage that was taking up room so we have space to deal with the other stuff.  A large portion of the floor space in the garage was taken up with yard waste and other things that needed to be hauled off to the city dump.  Luckily, the quarterly yard waste pickup occurred in January, so all we had to do was make sure that the stuff made it out to the alley.  Scott spent a morning and took a few trips to the dump with the other stuff.  We now have some room to take things out, look at them and decide what to do with them, which brings us to our singular goal for February (and it's a big one):

1.  Go through, sort, organize, list, and sell all stuff that we won't be keeping.

That's right, by the end of the month only the things that we want to keep in our house or shed should remain.  Due to the quantity of stuff we will have to deal with, we determined that this is more than a casual weekend project that Scott will do while I have our daughter.  Grandma to the rescue.  My mom will be giving us two weekends with the week in between to watch our daughter so Scott and I can work together on the garage.  (Wish our marriage luck.)  We already have pictures of several things we want to sell, so we need to get serious about getting those listed and getting them sold before Grandma arrives.  We will use that week to hopefully get through everything in the garage so that we can have a big garage sale on the second weekend.  After that garage sale we'll need to look at donating the remaining stuff or other creative ways to get it out of our life by the end of the month.  This month is going to be a rough one.  It's also going to be the first full week of work my husband has taken off in the nearly two years since our daughter was born.  I just wish it were for something more fun, but I keep reminding myself that a garage/shed not filled with stuff we're constantly managing will be more fun in the long-term.

I'm really glad that we were able to make goals and put some support systems in place to help achieve them.  Hopefully we're not missing anything.