Surprise! Building is Underway!

(Note:  I began this post over the weekend.  It's a few days behind...oops)

Last Monday I touched base with our contractor to confirm that we were a go to start next week.  He confirmed this and surprised me a bit when he said that rather than starting with floors and door he wanted to start with electrical.  He had to touch base with his electrician but wanted to schedule a meeting for Wednesday at 8.  Now, next week is our fall break at school and I have an appointment at 7:15 nearby, so I thought it would be ideal that Scott would have our daughter and we could rendezvous at the garage and have a meeting when I was finished.  Then, Wednesday of this week (Sept 30) I get a call at 8:08 asking if Scott and I were going to be there.  I admitted that I got the week mixed up, informed him that Scott wouldn't be coming (which was a shame because he knows way more about the specifics of what needs to happen), and immediately changed into my clothes to fight the rush hour traffic to get there late.  I didn't even give my daughter time to get dressed- luckily she doesn't mind going out in public in her pajamas one bit.  When we got there I gave it the good old college try talking to these electricians about what needed to be done and what should go where.

When the meeting was supposed to be this coming week we thought we had the weekend to get over there and mark out where we wanted all our plugs and switches to go.  I felt like I was having to think about and cover everything on the fly.  Luckily, they were really nice and took pity on me and told me that they had several days worth of demo and basic wiring that they could get started on without knowing exactly where each thing needs to be placed at this point.  

One thing that became crystal clear during this discussion was how valuable it would've been to have a builder involved at the very beginning.  The electricians had way better knowledge of the codes and knew things such as an outlet has to be positioned within 18" of the sink.  I planned to have the beautiful windows go straight to the counter, but it may turn out that I need a backsplash to accommodate this now.  I also was completely unaware of the structural elements of the garage and how the wiring and piping would need room around windows and doors.  We tried to have a builder and it didn't work out, so now it's requiring us to be flexible about things.  I'm sure in the end it'll work out.  

This past weekend we were able to get over to label all the lights and plugs in the space. Monday morning we met with the electricians to talk about the plans and answer any questions or discuss any issues that may arise.  Today (Tuesday) we were at the garage and ran into the electricians again.  There was some more clarification of issues.  I think that we're definitely on the right track and hope that they'll be able to finish up by the end of the week.

The Builder's Advice/ 3 Doors In

When he first came to the garage the builder told me that we were looking at a 6-7 week project.  He did warn me that his timing estimate would rest on one thing: my ability to make decisions.  The way this pacing works is that we will always be thinking 5 days out.  Example: next week the kitchen will go in; what type of cabinet fronts, hardware, etc do I want.  I appreciate this and will abide by this, except I think I may have already messed it up.
Having priced windows at different places all summer, I knew there was a lag time.  Our builder recommended a place and once our start date was confirmed, I made the appointment to order the windows.  That part wasn't so bad.  After having thought through it with so many other places, I pretty much knew exactly what I wanted (double hung for the bedroom, slider for the bathroom, casement for the kitchen and cheapest for the loft).  We played with the sizing to get to standard (i.e. cheap) sizes wherever possible and determined that it would be way cheaper for me to use the frosting film in the bathroom rather than buy the window with frosted glass.  I took the estimate to historic to get it approved and was able to put in the order.  There was a four week wait for delivery-which should happen this week- putting them in right on time for day 1.
The builder also wanted to install the exterior door on day one.  One of the people at the window shop told me that there was only a one week wait for the doors, so I thought I had plenty of time.  This was a good thing because I've been really struggling with the doors.  It's a really old picture, but our existing doors have a raised panel on the bottom, like this:

At the time the garage was built we knew that we wanted the glass on top and I never gave any thought to the doors- the contractor just picked them out and that's what we got.  I liked it that way.  Wanting to be consistent, I just assumed that the rest of our doors (2 interior and 1 exterior) would also have this raised panel look.

Except I really didn't love that look and was really hesitant about ordering doors in that style.  Between kitchen cabinets with raised panels, doors and the storage wall with door design tbd, it just made me nervous that it would be a whole lot of raised panel in a little space.  I couldn't order it.  I checked out people's doors wherever I went and decided that I still liked the shape, but wanted a flat panel instead, like this:

It seemed cleaner to me and a good compromise between traditional and modern, which is what we're going for.  And yet, I still don't love this design for an exterior door.  I really hemmed and hawed and finally decided that we would get a 4 panel door with the transom on top, just like our front door (except steel instead of wood).

Even with building approaching I still hadn't ordered the doors, which wound up being a really good thing because we realized that the space is too little to accommodate an exterior door, transom and the necessary header.  Back to the drawing board and building is due to commence on Monday.  Oops.
I frantically looked through catalogues and the lead time on ordering doors was 4-6 weeks, not 1 week like I was initially told. I talked with the builder and the plan is to install a dummy door until ours arrives.  We decided that we wanted to mimic the transom in the window and decided on this door.

Last night we thought we'd take a chance on Home Depot and see what they could do.  We wanted this door, but in steel.  It was about $540 and would take 2-3 weeks.  That was more than we wanted to spend.  When we looked at their in stock doors we found this one.

It's a fiberglass door and while it doesn't exactly set my heart on fire, I can't find one that does so we're going to go with a good door for a great price ($240) on this one.  Because it's in stock, we'll actually be ready for construction next week! We'll also save money on not having to install a dummy door.  
Because this door will be facing the alley and because our neighborhood has some safety issues, I'm already thinking of ways to cover the glass.  Currently a window film like this is in the lead.

The window faces East and I think it'd be beautiful to come out to these marks on my floor in the mornings.
While I wasn't able to make a quick decision on this, and while I'm not thrilled that I'm about to have 3 different door designs in a really small space, I'm happy with each individual decision and have peace (just don't ever judge me if you come to visit).  I'm even more happy that we'll be able to proceed with the doors.
Unfortunately, the other thing that our builder wanted to start with was floors.  Months ago we had a plan drawn up for radiant flooring with a detailed list of what we would need.  This was when we were going to have engineered wood flooring.  Apparently the switch to tile floor had consequences.  The existing radiant plan called for plywood over the top and Scott doesn't feel that it will be stable enough to support tile.  After many late nights up researching on his part, he decided to switch to electric mats instead of tubing.  This will be easier, but apparently you can't just buy a big mat and cut it down to size.  So, this week he had to take very detailed measurements to send off to a new company so the floor can be manufactured to size.  Luckily, it can be done quickly but it still won't arrive until the end of the week at the earliest.  In the meantime, we scored some cork underlayment which will act as an insulator for a steal at Home Depot.  Unfortunately, HD doesn't carry the adhesive and all the local distributors say they don't carry it in stock.  It'll be the middle of the week before we can get that and have it ready to go.
Since we seemed to have botched up the beginning of the build so badly (kind of) I'm really looking forward to a timeline of what needs to be purchased when, mostly so I know the order in which I need to freak out shop for the different design elements. I'm also looking forward to turning over some of these shopping duties.  Remember when I said our old builder just took what we wanted and ran with it?  Yeah, I miss those days.

State of the Yard, Vol. 1

I think the last time you saw the yard it looked like this.

We were digging it up to make a trench for the plumbing.  In the middle you can sneak a peek at the pad that was poured for the storage shed.  Since we maintained control of the garage when we rented the house, the tenants were looking forward to some outdoor covered storage.  As far as we're concerned this project just wouldn't work if we didn't have outdoor storage.  The building also serves as year round privacy for both sides and allows both sides to have dogs that don't have to mingle (necessarily).  The shed got built pretty quickly and covered with some sort of black waterproof paper (technical, I know), and it stopped there for a while.  We know that we didn't want it to be the same hardyboard as the house and garage.  Because we're in a historical area, the commission had some additional restrictions about materials, alignment, etc.  We couldn't source the wood we wanted for our favorite design.

We scoured Pinterest and paid attention when we went out for inspiration.  Finally, I gave up and left it all to Scott.  Truth be told, he's got a really good eye and is better at this stuff than I am.  We tend to have similar taste so I knew that he'd come up with something that looked good and was in budget.  He declared himself ready to begin so I took our daughter out of town to visit family for a weekend.  When we came back he had the tenant side of the shed mostly complete.

He actually took cedar fencing and cut it to different widths.  He didn't consult with me on the design before starting but I absolutely adore it and think it'll also look great as it weathers.  In the end he admitted the design was based off Mitchell's Delicatessen (for locals).  We ate lunch there one day and both admired a similar thing done there.  (Truth be told, I love so many of the design elements at Mitchell's.  I'd love to know who their designer was.) Leave it to him to remember that and reproduce the look on such a grand scale.  See that W shadow on the shed?  I think it's because this shed is #winning. 

He also made the forms, poured the concrete pavers, and laid sod.

The cinder blocks are where the outdoor fireplace will go.  He also built a step off the deck for easier access and the wood fence for privacy from the street.  Puppy helps him on the weekends and acts as a model in pictures.

Here's the view from the deck.  We transplanted some of our trees from the back, but will have to fill in one our two more.  The fireplace will have a tall backing and then there will be privacy from the walkway.  Their yard is looking great and is almost done.  

Meanwhile, our side of the yard still looks like this.

I have hopes that once construction begins and the weather cools, he'll return to working on our side of the yard so I won't have to look out at a black wall from my huge windows come December.

State of the Garage, Vol. 3

Building is about to commence in one week!  There's kind of nervous excitement around here.  Imagine me like a pinball bouncing off all the walls and ceiling exclaiming that there will only be two more months of apartment living before I can get settled into our 'forever' home.  Scott is more reserved, staying up late to research if the option we chose for the radiant heating really is the right one, etc.  There's lots of second guessing, planning and decisions being made so that, hopefully, everything will run smoothly once we have people on the clock.
I haven't posted many pictures of the garage interior lately because I haven't felt like there was much to see.  Since the builder told me he'd be starting with windows, the exterior door and floors on day 1, finally clearing out the space became a high priority.  I'm so grateful Fall is finally kicking into gear because it's made for much more pleasant working conditions for Scott.  Yesterday he was able to really clear out the garage so it's makeover ready.
Here are the pictures he took to show me the progress.

This is the view from the double doors towards what will be our storage wall/living room.  The wood on the floor was left over from the farming and needs to be loaded in the truck and returned.  Hopefully he'll be able to get that done next week.  When I see a picture from this angle it reminds me just how small the space is.  Sometimes I get a little panic attack about the size of the space, but then I just remind myself to breathe and how nice it'll be when Scott can do whatever he likes with his time.  You can also see where our alley-side door will be in that left corner.  It'll be so convenient once that door is installed.

Here's the view looking into the bedroom while standing in the kitchen.  You can see that the upstairs also got framed.  Because of the way the ladder was positioned to access it, I never actually stepped foot up there.  I admit that the ceilings are higher than I thought they'd be, but still low enough that I think that we'll have to ditch our box spring under the mattress.  The stuff we've bought for the project thus far is being stored up there.

On the left will be our entertainment center, then the bathroom, then the laundry room.  I never did figure out the bathroom to really make it feel comfortable for me, but it'll offer much more storage than our current bathroom and I'm excited about that.  The bags of concrete will be used to fill in the trenches the plumber is working in.  The plumber should be done today so hopefully Scott can get that filled in before the builder starts.

You can tell that this picture was taken before the big garage cleanout, but I just wanted to brag on my window.  See that HUGE rectangle?  Those will be my casement windows that open out into my yard.  Sadly, I had to ditch my bi-fold windows for budget considerations, but they would've been just perfect. Since (combined with the doors) this will be the only natural light source in the main space, it was go big or go home.  The header is actually in the wrong place.  The top of the window will line up with the top of the transom, but we are going to install a transom above these windows that I will someday get filled in with stained glass.  Note:This is why it's important for both partners to really engage with the design process.  If you skip details or zone out in meetings, you wind up putting the header in the wrong spot and it costs more money later to move.
What a huge cry from where we started in February!

Bathroom Moodboard

With building set to commence soon, I've been thinking a lot about all the different elements of each room and how they'll work together.  This is not my strong suit and it brings me a lot of stress.  Usually once I live in a space for a while I have a better sense of what I want and can better visualize when I'm just changing one thing at a time.  Unfortunately, I don't have that luxury with this build.  One area I've found particularly stressful is the bathroom.  Fortunately, I think I'm almost done putting everything together.

White headboard ceiling with recessed lighting

Recessed medicine chest

Walnut floor tiles

Ikea vanity- not that faucet, though

Large white subway tile in shower

Frameless shower doors

White river stone shower floor (lighter grout)

Initial hooks for towels

toilet paper storage

Missing: 

bathroom faucet- Finding a one hole faucet that I like and is reasonably priced is hard!

light- Initially I wanted sconces, but we're putting the vanity right up to the shower doors and since the medicine cabinet is large, there won't really be room for sconces on the sides.  That puts me at a bar light and the designers initially said two lights may be enough for such a small space.  I have yet to find any at Lowe's or Home Depot that I like.  

Toilet- Scott has a Toto toilet he likes that we'll be ordering.  It's just a basic toilet so I didn't bother posting a picture up top.  

Towel bar/ Toilet Paper hanger/etc- This is what totally stresses me out and what would best be left for the end.

Anything else we're missing?

Functional Beauty

Long before we ever thought about moving our family into a garage, I spied this key hanger on a rare trip to The Container Store.  

At $20 for the small one, I left it there, but I couldn't forget about it until one day I caved and bought it for our mudroom renovation in our suburban house.  I loved it, but I wanted it installed horizontally to work with the space, which Scott refused, so it sat unopened in a box.  When we made the decision to downsize to the garage and decided to hire a designer, I pulled out the tree and joked that I wanted to hand them this as their inspiration piece for the space.  It's fresh, functional and inspired by nature- everything I want for the space.  

Needless to say, that didn't happen, but the tree now hangs vertically in our apartment and every time I hang my keys I'm grateful I ponied up the money for something that truly brings me joy.  This key hanger reminds me that functional things can also have artistic value.  When scouring the web for clever storage ideas for the tiny garage, I came across this cloud as a way to store toilet paper.

I'm in total lurve all over again.  At $125 it's pretty dang expensive, but it would allow us to continue buying our tp at Costco and have it on the wall instead of taking up valuable space in a cabinet or cupboard. I checked the measurements and it will fit by the hair of its chiny-chin-chin.  The key tree taught me that if there's something that you truly find beautiful and it's functional, it's worth paying big bucks for it.  Since I'm not banking on a generous benefactor to pick this up, it may be something that doesn't get purchased until after we're in the space for a while (renovations are expensive, yo!), but I'm really looking forward to it hanging over the toilet and am planning the bathroom with that piece in mind.

Are there any other cute, functional things we should consider?  Pinterest and home sites are full of great ideas, but I haven't been on there lately.  Occasionally, people on the Konmari pages find cute things and post pictures of them, but I haven't tagged any of the ideas so would be appreciative for any leads.

What are we doing to prepare? Konmari

Things are pretty quiet on the garage front.  There's still a few more weeks until the builder begins and we're in a quiet lull.  Some have asked me what we've been doing to prepare between when we lost the builder in March and now.  I already mentioned some of the work that Scott has been working on at the garage itself, but I've been steadily working on getting things ready at home.  One of my friends read The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo and shared it with our group of friends.  It took our entire group by storm.  Before we knew it, we were all buying the book and KonMari-ing our houses.
If you haven't read the book it's a system to declutter your house and permanently keep it clean (she claims she's never had a client relapse).  She lays out categories for every item in your house and recommends you work through each category in a specific order, starting with clothes.  You gather everything in each category in one place (so if you books in different rooms in your house you have to gather them together before you can begin that category), hold each item and ask yourself, 'Does this spark joy?' If the answer is yes, you keep it, if the answer is no, you thank it for its service and get rid of it.  I debated skipping over clothes since I got rid of 8 bags before moving to the apartment, but thought that I'd do it anyway.  Here are all the clothes I own on the bed.

Since I had so few, I was able to go through them quickly.  I was surprised that I had another 1.5 garbage bags to donate once I was finished with the process.  I wound up with a summer uniform of sorts, there's one style of shirt I have in several colors and a few pairs of khaki shorts.  There are a few other things I kept, but definitely not the amount of choice I'm used to.  However, now when I put open my drawers or look at the closet, I'm so happy to wear anything that I own.  It's made my life so much easier.  Kondo recommends only doing your own things, but since my daughter is only 2, I did hers as well.  I left Scott's things be, but he has been going through and slowly weeding out things that he doesn't want or that don't fit quite right anymore.  Here's a picture of the closet that all three of us share.

My stuff is on the top left and you may notice that it's my year-round selection.  If I went further and did a capsule wardrobe it'd be pretty empty, indeed.  Scott's stuff takes up more room, but he also needs to maintain a professional wardrobe.  We will each have a closet about three feet wide at the garage.  This closet is 4.5 feet wide, so I think that we'll be sitting really pretty when it comes to clothes.
I've gone through several other categories for Konmari, but I don't consider myself a graduate because there's still a lot of clutter in the apartment.  Unfortunately, there isn't much built-in storage here so there aren't a lot of places to put everything away.  Add to that the knowledge that much of our stuff is still packed away in a storage unit awaiting the big move, and I've lost steam.  I've gotten rid of a lot of stuff, simplified where we keep others, but the great, clutter-free reveal will have to wait a few more months.
While the author makes the important distinction that this method is about keeping only what you love and not just getting rid of stuff, it does jive really well with minimalism.  It was a nice framework to help make those tough decisions now that we're getting towards the end of our stuff.
There are some Facebook groups dedicated to this.
Konmari Adventures: This group has a lot of great before and after photos and is very active.  Any questions you may post will get answered quickly.  If you're on there for any length of time, you'll see the same questions come up over and over again, and there is some drama :(.
Joyce Parker Lives Here: Inspired by an inside joke (a husband thought she was saying Joyce Parker approved instead of saying it was a joy sparker), this group is light hearted and doesn't take itself too seriously.  There are also great before and after shots on this page and I find myself going here more now.
KonMinimalists: These two definitely work together, but it's not a very active page.

I believe I've gone through every nook and cranny in this apartment (removing everything for a category before beginning was a great help) and only kept what we truly need and will use.
Is there another way we could be getting ready to move?  I'd love to start tacking the storage unit during Mother's Day Out time, but right now our key is MIA.  Hopefully it'll show up soon.