Our grapes are still growing! (And no this is not a metaphor for us having another child, although good try friends.)  We have progressed from the exciting discovery phase to the WOW, this is a lot of work phase.  It’s going to be great though!

Take, for example, our meandering grape vine below.  Look at how this thing is growing! I am excited to grow all of these grapes, but I have a lot to learn.  Does anyone know anything about trimming grapevines or even harvesting grapes? I am envisioning elevating this crazy vine onto some kind of pergola over a french wine table one day. The great thing about our new property is that there is so much room for things to grow and develop–in time.

In parallel to our growing vine, so much has transpired at our new house this past month. It is not only growing in square footage but also in perceived space. We have put an addition onto the back of the house to expand second floor capacity.  We have also been literally breaking down the walls to transform this traditional house into a more open, modern living space.  The new large picture windows also help. I am not convinced that the pictures do the place justice, but it is going to be awesome! You’ll have to come see for yourself.

The framing is almost finished, so we are able to finally see the 3D version of our architectural plans come to life–also very gratifying.

One of the transitions I love about the new version of our house is the openness. Our team has broken down many barriers to make the space feel spacious.  We got rid of the first floor guest bedroom and added it to the second floor.  See the old entry ceiling?  That will now be open to the second floor.  I love it!  We have our visionary friend, Richard, to thank for that idea. Oh yeah, there are also new beautiful Marvin french doors out to the new porch rather than the old window back there in that small guest bedroom.

One of the most exciting changes, in my opinion, will be the transition of the living room to a new, open concept kitchen.  Can you envision it?  I guarantee it will be fun to watch this come together. Unfortunately, we had to exchange the functioning fireplace to make room for the kitchen island I really wanted, but I think it will be worth the sacrifice. Plus, look at those new giant kitchen windows with a lake view!

Here’s a pretty substantial change: the exterior view of our new addition.  We have added onto the second floor to make room for extra bedroom, bathroom and home office space. With the addition, we also expanded our back porch.

The old kitchen was small.  There was definitely not enough room for my aforementioned desired kitchen island, so we are going to turn the old kitchen into a nice mudroom off of the attached garage (eventually with cubbies and a large wash sink).

AND…last but not least: my new office off of the master bedroom.  It was previously an unconditioned attic with a pitched roof over the garage.  Now that pitched roof has been raised to make room for a conditioned hallway to an office with plenty of overhead space to sit and read X-RAYS.

There’s a great view from up here! All the beautiful windows are in now.  I will have to take some updated photos for the next post.

We are transitioning teams as we shift from framing to the next phases of roofing, plumbing, electrical and beyond.  We can’t thank this team enough for all of the HARD work and LONG hours they have dedicated to transforming and building the skeleton of our new space.