Old Happens, Part 3: The Reveal

This is the final installment in a three-piece series. If you’re catching up, find the earlier posts here and here. Photo credit for all the interior photos goes to Erica Holmes of Holmes Photography. Thank you, Erica!

We are finally occupying our newly-expanded space, and home has never felt sweeter! The last mile of the journey felt eternal as a few unexpected delays stretched our threadbare patience, but such is the nature of any construction project. To celebrate, we hosted an Open House for our friends and all the craftsmen who brought the dream to life. What fun to share our joy and brag on the new friends who’ve traipsed in and out of our house every day for the past months. The one downside of completing the project is that Dolly Jo misses all these new friends and all the activity! Without further ado, it’s time for The Reveal!

To recap, the project included a 24×24 addition consisting of four rooms and a remodel of the existing bedroom into an office. I’ll walk you through each room, tell you all the details we love, and include links to the products we purchased.

Just for fun, I looked back at the questionnaire our designer, Suzie Atkin, asked me to complete at the outset of the project. The first question captures the overall vision: “When you envision living in your newly remodeled space, how would you like to feel? ” As you take the tour, you be the judge of how well we achieved our stated objectives below!

Overall, I want the new rooms to feel cohesive with the existing rooms, to extend the same feeling of casual comfort and gracious welcome.
I want the bedroom and bathroom to feel like my sanctuary, the most relaxing place in the home. I want it to feel light and airy, but also intimate and cozy. 
I want the laundry room to feel cheerful.
I want my office to feel like the cabin in the woods I always dreamed of. The colors, textures, and materials in this room should feel earthy and almost masculine. 

For context, this is how the space looks from the living room, accessed through the new French doors. I was worried about how much precious wall space I would lose in the living room with the installation of the French doors, but it works. Just barely. I love the extra “glam” the French doors give the living room, and when the doors are open, the house feels more spacious.

The Office

I’ll be tempted to say this about every room, but this room is my favorite! I have longed for a work space to call my own, and I will spend many happy hours pursuing my writing in this cozy space.

What I love about this room

• The built-ins. Thanks to our cabinet maker, Josh Howard, I have abundant space to store files, books, and stacks of research materials for my next book. Formerly the bedroom closet, this space had a large HVAC duct running floor to ceiling in one corner, and we designed the cabinet to hide it! Josh filled my wish list of special details: a charging drawer, a pull-out printer cabinet, and two file cabinets.
• The art. I chose an original painting by Gary Keimig to set the vibe for this room. Gary is a delightful octogenarian artist from Dubois, Wyoming, where we spend part of every summer. Like me, he finds endless beauty and inspiration in the mountains and forests around Dubois. I’ve loved his art for years. This painting is a close-up of the Wind River where we’ve spent many happy hours perched on a boulder, angling for the giant trout we knew was lounging in that deep pool. When I look at this painting, I can still feel the sun on my back.
• The desk. Oh my goodness, the DESK! I went into Hardwood Creations, an Amish furniture store here in Joplin, with an entirely different desk in mind. But when I saw this beauty, I knew it was coming home with me. The gorgeous burled maple contrasts beautifully with the dark wall color, and the live edge design fits the rustic aesthetic of the room.
• The deep green. I’ve decorated in a light, neutral palette throughout most of our home, but I wanted drama in this room. I love, love, love the woodsy feel of this moody green.
• The French doors. It was no small trick for our contractor, Josh Vandiver, to install pocket French doors into the old lath-and-plaster wall, and he did it beautifully. I’m obsessed with natural light, and whether the doors are open or closed, the light from the sunroom and living room spills into the office and creates a spacious feel. I get privacy without feeling closed off from the living area.
• The homestead door. This treasure previously hung in a corner of the living room, and moving it to the office ensures it gets the attention it deserves. We rescued this door from the crumbling remains of my great grandfather’s homestead in Pinedale, Wyoming. He built the cabin around 1900, and my beloved grandmother was born there in 1908. Her baby picture, taken just weeks before her father’s tragic death, is one of my most treasured possessions. She is my daily inspiration. (I wrote about our acquisition of the homestead door here.)

One more important detail about this room — I want you to see how seamlessly the wood floor flows from the old house to the new addition. The green wall opposite the desk was previously the exterior wall of the house. The hallway marks the beginning of the addition. Thanks to stellar work by our general contractor, Josh Vandiver, and our hardwood flooring guy, Brandon Rustad, there is absolutely no observable transition between the two. Quality workmanship for the win!

The Laundry Room

I was nervous that this room would feel too small, but it’s perfect in its compact efficiency. We put every inch to good use, and I have no idea how I’m going to fill all this storage space. What a problem!

What I love about this room

• The tile. This terracotta star and cross tile was the first design item I chose. It perfectly fits the cottage vibe of our home, and it set the color palette for everything that came after.
• The natural wood cabinets. I chose a warm walnut stain for our oak cabinets, and it really plays well with the tile.
• The color palette. We chose Sherwin Williams Pottery Urn for the wall color before I even knew my washer and dryer came in a Sapphire Blue option, and oh, what a happy combo that turned out to be!
• The dirty clothes bins. I know, this is an odd thing to get excited about, but it delights me to have my dirty laundry already sorted and hidden from view. I knew I wanted two pullouts with two baskets in each, and I found just the right size basket online. Josh Howard understood my vision and made it happen. It’s the little things!
• A broom closet with an outlet. Speaking of little things, it’s so nice be able to keep my Dyson inside the broom closet.
• Lots of storage. We previously kept household items like light bulbs, hardware, and small tools in the kitchen. I’m going to enjoy reclaiming that drawer space once I get those items moved to the laundry room.

The Closet

Not everyone can appreciate a good closet, but it’s a luxury item for us. We neither want nor need a lot of closet space, and this one is just the right size.

What I love about this room

• The location. One of our best design decisions was making the closet accessible from both the laundry room and the bedroom. It’s common these days for the master closet to be accessed through the bathroom, and I was adamant that I wanted to access the closet from the bedroom. And being able to take clean laundry directly from the laundry room to the closet makes me downright giddy.
• The window. As previously mentioned, I’m a bit obsessive about natural light, and I wanted a decent-sized window in the closet. It faces south, so we get cheerful rays in the morning. Also, because the laundry room is an interior room, the closet window and the hallway window on the opposite side provide plenty of light.
• The enclosed shelves. Open shelves seem to be in vogue, but I like the clean, uncluttered look we got by adding doors to our shelving. I particularly like the shoe storage!
• Occupancy sensor lights. Again, it’s a little thing, but we put occupancy sensor light switches in the closet and laundry room. They come on automatically when they detect motion. We saw this as a “nice to have” feature now, but it could be an important feature if we ever have mobility limitations in the future.

The Bedroom

Okay, to be honest, sometimes this room makes me cry. I remember all the years Mama struggled to maneuver her walker around that tiny bedroom, and I just wish she were here to see and enjoy this room. She would love everything about this peaceful space. And when I’m done wiping tears, that makes me smile.

We used all our existing furniture in this room. Eventually we’ll upgrade to a king-sized mattress and I’ll have to say goodbye to my vintage iron bed. But I can’t bear to part with it just yet.

What I love about this room

• The vaulted ceiling. One downside of living in an old house is the 8 foot ceilings throughout. I wanted one room with higher ceilings, and that design feature totally makes this room.
• The BEAMS. Josh accepted the challenge of these beams as a chance to leave his creative mark on our home. And boy, did he! Made of pine and wrapped in white oak, he used the same walnut stain as the cabinets. During the final days of the project, I would sometimes walk through to find Josh just standing there admiring his beams! And who could blame him? They are the crown of this room.
• The blue. Josh later admitted that he was skeptical of the color I had chosen for this room, but I knew it was right. Nothing says serenity to me like a smoky blue. It’s very close to the color I chose for my bedroom when I was in high school, so I’m confident I won’t get tired of this color.
• The tapestry. I had serious doubts about how this was going to work. It’s just so HUGE! But the high ceiling made that wall above the bed just beg for a little drama. And oh, how I love this pastoral scene. It speaks peace to me.
• The rug. All the rugs are from Magnolia, and this color palette with the vintage design fit my vision perfectly. It’s almost as if Joanna Gaines read my mind! The shades of deep blue, light blue, coral, blush and flax made it so easy to pull together a coordinated look.
• The ceiling fan. Most ceiling fans just disappear in a room, but this one demands attention. My eldest daughter gave a thumbs down on this choice, saying it was “trying too hard.” Ha! But I loved the whimsy of the beads and the audacity of the gold base.

We are still establishing new rhythms in this space, and I’m loving slow mornings with a book in my comfy swivel rocker. Dolly Jo has requested a bench seat at the window from which she will monitor the morning traffic, so of course, that will be coming soon!

The Bathroom

After all the years in our 5×8 square foot bathroom, sometimes I giggle when I come into this room! As master baths go, it’s not large, but we used our space well.

What I love about this room

• The vanity. All the cabinets Josh Howard made for us are beautiful, but this one is jaw-dropping. Suzie designed it, and Josh built it. The inset doors, the rich wood, the furniture leg, the mitered counter with a ledge — all those details make this an arresting piece of craftsmanship. And all that storage! Challenge accepted.
• The glass block window. Suzie heard my natural light obsession as “go big or go home,” so she did! Running the full length of the shower, this south-facing block window floods the room with sparkling morning light. What a cheerful start to the day!
• The zero-entry shower. I’m going to level with you — this shower was ridiculously expensive. But after all the years I spent trying to help my mama in the shower, this was one of our non-negotiables. The shower had to be large and have no curb. It had to have grab bars, no door, and a handheld shower head. We don’t need those accommodations today, but we will someday. It’s designed to slope slightly, with a linear drain along the back wall. Our installer, Andrew Knaup, is a shower wizard.
• The medicine chest mirrors. We hit a snag at the very end of the project and considered scrapping these medicine chests for one large mirror. But only for a nano second. I was firmly attached to this design feature for both aesthetic and practical reasons. These medicine chests are sizable enough to hold all our daily toiletry items with room to spare. And they have adjustable shelves, so even my tall cans of hairspray fit.
• The tub. I have longed for a soaking tub, and this feels like pure extravagance. Sometimes nothing soothes a weary body like a hot soak. I’m spoiled.
• The plant stand. I struggle to keep plants alive, but I love the life they bring to a room. I had a feeling that this south/west corner of the bathroom would be a perfect spot for plants, and this L-shaped tiered plant stand fit the corner perfectly. Jury is still out, but so far my plants seem happy!
• The hanging light fixture. Our design considerations included ways to incorporate our existing pieces into the new space. This light fixture hung in my parents’ living room since the early 1980s. I’m sure they got it at an auction, so no telling how old it is. My mother loved this light. When she moved to Joplin after Daddy died, this light survived her severe downsizing. She couldn’t bear to part with it, and we ended up hanging it in her bedroom. It’s been in the storage building since she passed away, and when we were designing this room, I suddenly remembered it. It brings me such joy to see it every day. We put it on a dimmer switch and always keep it on.

Settling In With Grateful Hearts

Every day in our new space feels like lavish grace. We are deeply grateful to the craftsmen who brought our vision to life. I’ve bragged on the craftsmen whose work is highly visible, but you should know that our electrician (Josh Bloyd) and our plumber (John Carter), whose work is largely hidden, are also wizards of their craft.

For our local friends who may be contemplating a construction project, we would recommend any of these professionals without hesitation. They were dependable, friendly, and did quality work. Dolly Jo loved them all! It’s possible you could find cheaper, but you won’t find better.

Thank you so much for your interest in our project and for coming along with me for The Reveal! I’d love to hear your feedback!

In case you’re interested, I’ve included product links below. Let me know if I missed something you liked.

I love it when you comment and share!