Let's Get Started!!

You know that feeling you have when you are super excited about something?  Like when you were a kid at Christmas and you could NOT wait until Christmas morning to open your gifts and play with your new toys?  Well that is how we have been feeling for about a week!  I contacted Chris (the same person who did up the plans for the basement) to see if he was going to have any availability in the future.  I was not expecting him to have much time as it is summer and tis the season for building and renovations.  To our luck and total excitement, he told me that he had just finished a few things and had a bit of time.  YES!!  Score one for us!!  Not only is Chris talented, he is a super nice person! We worked out a time that we could all get together (he was even able to come out to the church so we could really explain what we were thinking).  We then had to wait a whole week!  Seriously, I was so excited it was the longest week I've had to live through in ages!

Finally this past Friday was the day!  We got to work pretty much as soon as Chris got here as the place is so big and we had so much to discuss.

 

This second picture really shows just how daunting this project can feel at times.  Chris walked in and asked "So, what are you thinking?"  It was difficult know where to begin with what we have been thinking.  By the time we got to the back of the church, we had a good starting point as to what we were thinking, and what Chris thought could be done.

With any luck, this picture will someday be the spot where my kitchen will be.  Fingers crossed!

So once we had discussed a plan for each section of the church i.e. where bedrooms, bathroom, dining and kitchen (and perhaps a loft...), Chris needed to take some specific measurements.  This also meant some of the terrible faux wood paneling needed to come off the walls.  Back in the 1980's church attendees found the building drafty and cold.  To combat this some of the windows were insulated and covered up with the most hideous faux wood paneling.  It's just EVERYWHERE!  We can't tell if the tin ceiling is in good shape as it is covered in paneling.  It was truly like Christmas when it was decided we needed to know exactly where the covered windows are.

Here we go!

 

And the first piece of paneling is off!  This is the left side of the church as you walk in. Will then took paneling off on the opposite wall.

While Will was busy pulling paneling off, Chris was taking the measurements he needed. He had the coolest little gadget!  I had never seen a laser tape measure before.  So fast and easy to use for one person.

Chris was here for about two hours.  We discussed multiple ways things could look/go/be placed. Will and I differ on a few ideas, but in the end Chris joked "happy wife...happy life" ;)  We told him that he is our expert, so if he felt some of our ideas just wouldn't work, we would not be offended if he needed to scrap them.  By the end of the visit we all were overloaded mentally and felt like this...

 

Haha, ANY excuse to put in pictures of the kids!

So now we wait for Chris to work his magic.  The nice thing about this next phase of renovations is that we are not in a huge rush.  The last time we worked with Chris we were on a bit of a time line since we wanted to get done and moved in ASAP.  Now, if it takes some time, we pass the plans back and forth until we get to exactly where we want...PERFECT!  The basement was an excellent learning curve so now we know what we like, don't like, and what we would have done differently.

I want to say thank you again to Chris for coming out and making time for us!  If anyone out there ever needs blueprints done up for a build or renovation, I HIGHLY recommend contacting Chris. I've put a link to his website. CJ Evans Home Designs