Brand New Front Porch On Our 1878 School House Renovation

  

We have been renovating our house, a red brick school house (circa 1878) for 10 years now.

When we first bought the house it was a duplex with an upstairs and downstairs apartment. The previous owners had renovated the school house in the 1970’s to make it into two separate apartments. We came along in 2004 and what looked like an eyesore to many looked like a potential dream home to us. We started by completely gutting the downstairs apartment to which we now have a large kitchen, front entryway with vaulted ceiling, living room (which we hope in the future to convert to our dining room) and our master bedroom. Off the master bedroom is a long, wide hallway with bookshelves and a window seat.

The upstairs is made up of a loft area (where I currently paint) with a small bedroom off to the side for our daughter Isabelle. Then through a french door there are four more bedrooms and a bathroom for the kids.

Our plans are to convert what we call the back shed into a huge family room with exposed brick and exposed wood beams that date back to the 1800’s. That project is due to begin in the fall and is one of the main visions we had for the house when we first came out to see it.

This summer we have spent a few weekends adding a new deck to the front of the house (finally). As well as gutting our original master ensuite and closet area to make it more accessible for guests who want to use the bathroom. The deck is done and our efforts are now focused on switching the bathroom and closet space.

Here is our new deck, so far I have only painted out there twice and mopped up the paint drips as quickly as I could to hide the evidence!