Porchlandia: Upstairs Renovation

This is going to be a relatively long post so bear with me. There's a lot of ground upstairs to cover. First we travel up the orange, shag carpet stairs. My 98 lbs. soaking wet sister tore up the carpet here, which was a pain in the butt, but she showed it who was boss. My father replaced the tread on the stairs and I painted all of the white parts. 

At the top of the stairs is an extra space, which I see housing a really plush, comfy couch and a TV, maybe a bookcase or two. Originally, it held one of the sliders that went to nowhere. Now it has appropriate windows and is light and bright and looks out onto the driveway and yard.

Now the catwalk, which had more awesomely gross orange shag carpet and overlooks the living room. The original railing was not up to code so the spindles were all removed but we salvaged the posts and repainted them. My father is an ironworker by trade so whenever there's a chance to bring in his craft he does and this railing allows the focal point to remain on the beams and the fireplace down below.

Now into the master bedroom where the fifth and final sliders were located... going to nowhere. They did let in a ton of light and I was sad to see them go simply because I felt like any windows that went in would cut that light in half. However, the windows that are in the master now let in an abundance of light so the sliders aren't missed.

The master closet was not that big, especially for a master. So my father and Larry blew out the back into the abutting "attic" space. And now it's big enough for shelves, a rack or two for hanging clothes.

Entering the master bathroom were these built-in mini closets. They were cute but made the master feel small and so I tore out the one on the left. Before I could tear out the one on the right we realized there was electrical wiring in that wall. Also, the built-ins were kind of nice and added some character, so I left the one on the right. I imagine a laundry basket or a chair in that new space.

The master bath. It had shiny wallpaper. And green carpet. And really icky pieces. And it kind of felt like a cave, for all it's darkness. The new dual vanity is from Signature Hardware, which is my new favorite website. I hope that some house in the future allows me the opportunity to buy a claw-foot tub because they are my dream tub. But back to the vanity, this vanity is less deep than what was originally there, allowing the room to feel bigger. And yet there's still plenty of storage.

The original tub... ick.

In its place we installed a Jacuzzi soaker tub, for those nights after a rough day when all you want is a soak with some bath salts and maybe a glass of wine or a good book.

And then beside the tub was this wasted space. Remember it? Totally pointless. And carpeted to boot.

What to do with this space? Enlarge it and stick in a kick-ass walk-in shower. Duh. I want soooo badly to use this shower. Look at how big that showerhead is! My father picked out the tile in the cutout, which will turn up again later in a post about the kitchen. It's not cheap tile but it's stunning and I love it and I think it was totally the right tile to choose. And I would be remiss if I didn't point out the stunning wood that my father made such a fuss about framing the shower. Beautiful, right?

So that's the upstairs in all its glory. Do you love it? Next we'll head downstairs and explore the final living space, but maybe my favorite because of how drastic the transition is - the kitchen.

~Stephanie