Before and After

Renovations on our home began at the end of July. For twelve weeks, we lived as though in a refugee camp. All three children were displaced from their bedrooms to a small breakfast room containing a table and sectional sofa. Two slept on the couches while another slept on a single mattress on the floor. All of their belongings were moved to the dining room, stacked high in either moving boxes, or strewn on the dining room table as little hands grew impatient over the many weeks of living squatter-style, digging haphazardly through the items packed.

Among the dust and disarray, workers roamed in and out of our house, nodding their heads to the beat of hair bands from the 80's blaring from their radios. If you have not had your morning coffee to the sounds of Guns and Roses or Metallica, you have not yet lived.

The construction workers transformed our property into a makeshift office that offered all the usual comforts to those working nine to five.

They added a lavatory:




And a conference room:


A design room:



And a water cooler:




The results of the renovation bring everyone in our family joy, particularly to those who were able to crawl under sheets on a real bed after twelve uncomfortable weeks of sleeping in conditions that would have made those at child protective services very suspicious.

The house began as three bedrooms with an unfortunate laundry closet. It ended with four bedrooms, a playroom and a laundry room with steel doors to prevent dirty clothes from exploding into the streets.

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After:


(Click on the picture above to enlarge to see the tomfoolery that prevents me from taking decent photos.)

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