Drumroll please….the addition is finally complete! Actually, I should make that two additions. Meet Rex!
I realize this introduction will seem a bit late to anyone who doesn’t have three children, but it’s an unwritten rule that you have 12 months to take newborn photos of your third kid. We got ours in just in the nick of time, as we’re two weeks shy of Rex’s first birthday. If you have three kids-you get me.
We had been sitting on architectural drawings to add onto or house for over a year, and debating whether to pull the trigger. As luck would have it, the best surprise of our lives was just the motivation we needed.
We’ve done a little more landscaping since that photo was taken, although there is still plenty to do-but this is other labor of love. Our house is in a “critical area” because of our proximity to the Severn River, so due to city regulations we couldn’t add onto the back. Instead, our addition is the extra 1/2 house on the side-a little lopsided, but it does the trick.
Everyone has space to move, finally! I had as many windows as we could fit crammed into the family room, which is open, bright and as happy as the voices inside. (And because everyone asks me-you can find our rug here-dancing redhead not included.)
Upstairs we added two small bedrooms, which to us feel massive compared to our original three, which were already tiny and became even smaller to create access to the new space. We don’t mind small rooms, though. Rex slept in a Dock-a-Tot on the bathroom floor for the first 4 months of his life, because the week he came home from the hospital was the week construction was finally able to start. Perfect timing.
He loves his new room-can you tell I’m a space camp alumni?
The Solar System Art, Astronaut Print, and Planetary Neighbors Print are from Minted. and I personally crafted the mobile, inspired by Martha Stewart herself, although done with far less skill. We’re also missing Mercury because it fell off and the dog ate it.
The other new bedroom, which is actually the largest in the house, is a guest room/gym (I guess you can call it that, it houses the Peloton that no one ever uses). We offered it to the other kids, but they didn’t want to leave their rooms. I have to say that was satisfying. Even though they’re small spaces, Georgia’s room is 9×10 and Grants 9×12, we’ve spent a lot of time making them cozy.
Grant also lost his closet during the transition, so we built a small closet into his bunk bed. It’s working for now, but long term we will probably have to come up with a better storage solution.
The last piece of the addition is the lower level-which was actually probably the best part. I will save that for another post, though. I’ll set a goal for one week from now-and won’t stress too much if it’s a little longer. After all, it’s spring break, and things are extra crazy around here.
