The Watching Window

After we moved out of the house, T announced she wouldn't return until the renovation is over.

"I want to be surprised," she said.

This posed some challenges for both of us. In my case, I tried to schedule all meetings, chores and visits to the house during school hours. When that didn't work out, T would read in the minivan with her coat zipped to her chin and her hat pulled down to her eyebrows (it was a very cold winter!) while I did whatever I needed to do at the house.

But a few weeks ago, I needed T to come in to approve her room's paint color. She had politely and specifically requested the same color she had in New Jersey, but the new paint wound up having deeper purple tones. When she came up the stairs to see it, she said she loved the purple and the new window seat in the hall. She called this "the watching window, because we're going to sit on this bench and watch out the window."

The watching window turned out very well. Here's a reverse progression.

From the present to pre-renovation:

Being painted:

Detail carpentry work:

Getting drywalled:

Getting framed:

In the beginning, the end-of-wall space was walled off for closets.

Comments

[Katie Nicoll]

It looks really good, I must say that I'm impressed with the way you've done it. Just looking at the progress, it seems that you really had renovating it. Now I can see why she liked it, and it's kinda funny how she named it the "watching window".

[Annabelle Vandorn]

Kids. They doodle a lot on your walls, haha! I remember seeing an image in some blog before that has a door painted with chalkboard paint. Anyway, that "watching window" area looks good! I wonder how it looks like after the renovation.