Moving day has come and gone at Project Greenway and I we are loving the new changes and additions to the house!!! Today I wanted to share a few before and after pictures from the remodel process. We moved into the garage apartment on August 24th and back into the house on February 22nd….about a 6 month process! Not too bad considering the construction and remodel business in Dallas is booming. We were fortunate to have talented and honest crews working on our project…and I’m sure they loved having me around everyday keeping an eye on things…NOT.

I look back now and realize that being present, saying no to things I didn’t want to change and finding a way to have a positive outlook when things went wrong make this a project that stayed on track…for the most part.  The key to keeping a remodel on track is having all of your decisions and selections ready to go. If a sub-contractor has to leave and come back another day, who knows how off schedule things will be. I found myself making quick trips to supply houses and home depot just so a contractor could keep on working and finish the task that he was working on.

We stood our ground on a few things and found a way to make them happen quickly. Our contractor was unhappy with us most days, but he smiled when the checks were written! Being detailed and having a plan was what saved us time and money during the process, I learned that staying on top of things and making many…many…many follow up and “are you on your way” calls did the trick. I know I became a major pain, but most of the guys would rather just show up and deal with things than to keep getting calls from me.

Am I 100% happy with the choices we made, of course not. But, things worked out well and I would say that I don’t regret too many of our choices on the project. Limitations are part of remodeling, but we made the most of what we had and turned it into a home that we love to be in!

 

The day before the crew showed up to start demo…bye bye little cottage!

 

 

Mid-September…the demo is complete and the now we are making way for the new second floor and expanded first floor. I called this the “big top phase”. We had blue tarps on the house for about a month to protect the interior from the rain. They worked great and we were able to save 100% of the existing wood floors!

 

Late September. A new look! We can finally start to visualize the overall look of new additions. We can walk up the stairs and see all of the pretty neighborhood views from our new second floor!

 

 

January….The exterior didn’t change much until this month. We had so many things going on inside, so the brick and siding were on of the last pieces of the puzzle. That was the worst part of the remodel for me. The exterior progress just stopped for a few months but I was so excited the day they started to paint!!

This was the day they poured the concrete walkway and started the landscaping!

 

 

Here she is!!! Finished and starting to look like a new home. The landscape is starting to take shape and the new sod is growing!!!