what's next

ryan, my husband, said last week that he's a "7 out of 10" on being ready to start our biggest project yet. (the scale is something like: 1= never going to happen, and 10= let's start tomorrow). so, can you sense my excitement??

our current arrangement off the kitchen includes a 5' x 13' channel of chaos that is our laundry room and mudroom, and a 15' x 13' former dining room that is our school/ art room and catch-all for debris.

this is the current floorplan:

neither space works well (or even at all), and if we're going to have any hope of raising organized adults, something's gotta change. here is the proposed plan:

the wall separating the mudroom from the dining room will be torn out, and a new one will divide the spaces more equally. a powder room will be added on the mudroom side, since we don't currently have a bathroom on our main floor. (imagine the kitchen is directly under this picture).

this is how i've laid out the furniture and built-ins (which could change a few thousand times):

phase one will be the office, for three reasons. 1). it's the easiest, and it's really motivating to get something completed. 2). if the office is done, we'll have a room to stash all of our displaced mudroom stuff (which includes all of our kitchen food storage) when we start that side. 3). we know this project is going to take a long time, and i need a school and office space up and running when homeschool starts again in september.

phase two will be the powder room because potty training is looming.

phase three (if we're still alive by then) will be the mudroom, because we're the most scared of it, and because i need time to research my first ever appliance purchase!

i'll keep you posted as the campaign to move from 7 to 10 progresses.

{update: game on! you can follow the play-by-play, and ryan's real time dangit! moments, on twitter}