I don’t now if you read the subtitle of this post, but if you did…yeah, neither have I (done a home improvement project with no complications!).  I say I as though I am the main person working- and my Michael is definitely the driver behind all home improvement projects!  This time we also have a great contractor helping us, and I am excited to share about the project…regardless of the complication we have this time!

Our basement was partially finished when we moved in.  There is a full bathroom, an enormous bedroom that I hear the original owners built for their triplet (!!) boys in mind with a huge closet, and a smaller irregular shaped space the previous owners used as a downstairs living room.  When we first toured the house, we weren’t sure of the functionality of the basement for us as a family- we definitely wanted a lower level living area but it isn’t really the right shape or size to be very useful, and we needed a guest room (especially for my mom who comes to visit each month usually) and ideally a home office so I can run JGP in a room and not on a couch! 😉 We temporarily set up office in the irregularly shaped living space, and made the huge bedroom the guest “hotel” room as we called it- it had 2 queen beds, an elliptical, and plenty of extra space- and Mike set up a full office in that room’s huge closet!  After much debating about how we could really use that space, we decided to take out the huge closet, split the two rooms into a bedroom and an office (or in the future two bedrooms), and make the irregular space a play room so that the kids can really set up camp down there as they get old enough to really play with each other.  We heard from our contractor and spent an intense few days (before my 2 busiest weeks of the year!) tearing up and moving everything out of those spaces- and they got started!  The job moved quickly, and has some fun features we love that I can’t wait to share about once completed!

And then the complication.  When we were moving furniture out, Mike noticed a darker spot of carpet in a corner and wondered if maybe there had been some wetness…but we both scoffed it off eventually as a stain or shadow. We had some rain last week (though nothing in comparison to what we have dealt with in the past!) and in the middle of one of my 8 hour rehearsals for Shrek last week, Michael sent me a text with the caption “Remember when I thought that the floor looked wet?” and a picture of water seeping into the basement, in my almost-ready-to-be-finished office.

I have to admit, I have been overly excited about this project…because even though I had an office set up, I have never had a dedicated space with any personalization or possibility for meeting photographers I mentor with or potential clients in- and this space is going to be that.  So this news from Michael was pretty devastating.  After a flurry of activity and people looking at it, and many holes in the dry wall that was supposed to be painted it’s final color this week, we haven’t totally nailed down the problem yet (or at least aren’t sure we have solved it permanently), but I think we are closer. The issue did lead us to tear out the vanity and sink in the bathroom (which, in the end, I am quite pleased about because I really wanted to swap them out for an upgrade from their seashell shaped greatness but we could never pull the plug on a bathroom we don’t use much), so we are doing a little bathroom remodel while we are at it.

Until we really get to the bottom of the leak and figure out the best solution, we are at a bit of a standstill and that is really frustrating- but I am so excited to see what comes of this space once it is done. We want to host family and friends in the bedroom (and hope to turn it into a bunk room one day!), we want to serve clients and other photographers and business owners in the new office and dream big dreams for JGP, and we can’t wait to have a dedicated space for our kids (and [some of] their stuff!)!  We feel so fortunate to be getting to do this remodel, and know it will be used for such good!

I know this picture is completely unrelated…but the pictures of my mess of a basement right would not be encouraging or uplifting, so let’s stick with these beautiful spring blooms and a stunning ring!!

Post office-finish update: See it HERE!