Clearing Up The Confusion (A Look At The Floor Plan Changes Through The Years)
Even though I’ve shared every single step of the transformation of the part of our house that has now become our bedroom suite from beginning to end, I know that there are still some people who are confused about exactly how we got from Point A to Point B. Even though I tried to explain through a series of pictures, I completely understand that it can still be very confusing. If you don’t actually live in the house, and you’re not able to walk through the construction and see it in person, sometimes things get lost in translation when you’re just looking at a series of pictures.
I realized this this past weekend when I was catching up with a certain blogging couple that I’ve followed for years, and tried to get caught up on their current remodeling project that’s changing their whole floor plan. Even though I looked at every single picture, and I read every single description, I still couldn’t make heads or tails of it. And I just kept thinking, “It would be so much easier to understand if I could just see a floor plan.” I guess they have a personal policy that they no longer share floor plans of their house, though. I totally get that. Some people aren’t comfortable with sharing floor plans, especially if they have children in the home.
But I’m not shy about sharing floor plan. So for those of you who are still a bit confused about how we got from Point A to our current arrangement, I thought I’d try to clear that up with some actual floor plans of the different changes we’ve made through the years.
I’ll start with the original floor plan of this area of the house. Originally, this area seemed like an overwhelming mess. You can see the very large, rectangular hallway off of the entryway and dining room. (That room was clearly intended as a dining room by the builder, but it never worked as a dining room for us, so it’s our music room.) Just inside the cased opening into the hallway, there were two closets. And then off of that hallway, there were three bedrooms and one hallway bathroom. The master bedroom had a small walk-in closet, and the other two bedrooms each had a small closet.
Here’s what the original hallway looked like. This is the view looking from the original master bedroom doorway back towards the original dining room (which we use as a music room).
And this was the view from the original dining room looking towards the bedrooms…
The very first update that I did soon after we moved into the house was to remove those two closets, widen the cased opening from the music room, and widen the doorway to the bathroom.
That’s also when I built the new floor-to-ceiling cabinet where the larger coat closet was originally. So after that update, the hallway looked like this…
The biggest update came several years later when we decided to turn the original master bedroom into a master bathroom. In order to do that, we needed to square up the room for the master bathroom. That required the wall to be moved further into the hallway, creating a much smaller hallway. We also closed up the original door from the original master bedroom into the hallway, and then we added a new doorway from the home gym into the master bathroom.
That’s also when I decided to close up the doorway from the guest bedroom into that little closet and then open up both closet areas into the home gym. So this is the original closet that was in the guest bedroom…
And I closed that up so that it was no longer accessible from the guest bedroom…
And then I had both closet areas opened up to each other (i.e., I had the dividing wall removed between them), and then opened them both up to the home gym. That’s what gave me this wide, open closet area in the home gym.
But keeping that closet area is also what created this really long “hallway” in the home gym.
So in the final update, I had the closet walls removed to add more square footage to the bedroom, and then I had the doorway to that room, as well as the surrounding wall, removed completely so that the bedroom and the foyer flowed together with no separation.
And that is what resulted in this open look. We still have this little “hallway” separating the bedroom from the foyer, but because those original closets were removed completely, this “hallway” area isn’t as long as it was when the room was a home gym with the closet area still there.
Here’s a side-by-side comparison of the original floor plan and the current floor plan…
Any time I post these before and after pictures on social media, I get the inevitable comments that say, “That’s not even the same space!” Obviously, it is. And I know that so many of you who watched all of this transformation take place over the years know that it’s the same space. And yet, I know that without seeing actual floor plans, it can be really hard to wrap your head around all of the changes that took place for it to look so drastically different from how it started. Hopefully, this will clear up any confusion!
Addicted 2 Decorating is where I share my DIY and decorating journey as I remodel and decorate the 1948 fixer upper that my husband, Matt, and I bought in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do physical work, so I do the majority of the work on the house by myself. You can learn more about me here.
Did I miss you showing the finished bedroom?
No, it’s not finished yet. I’ve been sick.
I am so sorry to hear that I hope you start feeling better soon. ❤️
Assuming you are referencing YHL, I am also so very confused (but respect their decision to not share floor plans). Your transformation is very dramatic and I can see why people who haven’t followed along might say its not the same space, but I get it and I LOVE how you are building and decorating the space to work for you & Matt, it’s given me the confidence to design for my family and not for the masses!
Yep. I’ve read through their initial post several times, read the descriptions, looked at the pictures, looked at the progress they’ve shared. I still have no idea what’s going on. 😀
I do! I have quite the memory for useless things! 😂😂
Get well soon, Kristi, and be gentle to tourself!
This is the reason I LOVE your blog. You are so clear and your explanations are through, I almost feel like I’m taking a class. You teach me so much!
I remember a little bathroom off the original primary bedroom that looked like an addition to the original house. I know you walled it off, but is it slated to be razed with the sunroom, or is it already gone?
It’s still there, but there’s literally no way to access it. 😀 I had all of the electricity and plumbing cut off to the room before it became inaccessible. It will be torn down at the same time we have the sunroom torn down.
A final side-by-side image of original vs current floorplan would be the cherry on top!
I just added that!
Ha! I know exactly who you are referring to! I’m an OG follower of theirs, and still love them! I can’t wait to see their renovation but I agree, it is somewhat hard to follow but she did a good “walk through” on her IG stories. Can’t wait to see your finished suite! So close!
Well, darn. I missed that walkthrough. I did go back and look at the stories she has saved on the topic, but I didn’t see a walkthrough. That would have been very helpful! Without a walkthrough or a floor plan, I’m completely lost. 😀
I was also totally lost on that remodel, although I understand they’re adding a primary bathroom but the rest? Like: There was no mention of the guest bathroom moving. And are they taking part of the hallway to enlarge their son’s room? Their daughter’s room will be where the covered porch was? If the new sitting room is out that area where the door were drawn, is their pool on the side of the house?
This made me appreciate you even more since your plans are so explicit.
Get well soon! Stay warm.
I have wanted to ask for a floor plan for a couple of weeks. I didn’t because it seemed too intrusive. Thank you!
Would you be open to sharing the paint color and brand in your first pic of the two blue doors at the end of the hall? There is also a bifold door, same color. I know it might look different IRL, but I love that shade.
Thanks!
That color is Behr Mythic Forest. It’s the same color I used on the bookcases in the music room and the cabinets in the pantry. It’s one of my long-time favorite teal paint colors. I’ve been using it since our condo days.
Thanks so much!
I was really happy to get this today. Hate that you were sick, but I was afraid Matt was back in hospital. So glad to hear it’s not that. Take care of yourself in this crappy cold.
I follow those same DIYers and am in the same state of bewilderment. I have tried so hard to visualize how taking a small bite of outside gives everyone bigger bedrooms, a large lounge and a big kitchen😂…anyway your skills and creativity have brought me much delight!
Right?! I can’t figure it out! I can only assume it’s part remodeling and part magic. That’s all that makes sense in my mind. 😀
Thanks….the floor plan made it all make sense!!
Kristi ~ Could you please share an original picture of the hallway with the two closets before you tore them down? Also, what was all that space between the original bedroom and the hallway bathroom used for? Thank you ~
Kristi ~ Could you please show the original picture of the hallway with the two closets? Also, what was the space between the master bedroom and the hallway bathroom intended for?
Thank you
I added two pictures of the original hallway. The space between the original master bedroom and the hallway bathroom was the walk-in closet in the bedroom.
Thank you Kristi, for sharing pictures of the original hallway before your updates. It is very incredible that you made all those beautiful changes… you have a great foresight for that. I wouldn’t have known where to begin updating because it seemed so daunting and overwhelming. Again, as always, I commend you for your beautiful workmanship and hard work in making all that happen, and for sharing that with your readers. Thank you ~
Pretty confident I know the bloggers you mentioned and I struggled to see the “vision” without a floorplan. I thought I finally figured out what they are doing, but don’t see how some of what they indicated would be accomplished would actually be accomplished. Anyway, I respect their decision not to post their floorplan, but REALLY appreciate you sharing yours. I really need that visual to get a space and flow concept…so thank you!