Before and....a little bit after before.

Today, I've decided to post some before and after pictures. I wish they were AFTER after pictures, but they're "after ripping apart" pictures. I have to admit, we're getting kind of tired of the ripping down part of this renovation. It's really dirty, dusty work. And we're left with just SO much material and wood that we have to carry out of the house and get rid of somehow. It costs to throw stuff so anything that's burnable, we've been burning. But first it has to get ripped down, dragged/carried/thrown out of the house, stored in the garage and then burned on a giant bonfire. Thankfully, we're just about done with that part. We need to insulate between the basement ceiling and first floor so we don't have freezing floors and lose a lot of heat. Sindre has got half the ceiling ripped down so we're almost there. But what a dusty, dirty job it is!!! They used sawdust to "insulate" between the floors, so with every ceiling board Sindre removes, comes a shower of sawdust and dirt on his head. I've been sweeping up the sawdust and we've already got at least 5-6 large garbage bags full. Well, at least they make for good firestarters for our bonfires. The floor boards in the attic need to be removed as well so that we can insulate. That's also a difficult, dirty job. And there are gigantic hornet nests up there. So, ya....we'll be glad when we're done ripping  down and can start building up again.

So let's see what our house looks like now. Warning: it's not pretty......yet.

This was the kitchen:

It now looks like this:

We removed that wall and it's now open all the way to the window.

This was part of our living room:

Here it is now:

This was the wall between our two livingrooms:

Here it is now as one livingroom:

Emilie's room:

Madelen's room:

Our room:

Like I said, it's not pretty and it's a messy, messy job. But we're proud of the work we've gotten done so far. And here's something really exciting! The contractor ordered all our windows last week! He said it'll be about 4-5 weeks before they come. But as soon as they get here, they're ready to roll!! So by the beginning of November, they'll be going full speed ahead. Just one more ripping apart job before they come. Removing all the siding and every window in the house ourselves. *faint*