I hope you all had a joyful holiday season and were able to rest and recharge. Ours was a whirlwind — we celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary (still feels surreal!), snuck away to Key West for sunshine and key lime pie, came home to a house full of sick kids, and then somehow managed to rally just in time to enjoy Christmas with our families.
It’s incredible how much life can cram into a single month.
And here we are, suddenly well into 2025. I swear it was 2021 about five minutes ago. Time is playing tricks on us at this point.
While I’ve shared bits and pieces on Instagram stories over the past few months, I haven’t officially documented our latest home adventure here on the blog. With the fresh start of the new year, now feels like the perfect time to sit down and tell you the whole story — in one cozy place. Settle in, because this one’s a journey.
The Big Project
We are in the midst of building a new first-floor bedroom addition.
A small, casual little project… you know, just adding an entire room onto the house. 😉
The plan is for Ryan and me to move into the new bedroom downstairs, while the kids shuffle around upstairs so each can have their own room. We started tossing this idea around when we were pregnant with Owen but decided to wait and see how our family settled. When we built this home, we had only Henry — it’s wild to think that just seven years later, we’ve grown into our bedrooms like happy sardines. Not actually uncomfortable… but let’s just say the closets have started groaning in protest.
The kids have always shared in different configurations — right now Owen has his own room and the older two share — and while they’ve been total champs about it, the space crunch is real. Tiny desks, overflowing corners, furniture squeezed into every possible inch. With Henry knocking on the door of pre-teendom (send help), it felt like the right moment to give everyone breathing room.
We even debated adding a first-floor flex room when we originally built, but back then we wanted to be close to the babies at night. Now they’re older, self-sufficient(-ish), and clearly ready to create their own little corners of the universe. So — time for a shift.
We had the draftsman draw up plans a while back — even before we started our flip house — so when we finally felt ready financially and mentally, the project was already living on paper, waiting for us.
Finding the Time
Ryan is the magician behind everything that happens in our home. Truly. I make the lists, and he makes them real.
The buildup felt slow — mostly because everyday life is a sport in itself lately. Between work, three kiddos, endless sports practices, weekend games, and the general chaos of parenting, the calendar rarely sits still. Add Midwest weather into the equation, and suddenly the timing window to build a whole addition shrinks to “basically winter or never.”
But in late October, Ryan walked into the backyard with a mallet and stakes and started marking off the footprint. That’s when I knew — the project was officially happening.
Our dads (the legendary dream team) jumped in, and they knocked out the deck supports and framing quickly. We were blessed with an unusually warm November, and Ryan even used some vacation days to push ahead. They worked right up until winter snapped its fingers — and we just barely beat the cold. The room was framed, sided, and shingled in time to seal it up before the first serious freeze.
It’s now fully weather-tight — and yes, we did accidentally trap an enormous owl on the porch before the windows went in. But that story deserves its own chapter. 🦉
Insulation, Access & Making It Real
In December, we had the room professionally spray-foam insulated, and then Ryan and our very patient friend Ian blew insulation into the attic. The addition sits on posts, not a poured foundation, because the back of our house slopes significantly — so insulation was a must. Eventually, the space will be heated and cooled by a mini-split, but the insulation alone already makes it surprisingly cozy.
Just after Christmas, Ryan cut the opening from our mudroom into the new room — and that was a moment. Suddenly this wasn’t a detached project you peered at through a window — it was part of our home. A real doorway. A real space. It’s wild how one cut in drywall can make everything feel real.
We reused two existing windows from the mudroom and garage to create a beautiful double window in the new bedroom. It saved time, saved money, and gave the space gorgeous light and views — truly a win all around.
Right now, Ryan has finished priming and painting, and he’s tackling electrical and HVAC. Next up: trim, doors, carpet, and all those finishing touches that turn a box into a room with a heartbeat.
The Layout
- Room size: 16×16 feet
- Location: Off the mudroom, connected to the downstairs bathroom, just beyond the screened porch
- Bathroom situation: No ensuite — we chose simplicity and budget sanity. The main floor bathroom is about six feet from the bedroom door and already has a shower, so adding another bathroom didn’t feel necessary. One fewer bathroom to clean? I won’t complain.
Where Everyone’s Going
Our oldest will move into our current bedroom — he’s thrilled. It’s larger, has great closet space, and even room for a desk, so it’s a perfect fit for this new stage. The younger two will remain in their current rooms, and we’ll be giving each space a little refresh to make it feel special and personal.
I can already see the endless crafting, planning, and tiny-vision-board sessions brewing. And yes, this means we’ll likely be knee-deep in kids’ room makeovers next. 🤪
Timeline
Hoping to finish in the next month or so… hopefully. But as always, we’ll see where life and schedules lead us. I promise to update you once we’re officially moved in (and once we stop living exclusively in drywall dust and extension cords).