8hrs & 21mins

That's how long it took us to gut and completely clear out the second floor of our cape cod. If you caught my post from yesterday, then you know that our industrial roll-off dumpster was delivered Friday and has been parked in our driveway all weekend. We were hoping to get the job done in a couple of days so that we could get rid of the lovely dumpster come Monday, and by some miracle it actually happened! We were busy Friday night, so nothing got done - but we worked for several hours straight on both Saturday and Sunday, and we managed to get the entire job done in approx 8hrs and 21mins!!!

If you'll recall from my previous Looking Up post, 

this is what our second floor looked like when we bought the house

and now it looks like this

Once we ripped everything down and cleared it all out, we were able to take some measurements and make a plan for the remodel. Looking at the above photo -

• We'll start by raising the ceiling ~ 6 inches
• Next we will remove the solid barrier railing (seen in the bottom right corner) and replace it with a more open traditional spindle railing...
• Along the left wall of the walkway into the space, we will build some book shelves into the wall...
• In front of the stairwell and railing we will have a small seating area...
• Beyond that (on the far side of the chimney) will be the bed placed against the left wall...

Here are some different decor ideas that we are considering...

(gray & yellow)

(teal & cream)

On the far wall we are going to build his and hers closets on either side of the window 

with a window bench and storage below that

Here's the floor plan

This week we will begin with the electrical work - rewiring the overhead lighting, installing outlets and light switches, etc. We will also be reinforcing the existing floor with screws to stop the creaking and squeaking caused by the unstable nails that are currently holding everything together. Then comes the corrugated plastic ventilation system, insulation, drywall and carpet! Voila!