Our Bedroom Window: Then and Now

We added another wood casement window last week. It was one of those last-minute decisions and it put us back one week in our timeline for completion. After we installed this French door, replacing an old window on this south side of our bedroom, we discovered that our bedroom still felt a little bit dark. We wanted a little bit more light from the south and this little window does the trick. We installed it high up though so we don't really need a window treatment. It will also allow in a breeze at night. 

I went back through some old photos. I know I've posted some of these before--like this one above of the early stages of our remodel. But some I haven't. The next pics really do capture the amount of work that went into this renovation. I'm actually amazed at how much we've accomplished.

Digging the foundation for the small addition that would enclose our old porch.

The frame for the concrete to be poured.

We lived like this for awhile. 

I started to get excited when all of the front doors went in.

Then, the new bedroom alcove and window. No more bay window, but we gained a few feet of space so we could push our bed into this alcove.

The front bedroom window going in.

Then, of course, let's not forget the new roof.

Putting the tiles on the new roof.

Finishing the tiles. Then, adding the black paper.

Another view of the black paper.

Let's not forget the lathing--that's all the wire that will hold the scratch coat of cement.

Then, the scratch coat.

Then, the brick arches.

Then, the salmon stucco. I wanted to come close to the color of the old house. I always loved this pink hue. Seemed an appropriate color for a girl with my last name.

We also had to build up the berm. Notice the block wall that was added in the foreground. We'll eventually have walls here to enclose a front patio and give us a little bit of privacy. It will make a nice outdoor room and function almost like a courtyard so that we can walk from the bedroom to the living room via the outdoors.

This is the point where I started to wonder if we needed more light in our bedroom. Somehow it wasn't as bright as I had hoped. Then the idea struck us: Put in one more window! Could we squeeze one in? Sure, why not?

I deliberated this decision, especially because it was another cha-ching, cost-wise. But, we had the window. (We took it from our walk-in closet.) And it only took a few days to frame it in. It was now or never.

Now let's recap: Here's a little reminder of the "before" bedroom window. Not a lot of light here. 

And here's the latest after again: at least so far. This window got another coat of a special stain yesterday to match the door nearly exactly. A pic of the real final will be coming soon. What do you think? This little window is giving the house more of a Carmel cottage vibe to me now. But I've always loved those Carmel houses, so that's OK by me. I guess this is a Provence-Tuscan-Carmel-themed home. Stay tuned. In addition to finishing this window, our crew put stone above our fireplace all the way to the ceiling. We also selected the type of wood and color of our ceiling planks: red cedar with Benjamin Moore White Linen white wash. More on that later. The plumber came and completed some hook-ups and remedied a problem in the kid's bathroom. And finally, Milo has been busy finalizing the barn door hardware, so we may have pics of those doors finally going in this week!