Let the Next Phase Begin: The Master Bath Add-On

They say a man's home is his castle; his toilet his throne.

Okay maybe they don't say that second part.

But sometimes a man just needs a little more space for his bathroom activities. Or maybe his wife insists that it would be so much easier to host out-of-town guests if there were just one more bathroom in the house...and a walk-in closet...

When Mr. W and I started re-imagining our house, the idea of a master suite quickly caught on as a way to maintain some privacy during the numerous (and much appreciated) visits we receive from family and friends. Not that we don't love sharing a rotating bathing schedule...

But Mr. W was fantasizing about a nice big shower stall. And I wanted to stop storing my clothes and shoes in the guest room closet. So we bit the bullet and hired an architect. And he turned our rough plans into master suite magic—not only giving us luxurious bathroom and closet space, but also adding a door that would allow us to practically roll out of bed and go visit the chickens. It's all about the chicken visitation convenience.

Here's what our house looks like right now:

And here's how it will look once we finish this next leg of renovations:

I had a little helper while I was taking pictures of the blueprints, by the way...

I don't know when the "finish" will actually happen, but the "start" took place this weekend when Mr. W and I tore down the fence around our side yard to make room for the big foundation dig that's happening this week. In my mind, this project is going to be fun. We'll see what it's like having tractors drive through the yard and eventually watching an exterior wall and part of the roof come down. I may be sleeping in my Christmas present at that point...

Here's what the yard looked like before we built the chicken coop and cut down the dead apricot tree:

And here's what it looked like after we spent some time wielding the screw gun and hammer this weekend:

Even though we've done a lot of renovating up to this point, the fact that this project is an add-on makes it feel extra exciting and a little scary, too. I wonder if it'll be like the the old Kool Aid commercials of my youth when Mr. W and the contractor come through the bedroom wall.

However it all goes down, I think it'll be worth it when this becomes the view from our very private commode...

What's with the cardboard? Mr. W hoarded all the boxes from our kitchen cabinet delivery to use as weed blocker in the garden. Don't worry—there will be mulch over the top of all of it when it eventually gets put in its appropriate spot.

Hopefully these girls won't spend every construction day squawking that the sky is falling...