Demo Day - and Days and Days and Days: Back Room Edition!

What we refer to as our "back room" is an addition - and a very poorly designed one at that. *Insert face palm*

For starters, these windows that have a wonderful view of the back yard aren't centered. 

There's a small room that has no entry point from the back room. That's because it's the home of a jetted tub that was added to the powder room that's under the stairs. And while you can't see it, there is a skylight above the tub. Yes, a skylight with a ceiling above it. Brilliant!

You can't forget the red marble tiles (barf) and the light fixture you're guaranteed to hit your head on. 

On the opposite side of the room, there is a closet that houses the water heater, electrical panel and also has the backside of the refrigerator pushed into it. Behind the fridge, there is a wall to separate the fridge from the washer and dryer. 

You also have a door that leads to the side of the driveway, a random window and a porthole-style window (which I actually think is cute and has a matching one on the opposite site of the room).

I just forgot until looking back at these photos that above this closet there is some giant light/bug zapper - hahahaha!

And here is possibly the most thoughtless design element of the room. Two skylights in the ceiling - one placed vertically and one horizontally. What? Why? I mean, I can't even! 

Now that we've got past everything that's wrong with this room, let's get to makin' it right! TEAR 'ER DOWN!

With my battle cry, we started the demo by removing the paneling that encased the jetted tub.

Without the walls around the tub, we can see down the hallway to the front door! Hey, little powder room!

And here's looking from the powder room door into the back room. Hey, Clayster (my oft-used nickname for Clayton)!

Also, Clayton's calves are the dreamiest and I love them. 

Ah, here's a photo of the skylight that was above the tub! See what I mean with a skylight below a ceiling? How does this even make sense? (Don't anyone try to justify this feature because there was also a light specifically for the tub!)

We removed all of the framing from the "tub room" as well as the tub. How great is it to have that space back?! You'll also notice that all of the red marble tile is gone! YAAYYYYY! (I hate that tile so much.)

AND THEN, we got even more space back by removing the cabinets, laundry area/laundry wall and utility closet! With all corners of the room now opened up, you are really able to see this room's great size. It felt so much more expansive once we removed everything!

Ah! It's the bug zapper, hahahaha! The ridiculousness of this thing in a residential space!

We originally planned to keep the paneling in this room and just paint it white, but as you can see, the paneling and all the old insulation underneath it went bye-bye. 

The ceiling fan and the I'm-going-to-hit-you-in-the-head light were removed, too. Good thing because we really got tired of hitting our heads. 

In the two photos below, you'll see how scary/bare bones the wall separating the back room and kitchen (right side of the photos) looked after we took the paneling down. 

But having a scary looking home is just part of the renovation process - PROMISE!

With all of this new space, there are so many possibilities for this room - and we're still unsure of what we want this space to be! If Birtha were yours, what would you use this room for? A guest bedroom (dare I say, an in-law suite?), another living room, a rec room, or something entirely different? We'd love to hear how you envision this space!