Classic War Box: two bedrooms and a bath on one end, living room and kitchen on the other, with an unfinished basement and laundry area below. With such a small footprint, there's plenty of room to add on, particularly once the chicken coop is removed.
The new opening to the addition is at the end of the kitchen, which had been recently remodeled with Big Box store finishes. That actually made it easy to accomplish a minor kitchen remodel along with the addition. Even the tile was still in stock.
The entire stove area is relocated to where the dining table was, and a few added cabinets finish out the area.
A wall that previously made for an awkward transition from the kitchen to the hall is removed to create better flow to the basement stairs, and a Solatube added for light.
Finally, a cabinet that used to be near the stove is installed by the fridge to make space for a full-size dishwasher.
The new wood flooring in the dining room is installed at the same level as the kitchen tile, with a new cased opening between the rooms. Lots of windows—including ones removed from the new door opening and reinstalled—make the dining room light and bright.
Sliding doors open onto a new deck, which overlooks a backyard with fruit trees and new landscaping.
The new roof system was purposely designed to overhang the walkway to the grade-level door and create an overhang there. The door previously had a small shed overhang that would have conflicted with the addition.
The new roof also opened the possibility of adding a new window to the stairwell, and a mudroom entry with room for storage.
A variety of other upgrades happened at the same time as the addition--minor rewiring, replacing gutters at the garage, adding insulation, installing a new furnace and more.
The finished home feels much larger and is big enough to host a house full of family members at the holidays, and work well every other day of the year.
