You say 'Foyer', I say 'Front Door'.

Okay, that's not true, sometimes I say Foyer too.

I'm not really sure how to best create posts in any order for these projects. We've already done some bouncing around... I suppose it might now be a good opportunity to step back to the front steps. Cha cha cha.

When we moved into the house, it had a flat front with a porch plugged on around the front door. It was actually a nice porch, really big (8' x 11' I think) with wide steps great for lots of people to sit on during lazy summer evenings.

The disadvantage of moving into a small house is that it isn't easy to recover small spaces for use as small spaces. The front door opened straight into the living room and had a big glass window that stared right at the kitchen. This gave us little privacy... plus we didn't have much for a coat closet either.

We came to the realization that the front porch was the answer to our front door woes. We confiscated 4' from its depth, walled it in, and called it our Foyer.

I really love this tiny room, mainly because it introduces anyone who walks in our front door to our craftsman style and really helps us to define our intention of achieving a craftsman home with a modern twist.

John installed some amazingly beautiful VG Fir Wainscoting complete with a 1/2 wall that has a column to the ceiling... creating a sweet little ledge and opening to the living room.

We also wanted to ensure that we allowed a lot of light into the house, but still retained some element of privacy. To accomplish this, we framed the front door with a glass-block boarder. I like the glowing affect it produces when you approach our house in the evening and the Foyer light happens to be turned on.

We installed in-floor heating mats under the slate tile. We decided to do this because, as a former exterior porch, the room wasn't tied into the rest of the house's heating system. I now wish that we had used this product in other areas of the house (eh-hem, the bathroom), because it is so wonderfully toasty warm to stand on.

Inside Every Craftsman is a Workshop

It didn't take us long to realize that our "garage" would, in fact, never fulfill its purpose as a "garage".

meow...

When we moved in, our sole transportation was a charismatic VW Golf GTI (which John had turned sleeper with a new turbo engine... it was pretty awesome, but that is for another day...). If you are not familiar with rides of a similar persuasion, I can assure you that it is not a car of stature, unlike many more commonly popular vehicles in northern Idaho.

If I remember correctly, the overall
width wall to wall is just over 10'.

We did our best to make use of our new garage and small car combo, but it just wasn't meant to be. It wasn't possible to park the car in the garage AND open both doors WHILE allowing passengers to maneuver through the space.

However, we did quickly realize that we needed a staging area for our new construction projects. It also became evident that John had a knack for picking up crafting trades and needed space for crafting creation. So came the decree; goodbye garage, hello workshop!

See in Red? = Thumb

As you can see, quarters were still a bit cramped for a while. With barely enough room to maneuver a sheet of plywood or drywall, or a board over 10' in the space, we knew this wouldn't do. Soooo... the dilemma; How does one keep the sweet profile of their classic home, while still adding much needed space? Think positive! Thumbs Up! Okay, that doesn't really make sense, but this does: we decided to add a thumb.

Here's a screen capture of the said thumb. I work for Chief Architect, and have the luxury of dreaming up all sorts of unrealistic modifications for our house, virtually... this one happened to have been realistic enough.

We were off to the races! John had a table saw and a jointer, and no room to use either. We took this opportunity to hire our first and only contractor for the project thus far. I must say he did a great job for a great price. We've just felt able-enough to tackle everything else.

The contractor hand-dug the hole for the addition's slab foundation. He set the forms and poured as well... he even took care of the permit!!

Here is a basic before and during...

I guess, after looking at these images, I'll have to bookmark a spot on this blog for our backyard development(s). We had no idea what to do with the huge mound of dirt and contemplated the problem for months (the foundation went in right before winter). In the end it stayed pretty close to the same location.

The garage/shop project was fun and enlightening. We were able to experience, on a fairly small scale, what is necessary to build a structure from the ground up. John met with the building inspector for all aspects of the construction, including the framing and electrical standards. We built the walls and were able to set them into place ourselves. We ordered trusses. We used the hardware for structural corners and connections, and had to research the code requirements to find the right ones.

In the end, the workshop is probably still too small! But it does work, better than what we used to have anyway.

AND... the addition created a pleasant space in the backyard perimeter that would perfectly accommodate a deck...

Note the clotheslines for shingle-drying...