Lower Level Tour - Playroom

OK, if you've clicked on that image, you will see what a sheer level of graphical sophistication it contains. I'm not sure anyone out there has ever created a more beautiful graphic.


View from WHERE YOU ARE (above):

This is the view of the foyer FROM the family room/play room. Notice, the entry door is a Dutch Door (splits in half so you can open just the top) I LOVE it. We're going to get it refinished and probably replace the glass with reclaimed vintage stain glass (if I get my way).


Den View #1




A New Improved Diagram
Complete with POV (Point of View) Indicator!


Den View #2






Den View #3
Across the room, alternate view (and you REALLY didn't think I was gonna do the POV indicator each time, did ya?)





Den View #4
alternate view

My Virtual Tour Idea / Brain Fart

You know you dig it. "You Are Here" (immediate trademark demanded). Yep, you are going to see it here first. And if you're out there, reading this, whoever you are, take notice!

"You Are Here" tours. I get the whole virtual tour thing on all of those Realtor Websites like Realtor.com. But how come nobody's come up with a "You Are Here" Tour??

A real online home shopping experience? I think I'm on to something. Really.

It can be as simple as a damn graphic or as complex as a video game. Like...Doom or something, with a little window showing you where you are in the house. Anyway, I would think something like that would be a tremendous online experience. For that matter, why hasn't a company created a website where you can navigate down the aisles?

Using Flash Animation, you should be able to even grab an item off of a shelf, and place it into your basket - with an occasional punching match over a TMX Elmo or something. Better yet, depending on your profile (which you would create upon commencement of your shopping experience) your inter-aisle fights would be with.

I mean, what 23 year old wants a TMX Elmo, after all? That wouldn't be very realistic. Maybe you fight with another person about a WII?

Well, I think I just thought of the next big idea.

Be forewarned, if something comes out like this I'll be all over you like flies on rice!

Lower Level Tour, Foyer

Lower Level Tour

The Foyer

Using the previous post's floorplan, I will attempt to virtually walk you through the house. These are all "Before" photos - these were taken about 3 weeks before we actually closed on the house. The previous owner was nice (or crazy, however you would define..) enough to let us in a *few* times and take pictures of the home, bring family by, etc.

I will come back to update you all on the afters as most of these rooms have been repainted.



...moving on....


Foyer View #1
Eventually, you will see my color coding has a reason.

This is the foyer. On the right is the entry door, leading to the porch. Beyond this room is the livingroom, which was painted pink.

Foyer View #2
Even though it may not even make sense to anyone but me.

When you first walk in, the fireplace is on the left, with the far door being a large closet and the closer door (furthest to the left in this pic) leading to the family/play room.

>Foyer View #3
sidenote: I should note, these rooms are pretty big, and my photos with my point and shoot camera (herein referred to as P&S) are not the greatest. I somehow thought the previous owner (herein referred to as PO's) would get offended if I walked in with my DSLR and took time to compose each shot. I thought it would be somewhat of an imposition. Most of these interior photos are taken on the run, half behind my back.

View of the foyer from the pink livingroom.

Lower Level Sketched Floorplan

Lower Level Floorplan.

No, the room sizes are not on it. Someday I'll get to that and replace this image.

The deck & hot tub

Needs updating/remodeling.

More Exterior...

Additional exterior pics.





To the immediate right of the above photo is

The Koi Pond

The Koi Pond

Yes, we actually DID purchase about 5 Koi last late-summer. We then realized with 2 kids and 2 dogs that it's absolutely rediculous to even think about feeding another animal, regardless of how maintainance free (NOT) these Koi fish are.

Cleaning the filter was the real pain. So we gave the fish away.

Way to spend those hard earned dollars wisely.

A truly neglected Blog? Yes! I've been super busy. Not much time to get online lately.

Ahh...mature landscaping.

Hostas

Rhododendron

If anyone knows what type of shrub the below is, I would love to know.

Japanese Maple and another unknown shrub in the forefront.

Pre-Civil War Well

The inspector wanted the previous owners to FILL this well. We all refused. It's childproofed, it's functioning and for crying out loud it's OLD. I love this well. It has a spicket but we've yet to use it for anything yet.

The Outhouse

The original 1856 outhouse. Has since been paved over (as to not provide views of petrified you-know-what) and is used for storage. We have removed the duck and sign.

The Driveway

Our current driveway.

While I LOVE the gravel for character reasons, we intend on paving this - we live on a main street and want to provide an area for our kids to learn to ride bicycles.

Operation Pool House

Here is the Pool House. It was formerly the original barn in which the previous owners' children used as a band hangout. DH/I have big plans for this outbuilding but since we're now working on making things "livable" until we can tackle other projects, we're not gutting it yet.

Lower level interior.

The bathroom/kitchen (I only call it a kitchen because it has a fridge)




View behind that doorway that's viewable in the first interior pic. This is the kitchen/bathroom. The poolhouse has working plumbing and electric, but no gas line, so there's no HOT water. I suppose at some point a gas line will be installed, but right now, that's the last thing we're thinking of doing.



Poolhouse basement.


It is our eventual idea that we will be making this a wine cellar for vintage reserves (we think BIG people) - for right now, it's a very rough basement with the original foundation. The inspector had said there was previous powder beetle damage, at some point we'll have to repair.






Poolhouse Upper Level



This is with the previous owner's stuff in it. The son used it for band practice/hangout and had soundproofing everywhere. That nice gentleman in the pic is the inspector. These are all not very good photos from a point and shoot camera, I didn't have my SLR available.



During the summer, DH/I used this pool house a lot for just hanging out and we decided to get it carpeted and to paint the paneling. Mid-Level berber and paint did an amazing job. We both have big plans for this structure, but for now, it will remain the way is, not in the budget to pull down paneling and sheetrock right now.Downstairs Interior. Still have to finish painting trim. DH currently uses it for POKER!


Here are the afters:


Lower Level:
Berber Carpet (basic), painted, those two chairs are now in my foyer. They used to be a horrific orange velvet - I reupolstered them, but now they need another revival.






Upstairs After:
I really need to take better photos.





Ugh, the more I look at it, the more I think the paneling needs to come down. Not now, eventually.

To the left is the pool house and to the right is the garage. The pool house's interior I will post next.

The garage is storage, nothing more, nothing less, right now. The plan is to open it up, probably do something along the lines of an outdoor kitchen/den and to build up for my professional photography studio.