The “maid’s” room

Maid’s Room 2007, stairs down to kitchen on right.

This was what our entire house looked like when we purchased it. No, it was not finished to our standards but the bones of the house were perfect for us. It is about 2000 sq ft, three bedrooms, a large living room and kitchen, and windows on three side allowing for more light than a standard Brooklyn brownstone. The draw-back was that the last major remodel was done in 1910! That meant all new plumbing, electrical, heating and layout.

The layout included this “maid’s” room only accessible by stairs from the kitchen or through the bathroom. As much as I’d like a little help now and again I don’t have a cleaning person let alone a live in maid. The electrical and plumbing work had been redone by the previous owner using, what  I assume are all the skills  he learned from our local hardware store. The heating was done mostly by wood burning stove in the living room.

Maid’s Room 2009, same view as above.

The maid’s room, like the rest of the house, was reworked to keep the character of the house but make it livable for years to come. We closed up the stairs. Removed the back closet and wall. And punched new windows in the back wall to let more light in and a view of our back yard.  Check out the full set of photos of the process here.

After years of working in architecture offices on other peoples houses I thought this project would be easy and enjoyable. All told this room involved six subcontractors and it was neither easy nor enjoyable, but it should have been. For all my further projects I’m using  Swee10.com, it’s everything I wish I’d had.