When I went to Home Depot to pick up toilets for the house a few weeks ago I thought it would take me about 2 minutes to find the model I wanted (even including the time it would take me to find the plumbing section). My basic criteria was that I didn't want a toilet that looked like it was trying to be anything other than a toilet (that is to say, I didn't want a faux old-fashioned ice-cream parlor style toilet, or a low-slung groovy contemporary model either), I mean, how hard could it be to find a plain white toilet?  But when I finally found the plumbing section (which took quite a bit more than my allotted 2 minutes for the whole project) I discovered that even within my basic plan to find a plain white model there were a whole world of choices that I was completely unprepared to grapple with. There are tall toilets to accommodate the elderly, short toilets for a more relaxed experience, toilets with round bowls for saving precious space, or toilets with elongated bowls to accommodate larger behinds. There were economically priced 1 part toilets, and more lavish 2 part toilets. There were even some powerful enough that you can safely flush a bucket of golf-balls (seriously!) and others with anti-microbial finishes. Overwhelmed with the decision I had to make, I was not ready to cast my vote. In the end, I went to Home Depot, not once, but three times. I finally decided that this model, which is neither too high or too low, with its space-saving round bowl, simple lines and chrome flush, was the perfect plain white toilet.  Now that its in the bathroom (and yes, it is working!) I am pleased to see that it is as much of a non-entity as I hoped it would be. Whew!

Some major changes have taken place over the past week.  While I'm thrilled, truly thrilled, that the house is moving along (is that light at the end of the tunnel I see?), I find myself feeling a little bit melancholy.  Call me crazy, but there is a part of me that misses the romance of the bare walls and exposed beams of the ceilings.  It is being transformed from a space of pure potential into a sort of average little cottage.  With insulation covering the walls and sheet rock going up, the light doesn't flow through the rooms quite the same way, and the history of the place is receding into the background (at least to my eye it is). Now, don't get me wrong, I really can't wait to be able to go there and enjoy the feeling of warmth created by the insulation, build a fire in the new fireplace, and cook some home grown vegetables in the new kitchen... not to mention the convenience of having a bathroom and a place to sleep!

Below are some shots of the eerily green insulation (which I pray does not become the asbestos of the next generation). 

This is the attic.  You've seen this shots from this angle quite a few times,  its looking quite a bit different now! 

This is the upstairs bathroom.  I can see now how important it will be to create some dormer windows in the roof (eventually anyhow). 

Check out this sheet rock!  Can you believe this is the same entry way bathroom area in the post below (the one with the almost dirt floor)?

Here is the kitchen/dining area.    

And this is the sunroom.  The floor is in!

In case you're wondering, we're finishing all of the ceilings with beadboard and painting the floors.  

I've added a reading list of some of the books which have inspired me to undertake the journey of this house.  I'll be adding to the list as time goes along.

Take a good hard look at these shots of the house looking raw because this is the last time you'll be seeing it this way!  Insulation went in last week, I'm going up to the house today to check it out.  Sheet rock is next...  The shot above is the entry way.  Below is the same space, but looking to the left where the downstairs half-bath will be.  No it isn't quite a dirt floor, but close to it.  It should be all sealed up by now (fingers crossed).  What you can't see in this photo are the plumbing lines.  Tom Moran, my plumber, and his son Tom, have done such a beautiful job with the plumbing.

Here is the kitchen, looking very raw still.

Here is the sunroom, you can see how nice the floor will look!

Here is the sunroom looking the other direction, you can see how far we have to go still...

These are the beautiful stairs that Ron and his team made.

Here are the bones of the upstairs bedrooms:

And here is the space where the upstairs bathroom will be:

And this is a shot of some tools leaning against the wall in the living room.  There is something about this shot that gives me a sense of this space becoming a home, at last.

So, I've been thinking about and worrying over this side of the house.  This strange roof line really bothers me, especially when I consider that I'm going to be replacing the roof eventually. I have to make a decision about what to do and I'm curious about any opinions that might be floating around out there. 

Here is the situation.

This is the house a month or two ago:

Here is a very amateurish rendering in Photoshop of what it is looking like now (we took out the big plate glass window and replaced it with a window that opens and is to scale with the shape of the wall):

In the future, I'm planning to reside the house with 8-inch horizontal clapboard, paint it white and put a red tin roof on it. This is another very amateurish rendering of what the house might look like if it were painted and the roof was red but with no change to the roof line:

But this image, another very amateurish rendering (bear with my Photoshop skills please!), is what it would look like if I extended the side of the house upwards.  I would put the upstairs bathroom in the space that would be created, which would preserve the shape of the upstairs room, create a much nicer roof line, and a beautiful bathroom:

For simplicity's sake, lets just pretend that I can afford to do this right now (I'm still evaluating the costs). The question becomes, is it worth it? If I ever try to sell the house, will it make enough of a difference to a prospective buyer that I might be able to recover the cost (or at least not lose any money on it), or is it just "over renovating"??? I know it would make me happy to have it done, but I'm wondering what you think.