Decisions

OK, the big news....

Steve and I have finally (after more than two years) decided what to do with the solarium!  I know, I know... it takes us forever to do just about anything.  It's our process, our way.  And it works for us.

A little history for those of you who are just becoming acquainted.  On January 6, 2009 (the night before my birthday and 3 days before Cedar was having another major surgery) a windstorm blew down a very large Douglas Fir tree onto our house.  We are very lucky.  The kids and I were in the living room when it came down.  Had the tree fallen even slightly to the left, it would have smashed strait through my bedroom and the living room.  Instead, thank goodness, it went through the solarium.

The blue tarp is covering the worst of the damage.

I'm actually not sure if "solarium" is the right word for what we have (had).  Could maybe also be called an atrium or attached greenhouse.... you get the idea.  I wish that I had a picture from before the tree fell so that you could get the design concept.

For the last two years we have made NO progress on fixing it because we could not decide what to do with the space.  For a while, the plan was to enlarge the footprint and turn it into a family room with a bedroom off to the side.  The extra bedroom would be great since there are the four of us in our little two bedroom house.  It all seemed well and good and like a great idea, but we just could not agree on the layout.  Plus, there was all the hassle of property lines, permits, concrete trucks, blah, blah, blah....

A couple of weeks ago a friend of ours who is an architect/contractor came out to look at the site and give us some feedback.  His suggestion: just fix it and recreate what we had but nicer.  Ding!  A lightbulb went off in both our heads!  It's the first suggestion or idea that immediately felt good to both of us.  Success!  We finally have a plan!

The reason we planned to change the use of space was that the solarium was not very functional, even before the tree smashed it to bits.  There was no heat, uninsulated glass, and it is heavily shaded (keeping it very cool most of the time).  Plus the doors going between the solarium and the kitchen/dining room are interior doors, making it more of a drafty heat sink for the house rather than something useful.  However, that is all about to change....

We are going to replace all of the glass with insulated low-E glass and we're going put our old, tiny Vermont Castings wood stove in the corner so it can finally be kept heated.  We are even considering putting radiant heat in the floor, but we'll see.  We haven't priced that out yet.  Along the stem wall on the exterior side, cold frames will line the building providing a great space for starting seeds in the spring and protecting and further insulating the otherwise crummy concrete stem wall.  All of the trees that currently shade the room are scragly things that are growing far too close to the house anyway, so we are making plans to take them down (plus they are just the right species and size for plugging with mushrooms!).

Once completed, the room will not only function well as a comfy place to be, but will also offer a great space to start and grow plants, and will finally provide heat to both the kitchen/dining area and Sequoia's bedroom (which currently lack any heat source).  I have a vision of setting up a spinning wheel next to the wood stove in the winter and being able to spin away while the fire crackles and the rain patters on the glass above my head.  Dreamy.  Not to mention visions of Solviva dancing through my head.

Oh... I am so excited!  Now that we have a plan and I can see it all in my mind's eye, I feel so impatient.  I can't wait!

The glass arrived today.  It is stacked up against the house just waiting to be put to use, tempting me like an oasis in the desert (a desert of grey skies and rain, that is...).  Now we just need some dry days to be able to start construction.  Unfortunately, the weather forecast is calling for rain as far into the foreseeable future as we can venture.  But, I've waited 28 months.  I can probably wait a few more weeks.

I've been working on many design sketches for the final layout and I plan to post them once completed.  I hope to convey the usefulness and efficiency of the space in the designs.  So, keep your eyes peeled for those to appear soon.  Oh boy!  It's so incredibly exciting!