Unavoidable Renovations~Progress!!

On July second, we had a fire in our home.

Here is what happened:  We were preparing for a big party.  First one in years, and we planned it big.  Our college roommate and good friend whom we met in Minneapolis (who turned into somewhat of an "Item") were going to visit from New York City.  We bought a keg of pbr and cleaned the house.  I even pulled out all the stops with the 4th of July decor; striped tent, pennant banners, everything!  Well, around 10:45 pm the evening prior to the party and the arrival of our guests, we were cleaning up.  I was upstairs and Kyle was in the basement organizing some things in the utility room.  He accidentally knocked an aluminum level off the wall, that fell behind the shelf that sat below it.  Well, it seems a can of spray paint fell behind the shelf some time back and the aluminum level knew just where to land.  It pierced the spray can, releasing the aerosol that took about 30 seconds to travel over to the water heater and ignite on the pilot light.  A burst of flames went up and slowly subsided, but caught a few things on fire as it died down. Kyle called for me, as he fidgeted with fire extinguisher.  Time quickly ticked away, so I grabbed Lucy from her bed and called 911.  Kyle did his best to maintain it, but was unable to.  Directly on the other side of the wall was my closest.  Shoes, belts, purses, luggage, ALL clothing (including all the maternity stuff too).  Apparently there was something flammable over there, cause it caught fire the worst.  

The house went up in smoke and we anxiously watched from our front yard as black clouds billowed from most of the windows.  About 6 fire trucks came and blocked our streets, and neighbors we never knew we had started to come out of the woodwork.  The fire department arrived quickly and started bashing out all our windows.  It is so disheartening to watch everything you work so hard for and pay so much for month to month just being destroyed, and there is just nothing you can do about it.

The day after the fire we returned to the house to see the damage.  We couldn't stay in the house too long, because of the smoke.  About 4 o'clock that afternoon, I finally worked up the nerve to walk down into the basement to see the aftermath and what may have survived in my closet.  Let's face it folks, I design clothes...so I had A LOT!  Things that are irreplaceable.  All I can say is at least it wasn't humans or pets.

Anywho!  Here are some photos of the week following the fire, prior to any contents being removed.

The fire and smoke destroyed many rooms and MANY more of our belongings.  Out finished basement, kitchen, Lucy's bedroom and upstairs bathroom must all be gutted and rebuilt.

Some progress has been made on our home.  We hired a GREAT crew over at Superior Construction and I have already added Jason and Dan to my list of "christmas card" recipients.  This past Monday, we walked them through some of the changes we wanted to make to our home.  The silver lining is starting to peak through the gray clouds of smoke...and I am excited about what could be in our new home.  When we walked our house, the construction team had already gutted the walls and replaced many destroyed studs and sub floors.  As we make some headway, we will share the PROGRESS!

The Attic

Lucy's Bedroom (view 1)

Lucy's Bedroom (view 2)

MORE to come of the basement and kitchen!