How exciting!!!
The builders arrived on Tuesday last week and began to create a walk in wardrobe (WIR) and ensuite for the main bedroom upstairs. It’s very hard to show what they’ve done with photos but I’ll do my best.
The really bad photo above is trying to show a room that is known here as a ‘sleep out’ it would have had timber Louvre style windows running the length of it but sometime in the late 70’s or early 80’s they were replaced with aluminium sliders.
A ‘sleep out’, here in Queensland, refers to a room that is an enclosed verandah. ‘Sleep outs’ were originally created for extra sleeping space and is meant to be cooler than the main house. A ‘sleep out ‘ was either part of the original construction of the home or quite often a verandah would be enclosed. The photo above is one I’ve found on google. I love the old lino. Judging by the slope of the ceiling this must have been a verandah originally.
The photo above shows the new opening from the main bedroom to the future ensuite and WIR. We’ve chosen not to have a door put on but instead have doors on the WIR and ensuite. It will make the room feel a little bigger this way.
The builders are very tidy. The photo on the right is my attempt to show you what is happening in the kitchen. This little room is going to become a study area off the bedroom. It was up until last week, a toilet and the back door. The small window will be replaced with double casement windows.
The possum houses are at least providing a shady spot for a neighbourhood cat. This cat is called Echo.
Old Pearly Jenkins 
Looks great! My aunt’s beach house has a sleep out and the room is surrounded by glass Louvre windows, great for getting the bay breeze on a hot summer night. Not much fun to clean though.
I can just imagine the salt all over the windows but how wonderful would it be to fall asleep with the sound of the beach in the distance.
It is so relaxing and cool, the sound of the water just lulls you to sleep.
Look forward to following the progress of your renovation as ours draws to an end. When is your expected completion date?
Thank you Caroline. The builders gave us a timeline of 12 to 14 weeks. This seems like a very long time. So maybe in the new year. We have very limited internet access at the moment and are tethering our mobiles to the computer so we can quickly check emails etc… I will visit your blog to see your progress as soon as I can. I’m looking forward to seeing it.
We have sleep outs on old houses in the US, too … mostly in the Midwest where it’s hot and muggy in the summer. Lots back in Wisconsin where I was born. We call them sleeping porches. I don’t see them in the Seattle area where I live now.
I would love to see some examples of Midwestern sleep outs. I know it rains a lot in Seattle but what is the weather like in Summer?
Here’s an illustration of an American sleeping porch – they were popular in the 1920’s here. I’ve seen a number of houses with an open or screened in porch on the side of the house downstairs, and a glass one above it accessed from one of the bedrooms. And given the period when they were popular, they typically had wooden casement winodws. http://www.antiquehomestyle.com/inside/bedrooms/1920s/gallery/page03.htm
I know an old lady whose family had one in the Philadelphia suburbs. The whole family would sleep out there, which defeats the alleged health benefit of being outside if you ask me. She said that the chimney ran up the wall on one side it, and that it provided enough heat that she could sleep on it year round. Being in an unheated, uninsulated space surrounded with long banks of single paned windows in the middle of winter sounds nuts to me, but it’s made her cold hardy enough to do without heating her house when she’s almost 90!
I love sleep outs, especially those long banks of windows. Betsy does not have one unfortunately but they are such good spots to pop ensuites. Any chance you would share a floor plan of what you are up to, makes it easier to see what is going on. mel x
I do have some plans on the home page. However they need to be updated. We have since removed the laundry from inside and put it outside under the pergola (in a cupboard of course!). The laundry space inside will now be a small study. Please let me know if you still can access the plans and I will have a look to see what I’ve done wrong.
I’m very excited to see things take off at your place! Looking forward to following along.
Thank you, that is so nice of you. I’m happy too as it’s taken so long to get to this point.