Dormer Number Three & “Trailer Living”
March 16, 2025
Even though we’ve wrestled our way through the majority of this winter, fighting malfunctioning appliances and frozen pipes, Michiel has made significant progress constructing a third dormer for both Florence’s bedroom and our master bedroom.
Much of the progress started before the snowstorms and freezing temperatures began, back at the end of January. Having his good, carpenter friend come along-side him to help with the work, has been a tremendous blessing to us.
We often underestimate the benefit of having a working partner, who not only knows the ins-and-outs of the trade, but who understands the vision of the project and supports you when you’re discouraged. These are friends you want to keep close by.
A Taller Ceiling
As the height of the second floor ceilings were a mere six feet tall, it only made sense to lengthen the height, to better suit a modern house, where one would not feel cramped when they retire to the privacy of their room.
Building a dormer is the perfect solution to add square footage to a house, yet retain the original design of the floor plan.
Michiel’s initial steps began with removing the walls of the bedrooms. He also removed the existing floors in both rooms due to significant rot. He then installed studs where the walls of the dormers were going to be located. Within days of the studs being in place, the solid sheets of walls were next to be installed.
The Start Of a Master Bedroom
The excitement of this specific project is held in the fact that the dreams we have of our master bedroom will finally come to realization.
It is not evident to envision a space when looking at a blueprint. However, once the skeleton of the space has been created, and you step into this new space, all of a sudden, you see much more than what you have envisioned on that piece of paper with black shapes and labels.
Since our bedroom dormer extends out quite a bit to the back, Michiel has discovered a beautiful scenery facing west, directly from the foot of our bed.
It is here, in the wall, where he has cut a large rectangular hole to soon encase a window—a direct, unhindered view of a stunning landscape where the waters of the creek rush back and forth, and the waters rise and fall depending on the tidal influx from the ocean.
The evening light, with its spectacular colours of the setting sun—over glistening waters, is a sight to behold—from the comfort of our soon-to-be room.
A Generous Upgrade
Michiel uncovered the original red brick chimney in our new room. The rustic-looking bricks run from the middle of the living room downstairs to directly above—and into our room, touching the large closet where Michiel has roughed in, with studs already in place.
Our room will be the largest bedroom we have yet to experience. It is a generous upgrade. And for this indeed, we are very thankful.
There was a fair amount of lath and plaster to remove throughout the remaining second floor walls. This is perhaps the most messy of tasks performed throughout this renovation endeavour. Michiel has been able to salvage much of it—tying the lath into manageable bundles with twine, and having his son, Oliver come along-side him to do the job.
We are hoping to incorporate some artistic elements using these narrow strips of wood, tastefully decorating the interior, with the desire to re-introduce some hints of history into the home.
A Stellar Little Girl’s Bedroom
Florence’s bedroom will have many customized details suitable to her needs. There is a window already in place, however, since the dormer will enlarge her total room size to about double, it seems appropriate to add another large window north facing.
A little nook in between her closet and where her bed will be located has been roughed in. This specific space will be perfect for a little girl’s desk, along with all her arts and crafts supplies, catering to her need to express herself artistically.
A Significant Journey For a Family Of Six
As I ponder on our family’s journey which started with the sale of our Ontario home (on what seemed to be a moment’s notice), moving across the country to the rugged coast of Nova Scotia, going from tent to house to house in the time span of just under three years, each renovation work a little more strenuous than the previous—each project with a bigger dream in mind, and a farther reaching vision to make a reality.
I imagine our kids getting a little older, but still young enough to do all the things we had done while still living in Ontario. In some ways, our minds have a way of freezing time—fond memories, significant seasons in life, milestones reached from one child to the next.
When I speak of how this lifestyle requires much physical and mental adapting for all six family members, I often get the gentle response from others, along the lines of: “it’s a good thing your children are still so young…they accept change so easily at this age.” This was four years ago—when our family had initially announced our anticipated move and started our wild adventures of flipping homes and being completely self-sufficient using solar panels as our main source of power.
Milestones and Growing Up
What is not easily grasped in this comment is how quickly children grow and mature. Four years of living in adaptation swiftly moves a child from toddler to middle school stage. A pre-junior high schooler moves at lightning speed to a high school graduate—and prepping for college entrance.
I have paid attention, and observed with great curiosity the meaning of time in relation to the changes in people from many walks of life. It is a wonder how quickly one moves from one stage to the next, and the insight gained at each milestone. The one change that is eventual and ultimate—with no exceptions, is that children grow up to become adults.
Time does freeze over memories, but reality will have it, that the people in those memories do not freeze. The six rooms we will have made ready—and by the time we purposely craft the final detail onto our precious home, and call it “finished”, we may already be preparing for one room to sit empty.
…Much Like Living In a Trailer
In the busyness of life raising a family, and adjusting to the ever changing demands of living off-grid while tending to the new challenges within our four walls, a friend reminded me of her experience similar to ours—she candidly named it “trailer living.”
I assured her that our home is nothing like a trailer. We have pipes, a working bathroom and kitchen, running water (most of the time), and heat (again, most of the time), and a hard shell around our house—insulated and waterproof—hard walls to keep the harsh elements of the eastern coast out of our comfortable bubble inside.
She asked if I had unpacked everything since our move to the new province. I said most of our belongings were still packed away in large, black plastic bins, in our now yet-to-be renovated dining room, sitting neatly stacked, ready to be transported to a better storage location when our dining room is ready to be worked on.
“Well,” she said, “that is trailer living…not because you live in a physical trailer, but because you don’t have access to all your stuff, and you have to unbox items in order to use them.”
I have to say that she is definitely right in that regard. There are many items I have yet to unbox. And I don’t dare to do that until I have room for them—and, the truth of the matter is, I don’t have room for them because my home is still under construction.
When the time comes to unbox and purposefully store the items in their rightful space, we will likely learn that a large percentage of those items are just not needed anymore.
The Necessities While Living In Renovation
We’ve really paired down to the essentials, and even if we didn’t have quite the item we needed in our livable space, we make-due with what we do have and try our best to use it for multiple purposes. How many spatulas, ladles, and peelers do you really need anyway?
Cooking a meal sometimes translates to having a task take more time than usual. Living this way does make it less convenient in many ways, but in the process, we’ve learned that we could have lived perfectly fine, years previous without these items.
Marching At the Beat Of Your Own Drum
As I continue to spew the honest details of doing life with my family while working on our home, it can, and has become daunting and discouraging to see where we are heading—the mountains we need to climb to get there.
There is a point when you ask yourself if what you are doing is realistic and worth the effort. Other times, realistic ideas are something you consider a passing—and the bigger, wilder picture is where your vision engulfs you, and it seems to want to lead and break free.
This is where many will revert to the tried and true. There is comfort, stability, and predictability in the tried and true. We are creatures of habit, after all. Change is a struggle for most. Marching at the beat of your own drum is only appealing if you’re poised in your own rhythm, and you have already composed the ending of your piece.
We are very much looking forward to the progress—making yet again, more square footage of our house livable. Step-by-step, by giant leaps, we make progress,
We are so thankful for our friends and family checking in on us. Thank you for your prayers and sweet compliments. And, especially, we are thankful for your practical help during our time of need.
Surely, we count ourselves blessed!
Good night and sweet dreams, dear friends and family!
