"Design Happens"

So. I shared with you our first big renovation mistake, and since then, I promised myself we had learned our lesson and that everything would be smooth sailing from then on. And it was. For awhile. I mean, we managed to successfully draft a pretty awesome lighting plan, outsource our drywall project and plank our ceilings. And did I mention our two-week-long siding project? No? Well, I’m mentioning it now. Gold stars for us on that one. Big time.

Yet we did run into a bit of a setback this week, and by setback, I mean a completely moronic series of decisions on our part. Like most things in our home, we decided to tackle our master bedroom ceiling with no experience whatsoever. And this was no small project. I wanted cathedral ceilings with low, exposed beams in a natural and ebony stained palette similar to this lovely photo from my inspiration board:

And because Husband is a total trooper, he considered this a challenge to create the best master ceiling ever. He researched, researched and researched more. And then? He got to work cutting into our attic:

Before you worry that our ceiling caved in, know that this wasn’t the mistake. He checked (triple-checked even) that he wouldn’t be removing load-bearing beams and he’s a smart lad. So we’re good in this department. Moving on…

If you’re keeping track at home, that’s a lot of of insulation. And in our research, we were right on track and our master bedroom was set to be the warmest room north of the hemisphere. And then warmer than that. Times twenty.

So we called the insulation guy (proper term, I’m sure) to come see our progress and finish the job with even more insulation — the foamy spray-on kind. But rather than getting to work, he frowned, saying we’d have to take down all of ours, instead.

He explained that we had the right idea, yet this was an interesting case (something to do with angles, slopes and mathematical terms that didn’t really register). So, alas, we tore ours down:

$900 later, the professionally installed foam ceiling was in place:

All in all, not a massive mistake by any means, but we would have saved ourselves a week of our own labor had we called in the experts first. And I can’t quite remember why we didn’t follow such an obvious rule, but alas, such is life when renovating.

The good news? We’ll be wood planking over our newly (and professionally!) insulated ceiling this week, and it’s going to be just fantastic.

But that’s an entirely different post….

Erin Loechner is a freelance writer/blogger whose work has been featured in Glamour, Dwell, Lucky, Nylon, Print and ReadyMade Mag. Follow more of her daily renovation musings at her blog, Design for Mankind.