Last year, I decided that I really wanted a particular room at the Pike house. I convinced my little brother Tyler to be my roommate, and we started brainstorming renovations. In the middle of July, I took a trip down to the house to start tearing down the old loft and carpet. When I returned in late August for school, Tyler and I finished the destruction and got on with the construction. We then proceeded to work more or less non-stop for almost ten days on the room. On at least several occasions, we worked eighteen hours straight, pausing only briefly for food.

Here is a summary of what we did, in approximately the order we did it:

• Tore down the old loft
• Ripped up the carpeting
• Sanded the hardwood floor
• Put several coats of polyurethane on the hardwood
• Painted the walls
• Built a new loft
• Installed new lights

I can’t find any photos of the room from before we started working on it; however, my July trip photos hint at the room’s former look.

The result? It looks good, if you don’t mind my saying. I took some photos of the work in progress and of the finished room, such as my desk, the emtpy room, and the finished view from my desk (more photos are available). The photos make the room look smaller (and messier!) than it really is, and the walls are not really *quite* that red, but you get the idea.

Up next: The trouble with power tools