Balcony scene

Monica Lee1 Comment

Dear reader, we’re taking a break from the memoir-in-progress to assess the accomplishments of the past year. My husband and I closed on the 126-year-old Methodist church just shy of a year ago, and the changes have been immense. For the next couple days, I’m telling the story in before-and-after photos. Whenever possible I’ll try to use the same perspective in the “after” shot as I did long ago in the “before.” We’ve walked through most of the church, but we’re almost done. Today, we look at the balcony.

balcony before
When we bought the church, there was no balcony, only a hidden choir loft. As we were poking around during the showing, there was a dark opening on the second story. Tyler fired up the flashlight and I took this picture of the space between the ceiling and what we thought was the roof (it’s really a second ceiling–there’s another space above that before the roof).
end of balcony after
Here’s a look at that same space now. We removed the first ceiling and drywalled the second ceiling (there’s a thousand dollars worth of blow-in insulation between that ceiling and the roof).
balcony other way before
Tyler built a balcony extending from the second story room(s) and choir loft. This is the north side of the balcony.
balcony built before
And here’s a shot from the north to the south. (This was a scary picture to get because I had to walk to end of the balcony without any railings.)
balcony after
The is how the balcony looks from north to south today (or this evening– this is evening light). We carpeted the plywood (because there was no original floor to refinish) and assembled a sitting area in the center of the balcony.
balcony other way after
This is the north side of the balcony today (day light). I can watch the TV on the fireplace from the chair on the right. This is a great place for an introvert or a teenager to catch their breath during a gathering–can still hear and see the action downstairs but doesn’t have to interact. I also think it would be a great place to put a live band if we ever have a big blow-out party.

Friday: Before-and-current photos of the basement. See them here.

One thought on “Balcony scene”

Leave a comment