How To Add Living Space For Less Than $1 A Square Foot

** Boy, math was never my thing. The truth is this was less than $.55 per square foot! 

Everyone who has ever built anything or bought property knows that it is impossible to add square footage to your living space for less than two dollars per square foot...

 until now!

15 years ago, or so we had built a deck kinda in the shape of a baseball field (at least in my mind). It's just pressure treated 2x4's sitting on stones and bricks around the perimeter and then filled in with pressure treated 2x4's for the decking. It has been pressure washed multiple times and painted with the special paint that is supposed to hold up to outdoor weather... not so much.  It's okay, but does need to be painted again. In all fairness, it was done 5 years ago, in this post.

                    

We purchased an offset umbrella and it nicely covers the patio table and chairs. It tilts so we can catch the sun/guard against it regardless of where it is positioned in the sky. I love spending mornings and evenings out there. It's nice but it's just the back deck.

Much more time than usual has been spent out there these past several months as is probably the case in many of your homes and yards. Usually, we are running off here and there to enjoy all that summer has to offer in New England but this year it is different; places are very limited in time and amount of guests, some places didn't make it and won't reopen at all. Some places we can't travel to without quarantining ourselves when we get there and when we come home.

That got me to thinking, "What exactly is it that I am missing about those places?" Places we like to visit usually are in close proximity to the ocean... Well, okay, I can't do anything about that but there is usually live music, good food and a little atmosphere... Hmmm...

This one took no time to sell to Mister on. If you ask him he would say it was all his idea to begin with. I quickly placed an order on Amazon.

The next day we were off to the Home Depot! We purchased 4 flanges and 4 plumbing pipes that are approximately 10 feet long and we headed back home.

Mister pounded the pipes into the ground with a rubber mallet until only 8 feet was sticking up. We used a level to do our best at keeping them from leaning one way or the other. This photo shows that either we were way off or I take photos at the wrong angles.

Mister then threaded the flanges on to the tops of the poles. The flanges got a coat of black spray paint so they won't rust. (Believe me they will. We had to go back and do this step after the first rain!)

We scrounged around to find some S hooks we had used for another project and attached one to each pole. Mister put some caulking at the top to cover the hole down into the pole. And right about then my package from Amazon showed up. Perfect timing!

Inside the package was led string lights. We strung the lights along the poles with a little draping and secured the ends with zip-ties.

Now we could rest from our day's labor. (It truly took about 2 hours, including the trip to Home Depot). Mister cooked us some dinner on the grill and we ate as listening to music and watching the sun go down.

As the daylight waned our music got a little louder. With a glass of wine in hand we witnessed true magic. Those little globe lights, without any provocation, whisked us away from all the scary news of this world and we just sat there, in our new room, at the back of our house! We danced to Ed Sheeran as fireflies twinkled in approval just beyond our "walls".

Now, for those who want to know how I got my figure of $2 per square foot: 

4 flanges-$31.88, 4 poles - $57.24, globe lights-$43.99,tax- $8.24 for a total of $141.35 to gain a 16'x16' room=$.55 per square foot. We had the spray paint, the s-hooks and caulking from other projects. 

No, we can't use it in the winter and yes, we do have mosquitoes in New England but right now, in these strange times, to us this new room is priceless. These little lights changed my anxious, worried and scared perspective and they brought to mind the changes light can bring.  

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

John 1:5

God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.  But if we walk in the light, as 

he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son 

cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 

1 John 1:5-9

Thanks for spending time with me today. 

Praying you are finding ways to bring peace into your own lives. 

Jolena

** originally this post was titled How To Add Living Space For Less Than $2 A Square Foot due to my reversing my numbers when doing the math. 

Linking up to parties on these blogs:

Lou Lou Girls, Stone Cottage Adventures, Ducks N'A Row, Across The Blvd, April J Harris, Farmhouse 40, Love My Little Cottage, Jenerally Informed, My Wee Abode, Mad In Crafts, My Thrift Store Addiction, Oh My Heartsie Girl, The Pin Junkie, Katherine's Corner, The Pin Junkie, Shabby Art Boutique, Imparting Grace, The Cottage Market, Pam's Party and Practical Tips, Grammy's Grid, The Zucchini Sisters

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