9 Cranes Inn

Phillip is always ready to assist in any way he can.

This weekend we’re trying to psych ourselves into clearing out the future Phinney Ridge room – 9 Cranes Inn’s fourth and final guest room, renovation of which begins January 2. Before Scott the carpenter shows up bright and early Monday morning, Mike and I have to find a place for all of the stuff we happily stashed in what became the forgotten zone.

Anyone who’s seen this second-floor space knows that there’s a lot of potential in it. We plan to exploit that potential by creating a guest room for two or three people; it will have a queen-sized bed in one room, and a good quality twin pull-out bed in the adjoining sitting room (with privacy option of double pocket doors). Private bath, of course, plus all of the amenities featured in our other Seattle Bed & Breakfast guest rooms.

There’s enough square footage back there to steal some so the Fremont room next door can get its own en suite bathroom. No more traipsing across the hall for Fremont guests (don’t worry, though, we’ll keep the comfy robes in the room anyway). The old Fremont bath will become my much-dreamed-of powder room for visitors not staying in a guest room. Way better than sending them to the sometimes scary innkeepers’ quarters on the lower level.

So that’s the plan in a nutshell. Be warned that I’ll probably update you – not to mention whine about the process – as we go along. But first, tackling the cleanout so construction can begin. You could say that it will mark the end of our move-in…a mere two years after buying the house.