House Tour

I hope everyone had a Happy New Years! It's hard to believe we are already 9 days into 2013 - time flies! I came back to work last week after a long holiday break, and I have to say it feels good to get back into a routine.  The holidays were a blast and I was one of those really lucky people that was off the week between Christmas and New Years. I was out of work for so long I started to forget what my co-workers looked like.  It was glorious. But this years winter vacation was anything but relaxing; it was chalked full of new house remodel phase one.

Before we dive into the work completed thus far, I thought it might be fun to give you a tour of the house as it was the day we bought it.  Below are the images that will one day be known as the "before" shots.

Oh, and disregard the furniture. The house was semi-staged while it was on the market. All furniture was removed before we moved in, giving us a clean slate to start with.



Living Room.

This is the room you walk into as you enter the house, the door you see straight ahead is the front door. This will definitely be a room we will spend a lot of time in. It's a long room with nice lighting. We don't have any structural plans for this room but do plan to refinish the floors, paint, add furniture, window treatments etc.. Our favorite part of this room - the gas fireplace. I can already tell you this will be my best friend as it seems I'm always cold, OH and I love s'mores so it's a win win.


Dining Room.

Above is the dining room.  The wall you see straight ahead backs up to the kitchen. This is a great picture because this room, from this angle already looks different. This room is actually involved in the biggest remodeling project we have on our agenda, which includes removing the wall you see straight ahead. The removal of this wall will really open up both the dining room and the kitchen. Stay tuned - this project is well underway!



Kitchen

And here is the ol' heart of the home - the kitchen. This space was difficult to photograph because it's small and there really wasn't a great angle that allowed the camera to capture the space in its entirety. While the components such as the cabinets and the appliances were in pretty good shape the layout was mediocre at best. We came up with a plan pretty soon after seeing the space which involved the removal of the wall the refrigerator is currently on (this is the wall that backs up to the dining room) in order to open up the space. Also on the list, the removal of an exterior door you can't see that literally goes to nothing. Because of the new layout, new cabinets are a must as well as countertops and backsplash (HOORAY!) As I mentioned in the dining room blurb, this part of the project is well underway, walls have been chopped and dust has been flying.

Sun room.

I've decided to call this room the Solarium, it's a fancier word for sun room. This is a great space right off the living room. We figure the room was added on to the house at some point because you can see the original siding on the right wall. The room is full of glass and the sunlight pours in. The french doors you see ahead lead out to the deck so I know we will get a lot of enjoyment out of this space as we entertain.


Master Sitting Area.

This house spoke to us for a number of reasons, but one of the main reasons is the upstairs master suite which includes the master sitting area pictured above. The upstairs was renovated in the early 2000's and is in great shape. We plan to turn this area into a den with a cozy couch, TV, books, etc. I love the built-ins in this space and plan to fill them full of the bazillion design and fashion books I have acquired over my lifetime.

Master Bedroom.

The entire back wall of the master bedroom is filled with windows overlooking our awesome back yard. It's a great space with plenty of room for furniture which translates into storage. Speaking of storage, see the french doors to the right? That's the closet - AKA my favorite room in the house ;)

Master Bath.

 And finally, the master bath, AKA Brent's favorite room. Brent has big plans for that tub. He wants to mount a TV on the wall to the left so he can lay in the tub and watch his stories. I'm serious. I can't lie, I love the tub too. It's hard to see from this picture but the tub has these chunky gold feet with with a vintage tub fixture. It's an instant focal point and I'm excited to design around it. This space has a lot of possibilities and really doesn't need much more than some window treatments, paint and some storage in the form of cabinetry.

Well, there you have it, I hope you enjoyed a quick tour of the new digs. There are a few spaces I've left out of this post, including: the downstairs guest bedrooms, downstairs bathroom, hallway (with charming phone niche!) and the deck/backyard. I will post those pictures eventually but for now I wanted to cover the major living areas. Dont' worry I won't bombard you with posts about my house. I'll take it easy for awhile until more progress has been made, but I'll be back, and at the rate the renovations are going, I'll be back soon!