the dark tile, white washed cabinet kitchen before....
(sorry for the small picture.this was copied from our mls listing
when we were crazy and thinking about selling our house)
and the oh so wonderful after...
it's crazy how much wider our kitchen feels with the wider doorway opening and hardwoods. hard to believe that the kitchen dimensions did not actually change at all. since we replaced the tile floors with hardwoods, we lost our tile counters. darn. so we were able to replace those with a remnant piece of bianco romano granite and painted our cabinets benjamin moore briarwood. definitely a different look than before. briarwood is a grayish-brown color that changes throughout the day and works great to hide all of the little spills that only a toddler would cause. i keep telling byron that it will look even better with the cabinet crown molding and hardware he needs to install sometime soon :) nope, my project list never stops. it runs in my veins, i can't help it.
here's the before view from the former dining room...
and now the view from the new family room...
talk about a major change on the color wheel. i'm on the greige train for sure. although, i do plan to add some pops of color in the curtains, well, no maybe the throw pillows. hmm, maybe both. these are the crazy things that circle through my brain daily. decisions, decisions. anyhow, it's amazing how much more time we spend in this space now that it is open to the kitchen and actually has furniture for lounging. here's the view looking back towards the family room from the nook.
the leather cocktail chairs are from the grove park inn. and they are oh so comfy. we grabbed those at the habitat for humanity store. benefits of byron being an insider :) the couch and rug are a new addition since the last 2 weeks. when i told mary adelyn we were getting another couch she said, "but we already have a couch." poor child was born with her daddy's mentality. although, it didn't take much convincing when i told her that we should have two. and there are more decorations to come soon. i have big plans for that huge empty wall above the couch, along with some possible diy curtains and art. my new year's resolution is to DECORATE and enjoy the home that we've chosen to stay in. anyone who knows me well, knows that i love to browse but have the hardest time pulling the trigger. so, watch out decor/wallet...the safety is definitely off.
the nook turned out exactly how we were hoping. a gathering space with lots of light. if only i had a nickel every time our contractor told me that we could save money if we'd lose some of the windows. i mean really, is 9 windows + 1 dutch door really considered a lot of windows for a 180 sq ft addition? maybe so. but i couldn't imagine our new spaces without them, that's for sure. byron has requested some sort of curtain in the nook and bathroom to hide the fact that he refuses to buy a robe like every other normal urbanite in this universe.
the nook has become the most used spot in the house. it is so great to be able to work in the kitchen and still be able to see mary adelyn at the table. delia on the other hand has considered the new openness to be a personal invitation to join us at table at meal times. she literally cannot stop herself from inching down the kitchen floor to make it to the table. that dog just gets weirder and weirder.
the dutch door is awesome and i've never regretted it for one second. not even when i gave myself a near concussion last weekend from bending down under the opened window portion and then standing up quickly only to find out that the window portion does not stay put very well. while i type, i can still feel the knot left on my head. ouch. yes, that little issue has been added to the project list.
another view into the laundry space...
while it's not a huge space, it's a space nonetheless. i found the antique sliding door on craigslist from a contractor who had driven to indiana and back through a tornado to save pieces of his grandfather's building that was being torn down. byron actually goggle mapped the door's address to see a picture of the buidling. pretty crazy, that the door now blocks our dirty skivvies. guess that's better than being in a trash pile. the tall chalk board is the back of the laundry built-in that i decided to paint with magnetic and chalkboard paint. mary adelyn likes to practice her abc's and colors while eating. what can i say, girl loves to learn.
and finally, the view of our old backside...
and the new (bigger is always better, right?)...
we are looking forward to discovering our new backyard all over again in the spring. while we've had a few warm days, it still isn't enough to really be out there planning and enjoying our new backyard living area. although, mary adelyn has managed to break in her new deck/playhouse. so much so, that she has offically laid claim to the deck. it is hers--just so you know. the slide and swing were my ideas, because i'm cool like that. i think i've been down the slide just as many times as mary adelyn. what? is that weird?
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