Living and Dining

This is my favorite room in the house. In fact, it is what sold it. I am in love with the fireplace and even more in love with lighting it and taking naps by it. Now if I could only figure out how to light it without burning half my hair off in the process.

The pictures aren't from the exact angles but hopefully close enough to get the idea.

Before:

After:

In this room we didn't do much besides stain the floor a dark walnut, add recessed lighting and paint. Next on the list is artwork and new blinds.

Before:

After:

granted these are different corners but same end of room

And I also recognize how this corner desperately needs artwork.

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

I love the idea of having a dining table. Finally we can have people over and they don't have to eat off of their laps. Too bad we never have anyone over.

In the original design of the house, this room was actually the kitchen before the addition. Because we wanted wood floor throughout the main floor we had to add it to this room. We also added the pendant light, painted, and changed the door. The door wasn't my first choice, but we were too late in picking one out for our contrator so he chose this one for us and installed it.

Remodel: Kitchen

We aren't  completely done with our house. I don't know if we ever will be really. There is quite a bit more time, money, and resources that are required when renovating a house vs. an apartment. I'm happy with the progress though.

The kitchen is the most complete of our home. I refused to move in until it was finished. I'm so in love with it. We really lucked out in our neighborhood. Our kitchen is an add on so it is at least three times the size of most, not to mention I only had 60 inches of cooking space in my last apartment, so this is a dream. If I only had the time now to actually cook in it.

I only have two before pictures. We were not big fans of the layout. It didn't seem to maximize the space, you can't see beyond the bar, but there is about 10 feet of extra space. We could have put a little kitchen table there, but we knew we wanted a separate dining area which is adjacent to the kitchen, and two tables near each other would have been a little strange. And lets be honest, we weren't huge fans of the cabinets.

We almost gutted the entire kitchen. We flipped the layout switching the oven range and fridge. All of the cabinets are from Ikea, and the countertop is a Silestone from Home Depot. We also replaced the tile with hardwood floor to match the rest of the first floor. 

Update on Friday, October 17, 2008 at 7:45PM by alysha

I forgot to give major props to Tom who built this kitchen himself, with the help of friends and family. Thank you, thank you!