Finally... a kitchen

It wasn't my intent to share the kitchen quite yet.  I was waiting for the backsplash to be up, which it will be in the next week or 2.  However, some of you noticed it and commented on it in my ToT post so here is the reveal.  Come on in.  It's right through our new front door.



Here's a reminder of what my old kitchen looked like.  Accent on old.  Like as in originally built with the house back in the '60's.  On second thought, lets forget it ever existed.  It was really sad and you can't even see the spots where the flooring was held down by duct tape.  Yup - it was super bad.



So clearly we lost a few walls along the way. Now there is just one big room that encompasses the kitchen, dining room and living room.  It is fabulous for entertaining.



Here is the reverse view.  Most of it is pretty standard.  Double ovens, cooktop, granite countertops.  I do love the drawers and cabinets doors that auto close. The floors are cork which is nice and soft and warm underfoot.



And, if I have to choose my favorite part of the new kitchen, it's probably this, my humongous, apron front sink.

 

I added my collection of blue glass bottles.  It doesn't make a whole lot of sense now but it will.  As finished as it looks, I see this kitchen, and the house itself, as a work in progress.  It's got much improved bones but now it needs the little things that make it mine.  Stuff like blue glass bottles and funky light fixtures.

Our Extreme Home Reboot

I think that it's safe to say that this year has been one of the biggest ever for us. My oldest daughter got her license, my middle daughter had her Bat Mitzvah, and my youngest caused us to undertake a major construction project. Truthfully, it's something I envisioned way back when we bought the house but I just never really thought it would happen. It's one of those things you daydream about. Wouldn't it be nice if... ?

Late last year things just all came together just right and we started the planning. We decided to use the same architect that good friends used and that made it so much better. We had total confidence that it would all work out well and it did. I would totally recommend AV Architects. They gave us exactly what we wanted and more. Now I can share with you all the home we created, the home we'll enjoy with our family for many years to come.

This is what our house looked like right before construction. You can see it hiding behind all the lumber.



Here is our house now. My main goal was that the house shouldn't look like it was added onto and I think that they succeeded both inside and out.



I'm saving some of my favorite spaces, like the kitchen for later so we'll skip to the upstairs.  This is the landing area.  Through those windows you can see the tops of the trees behind us.  The walls are more of a buttery gold than the yellow you see here.  I'm not really a yellow person and I was skeptical when the architect had this color put up.  She was right though.  You really must see how this area glows in the mornings when the sun comes up. 



This is Miss M's room.  She has no actual furniture yet - just space and a lovely view. Oh and a really big closet for me to fill with cute clothes. She runs around and gets silly here now but someday it'll be a great space for reading, studying and giggling with friends. This is just a small corner of the room.



This is the bathroom that Miss M and Stinkerbelle share.  (DQ got our old master bedroom downstairs and it's got an en suite) I really wish that this picturehad captured the floor tiles better - the blue squares are irridescent.



The shower in there.  Plenty of space to dance while you sing.



Here is the window seat in my room.  The bottom is all storage and the closet on the right is mine - Bruce has his own (slightly smaller) although I reserve the right to "borrow" space in his if I run out.  We're having bookcases made to flank the window and then I'll add a cushion and curtains.



That's where the tour ends for now.  The master bathroom really deserves it's own post.

Diving In

Me: Stinkerbelle, have you ever gotten up on the diving board and looked down and suddenly been afraid to step off? You know, you look down and you know it’s going to be cool but it just freaks you out a little.

Stinkerbelle: No.

***

That’s my girl. Never hesitates to ruin a perfectly good analogy. I’m pretty sure that she knew exactly what I meant though. At the time we had this discussion it was the night before our huge construction project started and I was feeling really apprehensive. I know that it needs to be done. I know that it’s going to be awesome when it’s finished. But I also know that getting there will suck. I learned that lesson from watching endless hours of HGTV.


So this is what my house looked like after day one of construction. Obviously we are in demolition phase. Mostly things have gone smoothly except for an unintended and unexpected skylight in DQ’s room. Yes, she was there when it occurred. No, neither she nor her posters were injured. Truthfully, her room needed a little airing out anyway. Just sayin’.