The Living Room
It’s been awhile since I updated the blog with current house photos, so here goes! If you’ve read past posts, you’ve already seen the before images. But if you haven’t, here’s a quick recap.
One of the first things I did after moving in was to add a pair of french doors to the side of our house, replace lighting, and of course, paint! I eventually trimmed out the doors with a wider, craftsman style trim, and added accent shiplap around the doors, all in a fresh coat of white paint! Here’s a before and after of the living room with the doors and accent wall added:
The Dining Room
The house was built with two areas for dining tables, one in the kitchen and one in the living room. I opted to have more living space, so the breakfast nook became our dining room! Running the wood laminate throughout the kitchen and dining rooms, and trimming out the windows with the craftsman style trim, made all the difference. I also replaced the doors on the pantry and painted them out in white, and painted the walls in a blue toned, almost black, paint! The chandelier is one of my favs.
In the Kitchen
The kitchen has by far been the biggest transformation. The original kitchen had an angled peninsula with original backsplash and honey oak cabinets. My first round of “updates” included painting the backsplash tile and kitchen cabinets, as well as replacing the bar top with butcher block. By the time my 3rd baby was born, I was more than ready to make some major changes to the space. The biggest undertaking was to remove the peninsula and create an island in that space. Replacing the backsplash with a clean white subway tile and adding quartz countertops finished off the look. I’ve replaced the fridge with a matching stainless since these photos were taken. But let’s be real, with 3 little ones and endless work days, having a kitchen tidy enough to photograph seems like a distant dream! No complaints here!
The Fireplace
I love the stone on this fireplace. But the wood work above, as well as the early 90’s clunky tv cove, wasn’t working for me. A quick simple change of removing the honey oak and replacing it with Tongue and groove shiplap all the way up to the ceiling modernized it, and cleaned it up.
The Exterior
This was a big undertaking as well. Remember this patio doors? Well they now lead to a wonderful porch on the side of our house. The original house was fine. It was just kind of basic and smallish on the exterior. Adding that porch really gave the house a unique look. I initially had a hard time bringing myself to do the lime wash on the brick… It seemed so permanent! But once I did it, I was super glad I did! I asked the contractor who built our porch to add some architectural details to the peaks with cedar toned beams to tie it into the cedar on the porch, and it really improved the look of our exterior!
Adding a Beam
I really do love the location of my house. But it was built builders-grade and void of character, 90’s style. So I decided I’d like to add a beam to the peak between the living room and kitchen. My brother-in-law raised the height of the wall in the living room, and built a large beam across the length of the peak. I love it so much!
