This blog entry as many of my entries are geared towards our out of town
family & friends. As many of you
in-towners have already seen the "final phase" in person & in action. And continue to invite everyone over to see us!
There was a lot of work done over this past summer and fall INTO winter
and probably spring too! :-)))
Though as Rob feels his honey-do list will never be completely finished - we are
happily moved in and living comfortably in our new space.
Let's start in the heart of the house!
Mama Jo's Kitchen
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| BEFORE KITCHEN |
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| AFTER KITCHEN |
| The "old" kitchen was pretty & functional with it's oak cabinetry, but it definitely needed a facelift...... |
The facelift transformation is AMAZING!!! The floor plan definitely got changed up a bit too and a brand new design was developed. There is a prep island in the center of the kitchen with a prep sink that is surrounded by the cooktop, double ovens, microwave and refrigerator. The L-shaped island is called the bar; it seats 6, just in case ;-))) The large counter space area under the glass hanging cabinets is great for all our buffet type meals with bigger groups.
The "secret" walk-in pantry provides its' own separate space behind the entire kitchen.
THE GREAT ROOM
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| BEFORE GREAT ROOM |
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AFTER GREAT ROOM
The "old" great room was considered part of their eat-in kitchen area too with one wall of windows.
We just pushed the great room out another 14 feet to make it bigger! Basically pushing the wall of windows out. The wall of windows, now has a rustic stone fireplace in the center & a custom built OLD wood mantel. We shifted the direction of the room toward the back of the house, instead of the side of the house as it once was. The ceiling was changed to a real wood ceiling with an unique wood floor. Also, we added a small overlook deck to the left and a big deck that goes all the way across the back of the house to the right with stairways on either sides to get to the bottom patio & deck areas. In total there are 6 different types of wood in this entire area - with different complimenting stains.
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MASTER BATH
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| BEFORE MASTER BATH |
The old bathroom had floral wallpaper & BRASS BRASS BRASS everything!!! And to top that it had white carpet.
We didn't change the design of the space, but completed a full facelift! We changed the wallpaper to a soft greenish color paint, replaced the vanities to granite, all fixtures to oil-rubbed bronze, replaced all tile in the shower, bath tub and surrounding fireplace, plus added heated tile floors. Then added a full washer/dryer to the master closet.
This is the Patrick kids' favorite place to take their bath now!
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| AFTER MASTER BATH |
LOFT
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| BEFORE LOFT |
This was basically just changing the decor. We lightened up the green paint color a bit and changed out the carpet. And the wooden banister and stairway spindles were changed to iron basket/twist spindles throughout.
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| AFTER LOFT |
DINING ROOM
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| BEFORE DINING ROOM |
We didn't change much in the dining room. We ripped out the carpet and replaced it with a beautiful cherry teak wood flooring. And lightened up the walls with a warm tan/off white color.
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AFTER DINING ROOM
LIVING ROOM |
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| BEFORE LIVING ROOM |
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| AFTER LIVING ROOM |
We didn't change much here. Although changing the main light fixture, painting the walls (the color is very different went from bright yellow to an off beige) and replacing the carpet and adding furniture made this room completely different. Overall, we didn't think we would use this room very often as we made it into more of a "formal" living rom. However, the Patrick kids have made it their main level play room. Which works out to all of our advantage - not under my feet while cooking in the kitchen, but still being close enough to hear them.
There are many many more changes throughout. We added a mudroom, redesigned the half bath, added any entire addition to the basement area (man cave!) where the upper addition was added AND gave the entire upper level a major facelift with new carpet, new wall colors & fixtures. We have yet to finish facelifting the basement. We have painted several rooms there, but still have many more projects to complete. The entire house is waiting for more wall hangings, drapes/shades, and many more decorations.
The exterior did get a fresh coat of paint, all decks are installed and the patio area overlooking the "lake" with a beautiful stone fire pit is completed. The landscape surrounding the house and the backyard is finished. In the back and side yards we had to take down several trees in order to get the grass to grow - which is green and lush even in this cold weather! Those pictures are yet to come in a spring blog. While all trees and plants have taken off.
We are truly blessed to have found this house! It is a dream that took us 2.5 years to obtain and we are thankful.
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