OK - so I promised some after shots of the Kitchen and have been hesitating...and hesitating. The thing is, it isn't truly finished yet! If you missed Part 1 of the Kitchen before and after click HERE to get up to speed. This was a major undertaking of both the kitchen, family room, and the bathroom so I have yet to decorate properly and still have some kitchen things we would like to change out. That being said, a promise is a promise so here is the kitchen/family room as it looks today:
Above shot taken from Family Room - on the To DO list for this area is to trim our the kitchen window and the doorway to the dining nook. I would also like to add a shelf above the window...oh, and add more wine to my cook book/wine shelf seen next to the sink cabinet! :) FYI - The garbage can seen by the oven is actually our recycling bin. The garbage can is a pull out built into one of the cabinet doors...I did a little post on that I have yet to share...
Here is a shot from the opposite angle. I love my glass front cabinets and all those pull out drawers underneath! Good thinking, E! Also, see the toaster oven on the counter top? We could not have made it through our remodel without it and now we almost always use it instead of our big oven! I conveniently shot narrow so you would not see the 2 doors that need painting...they are uggg.
Now lets look at the view coming from our dining room...
I looked far and wide for an extra long runner that was not too wide so we could fit it in that space...that baby is 12 ft long by 30 in wide! Thanks to Overstock I got this one for 80 bucks. I was hoping for a dark chocolate brown trim like stated on the website but it actually is more of a light cocoa color. I was a bit disappointed at first but it wasn't worth the return fees.
Moving on to the family room:
This room obviously needs the most work...as you can see from the look on Bubba's face - utter disgust. Oh, and you got one shot with the ugg door in the kitchen and also a view of our 24 in cabinet over the peninsula that I wish was 36 in...to be continued on those.
Back to the Family Room - we didn't case the windows because we are putting in new ones...looks horrid. We have little to no furniture which is why I have my outdoor patio bench in the room as well as that stinky old chair I just picked up (more on that here) which is not even able to be sat on. I have my lovely mint green buffet, another Craigslist find and about the heaviest piece of furniture in the house, that has yet to be painted being used as our entertainment center. No crown moulding, no mantle, a hideous back door, no decoration whatsoever, half the window has blinds, half has curtains to block the neighbors peeking in since we have no blinds, and the list goes on. Actually, now that I think of it this is the perfect opportunity for me to throw down the gauntlet...to myself, of course. I am challenging me to fix this space by the end of the year!! Don't forget to hold me to it! On the upside the fireplace is looking MUCH better due to a recent makeover which can be seen HERE.
The most unorganized part of it all...
The random wall just dying for a makeover. I am actively searching for a nice narrow vintage buffet for the space but have yet to find it. If I don't find it soon I will continue the kitchen cabinets and make a built in buffet...good old Ikea. UPDATE...We DID extend the kitchen cabinets for a nice new buffet...you can read all about it HERE!!! For now, this bookcase is a catchall on the bottom rows and our wine glass cabinet on the top! I think we also need another option for Bubbas food container seen to the left - needs some glamming up!
Part of why we haven't bought furniture is due to cost but the other part is that we are still figuring out the best arrangement hence the patio bench standing in as a mock not so cozy L shaped couch. We like that idea but our problem is this:
Our space heater, which is the only heat in the room, sits smack against the wall we would want to butt the L shaped against. The good news is the heater is on its last leg which is the only reason I can safely get the couch this close as there is absolutely no way the tiny amount of heat coming off of this thing is going to set anything on fire. You cant tell from the picture but the couch is about 4 inches away floating in the room. At any given time the room is around 66 degrees or lower. We are currently working on installing another form of heat but we haven't come to an agreement on what will work best. For now - this entire addition, Kitchen AND Family room AND 1/2 Bath, all get heated by the little built in gas space heater. Is it no wonder why we need portable space heaters in the bathroom and facing the door in the Family Room? Our electric bill is sky high right now. :(
All that said, with all of her flaws, this part of Walnut has come leaps and bounds from how she started. Here are a few pictures to boost your memory but you can read all about the transformation here or by looking at the Before shots page by clicking here. I plan to follow up this post with our design process and how to live through a major kitchen rehab when you cook nearly every day multiple times a day...Not easy!!! Until then, has anyone gone through the process and have any tips to share? Leave them in the comments down below!
I'm off to cook that tasty squash sitting on the counter into a creamy Butternut Squash soup! I can almost taste it now!!
Ta Ta,
Bianca
Linking up with all the crafty bloggers at Keeping it Simple's Motivate me Monday and Between Naps on The Porch to show off our handy work - check it out here!
Above shot taken from Family Room - on the To DO list for this area is to trim our the kitchen window and the doorway to the dining nook. I would also like to add a shelf above the window...oh, and add more wine to my cook book/wine shelf seen next to the sink cabinet! :) FYI - The garbage can seen by the oven is actually our recycling bin. The garbage can is a pull out built into one of the cabinet doors...I did a little post on that I have yet to share...
Here is a shot from the opposite angle. I love my glass front cabinets and all those pull out drawers underneath! Good thinking, E! Also, see the toaster oven on the counter top? We could not have made it through our remodel without it and now we almost always use it instead of our big oven! I conveniently shot narrow so you would not see the 2 doors that need painting...they are uggg.
Now lets look at the view coming from our dining room...
I looked far and wide for an extra long runner that was not too wide so we could fit it in that space...that baby is 12 ft long by 30 in wide! Thanks to Overstock I got this one for 80 bucks. I was hoping for a dark chocolate brown trim like stated on the website but it actually is more of a light cocoa color. I was a bit disappointed at first but it wasn't worth the return fees.
Moving on to the family room:
This room obviously needs the most work...as you can see from the look on Bubba's face - utter disgust. Oh, and you got one shot with the ugg door in the kitchen and also a view of our 24 in cabinet over the peninsula that I wish was 36 in...to be continued on those.
Back to the Family Room - we didn't case the windows because we are putting in new ones...looks horrid. We have little to no furniture which is why I have my outdoor patio bench in the room as well as that stinky old chair I just picked up (more on that here) which is not even able to be sat on. I have my lovely mint green buffet, another Craigslist find and about the heaviest piece of furniture in the house, that has yet to be painted being used as our entertainment center. No crown moulding, no mantle, a hideous back door, no decoration whatsoever, half the window has blinds, half has curtains to block the neighbors peeking in since we have no blinds, and the list goes on. Actually, now that I think of it this is the perfect opportunity for me to throw down the gauntlet...to myself, of course. I am challenging me to fix this space by the end of the year!! Don't forget to hold me to it! On the upside the fireplace is looking MUCH better due to a recent makeover which can be seen HERE.
The most unorganized part of it all...
The random wall just dying for a makeover. I am actively searching for a nice narrow vintage buffet for the space but have yet to find it. If I don't find it soon I will continue the kitchen cabinets and make a built in buffet...good old Ikea. UPDATE...We DID extend the kitchen cabinets for a nice new buffet...you can read all about it HERE!!! For now, this bookcase is a catchall on the bottom rows and our wine glass cabinet on the top! I think we also need another option for Bubbas food container seen to the left - needs some glamming up!
Part of why we haven't bought furniture is due to cost but the other part is that we are still figuring out the best arrangement hence the patio bench standing in as a mock not so cozy L shaped couch. We like that idea but our problem is this:
Our space heater, which is the only heat in the room, sits smack against the wall we would want to butt the L shaped against. The good news is the heater is on its last leg which is the only reason I can safely get the couch this close as there is absolutely no way the tiny amount of heat coming off of this thing is going to set anything on fire. You cant tell from the picture but the couch is about 4 inches away floating in the room. At any given time the room is around 66 degrees or lower. We are currently working on installing another form of heat but we haven't come to an agreement on what will work best. For now - this entire addition, Kitchen AND Family room AND 1/2 Bath, all get heated by the little built in gas space heater. Is it no wonder why we need portable space heaters in the bathroom and facing the door in the Family Room? Our electric bill is sky high right now. :(
All that said, with all of her flaws, this part of Walnut has come leaps and bounds from how she started. Here are a few pictures to boost your memory but you can read all about the transformation here or by looking at the Before shots page by clicking here. I plan to follow up this post with our design process and how to live through a major kitchen rehab when you cook nearly every day multiple times a day...Not easy!!! Until then, has anyone gone through the process and have any tips to share? Leave them in the comments down below!
I'm off to cook that tasty squash sitting on the counter into a creamy Butternut Squash soup! I can almost taste it now!!
Ta Ta,
Bianca
Linking up with all the crafty bloggers at Keeping it Simple's Motivate me Monday and Between Naps on The Porch to show off our handy work - check it out here!
