Oh man, I have been looking at a few of the after pics (I found some, Yea!!) of our little renovation and it reminds me of how much I loved that cozy little home. Our current house is 700 sq ft larger and has a lot more windows. I love all the light and it is cozy in a different way, but I can still appreciate the 820 type of coziness.
First, I found a few more pictures of the bathroom, mid renovation, so you get an idea of where it ended up. But first a reminder of where it started.
Ok, now to the hallway to the master area. It was all dark wood just like the wood in the master bedroom. I so loved it when were lookey-loos, but it lost its charm once we moved in - for me anyway. We did this part of the update when we put the house on the market on a suggestion from our very incredible real estate agent, Karen. So, we primed and painted. We did not change the blinds because we were selling so those still added a bit of dingy, but it was something the new owners could do easily. The previous owner had central air and heat installed, so the little built-in gas heaters were not functional (I say they weren't, we never tried them, though) but I loved their character. I can't actually say we updated the vinyl faux wood flooring, because we just replaced it with a more neutral peel and stick vinyl, but it looked really good. Ronnie was already working his new job out of town, so it was up to me and Leo to scrape up the old vinyl. When doing this you must, absolutely must scrape it to a smooth surface if you are going to use vinyl again. It can be a lot of work, but can make for a really inexpensive update.
Remember where we started with the kitchen?
Well, after much work by my brother, Leo, and my nephew, Michael...
we ended up with this...
The professional kitchen designer we used suggested we put a corner walk in pantry in the right corner, but we opted to make an entry to what was the den area. It was the natural place for the dining room.
We put a pocket door going along the back wall going into the hallway to the master bedroom. I really wanted granite counter tops, but as the old saying goes, I have champagne taste on a beer pocket-book. So we went with a new type of textured countertop that looked like granite. I was actually very happy with it. Especially, since we decided to do a little lip on the wall instead of going all the way up to the cabinets with it like our installer suggested.
The only thing we really did in the living room was pull up the carpet and paint. Pulling up carpet is tough work for a couple of "fluffy" folks like me and Ron. My best advice is have a really sharp utility knife with extra blades handy. Also, cutting it in strips makes it sooooo much easier to dispose of. So, just cut a strip, roll it up and dispose. Simple, right.
Of course, it couldn't be as easy as just pulling up the carpet and padding. Nope, then you have to get the glue up. I honestly don't remember the name of the stuff we used, but I know I got it at Wal-Mart.
I can not tell you how much I loved starting a fire, cozying up on the sofa to write, or visit with Mom, Pam and Leo or just look out the window with a hot cup of coffee.
I forgot, we also did an easy, inexpensive update of the ceiling fan. It is really surprising how a change that small and simple can make such a change in the feel of the room.
And, I have to admit, sometimes I would just sit on the sofa in the late evening and just enjoy our new kitchen!
And just a last few words on the last few rooms. We went with a color called Artichoke for the den and dining room. For our purposes we used the part of the den right off the kitchen as the dining room. but for selling purposes, we switched it to the other side. A new coat of paint and some fluffy, warm carpet really changed the master bedroom.
We learned so much from that redo and we hope the new home owners are loving it as much as we did.
Jennifer
