I mean, I suppose I've never been a blogger in the true sense of the word. This is more just a place to record, muse, and update. But I've not even done well with that recently.
2016 may go down in the record books as one of the most whirlwind of my life. I kind of hope it does. I kind of hope we don't beat it in terms of upheaval and twists and turns, anyway! Jack being diagnosed in late September with aplastic anemia was something I sure didn't predict and never saw coming. I'll write more about that another time, perhaps.
A long-distance friend asked recently if I might share some "finished" pictures of the house when I get a chance. I have to laugh because when is a house ever done, really? I think only on HGTV. Ha. That said, we're a long way from two-by-fours for walls and exposed electrical and reinforcing floor joists and spraying insulation. And I did kind of leave you all hanging, didn't I?
I won't do the whole house today for a couple reasons: 1. the blog post could get really long, and 2. I'm too lazy right now to get up and take pictures of the whole house.
Just keeping it real.
(Along those lines, I should warn that I didn't fluff a single pillow or stage the countertops or remove all but two carefully chosen coats from the mudroom, and I definitely didn't tidy the pantry like I probably should have. Again... proving myself to be a not real blogger!)
I think the first thing I blogged about renovating was the kitchen, so I'll start there:
standing in the family room, looking straight ahead where there used to be a wall
That's it in a nutshell!
The braces you see are where there used to be the wall and the second set of stairs. We took all that out, rearranged the kitchen layout with the amazing help of a local cabinet-maker/friend, and the rest is history.
It feels so easy when I say it like that, right? That kitchen represents hours and hours of work, but its usefulness for accommodating a big family and lots of guests has more than made up for it.
For those who are curious about what is to the left of the fridge (and behind the cooktop), it's a little pantry area and the door to the basement. We kept the old refrigerator and put it-- along with our chest freezer that we've had for several years-- down there. With such a big family, it's incredibly handy to have that extra refrigerator/freezer space so close by.
The main reason we wanted to take down the wall between the kitchen and family room was so that the kitchen would feel brighter/bigger, but the added benefit is that the many guests who always seem to congregate in the kitchen (can I get an amen on that?!) have plenty of space to spread out while still being "in the kitchen".
Not to mention, I got to watch a Hallmark Christmas movie while doing my baking this year because the kitchen island is directly across from our television. Does it get better than that? I'm not sure it does!
standing in the kitchen, looking straight ahead to the family room; the wall used to be right about where the island ends (we have two sets of braces-- the ones in this picture are the second and are helping reinforce the incredibly long joist that spans the room)
If you're following me around the room, you're starting to see that the room is an "L" shape. The kitchen/family room makes a very large rectangle, and then the foot of the "L" is where we have our school cupboard, a table and chairs for more casual dining (breakfast and lunch)/school work, and our little wood stove. I won't even point out that we still haven't replaced the stove pipe that is now too short since we vaulted that portion of the ceiling to expose all the old beams even though that was on the summer list of things to do. Just enjoy the finished trim and that cute Scandinavian stove, please.
If you go back to that first picture, you'll see the dining room through the doorway next to the cooktop.
confession: I didn't even take this today. I knew I had it on my phone and I'm that lazy. It more or less looks like this... maybe minus a little of the bright sun since it's snowing right now.
Past the dining room is our sitting room. (If you look closely at the dining room picture, you'll see a red love seat in the background. That doorway is the one we widened to make the spaces flow together more.)
We think there may have been a wood stove right where the white linen sofa is since there's still a stove pipe hole behind the drywall there. We've contemplated putting one back in eventually since this room is the chilliest/draftiest of all our downstairs rooms. We're not sure.
At any rate, it's a large, bright room and I pretty much love it.
taken in the afternoon, when the sun comes in the front windows-- another picture I didn't take today
taken in the morning, when the sun pours in the back windows-- almost blinding!
There's also a small full bathroom downstairs (no pictures, but it's pretty basic), as well as the mudroom (off the back of the kitchen) and laundry room (off the mudroom).
the back door is on the left and the kitchen door is on the right
Yet another collection of pictures from another time-- why take more when I already have some??? The laundry room:
the laundry room isn't huge, but having never had a room for laundry, I think it's pretty amazing! I also love the placement right off the mudroom. Maybe it won't feel as novel once I don't have kids regularly coming in the door covered in mud or sopping wet, but for now I love it.
That's kind of a wrap! Thanks for following along. Maybe I'll do the upstairs soon. You know... when I blog again in seven months. Haha.
Farewell!
