As for the kitchen… it was quite a doozie, as you will see by the pictures below. However, we were not scared of a little panelling and we knew that paint can do wonders to walls and cabinets. Our biggest fight in these 2 rooms was the terrazzo flooring and for those of you who remember… I won. We also scraped the popcorn off the ceilings. We kept all the cabinets and painted them; removing the doors from the cabinets above the wall with the sink. We also extended the counter top where the fridge used to be and added an ice maker and fridge drawers. Justin built a shelf above them for the microwave and my cookbooks. The kitchen used to be “eat-in” with a lovely chandelier. We opted to extend the counters to form a bar and place our enormous fridge & freezer on the wall intended for a kitchen table. What used to look more like a very dark jail cell has a little life and brightness now. Kitchen purchases: appliances, counter tops, sink, faucet, recessed cans, the antique school house pendants (thanks, Sister), paint, floors, and bar stools (from Target!). Erika gave me a remnant of some fabric she had and I made a cafe curtain for above the kitchen window.
The family room is one room that is still in the “works” we’re hoping for a mantel and we’re still trying to figure out what we will do with the entertainment area to the right of the fireplace. In this room we painted the panelling and opened the wall between the LR and FR (I say “we” but really I should say, “JUSTIN”). The draperies came from what they called the “2nd Master” we call it the “Playroom”. The draperies were the perfect width for the 12 foot sliding glass doors, but I preferred they have a little length to them… so once again, Sister came through clutch and ordered the fabric and had her “super women” seamstresses band them for me! The curtain rod(2 8ft polls that meet in the middle) and rings all came from Home Depot. If you’re new you can read about the fun chair here. The rug is an outdoor rug from Pottery Barn and it’s great because it looks like sisal but isn’t. It’s banded in a navy blue.
Here are some pictures:
BEFORE:
Can you say “dark”
Here are some of the work in progress…
AFTERS:
The draperies before (we removed the valence, side panels, and swags and the draperies beneath (the part that is closed) were a very nice raw silk pinch-pleated (& probably would have cost me and arm and a leg!)):
The draperies after:
