Paint! ... and Flooring!!

As you may have picked up on in some of my recent posts, the paint is now up on the walls on the main level!  The ceilings, walls, trim, doors, etc. are all painted and ready for finishing touches. Here are some photos of each of the selections we've made for the various rooms on our main level. You'll also get to see the finished hardwood floors as well!  We went with a gray stain, but with the top coat there are definitely strong brown tones as well.  The floor reads a bit lighter in person than in these photos as well.

For the main living space we kept the wall color consistent.  We went with "North Star" for the majority of the walls in that space - kitchen, breakfast nook, living room, mudroom, front entry and the hall to the bedrooms. As an "accent" we painted the center pantry walls (outside) a darker shade of Gray.  I plan to put some artwork on the wall facing the dining room and I think it will really pop against the darker wall color.

Main Living Space Wall Color - "North Star"

Butler's pantry - "North Star" on the left wall and the dark gray we chose as an accent on the right wall (forget the name!)

Back of pantry wall on right - accent color

As we continue down the hallway from the front entry/dining room space, we come to the hall bathroom.  You saw this color in a previous post, but just for fun here's a reminder photo.

Hall Bath - "Tradewind"

One door down from the hall bath is the second bedroom on the main level. That paint color is called "Olympus White" - although it doesn't really look white at all!

Second Bedroom - "Olympus White"

The last stop on our tour is the Master Suite. First, the bedroom area in "Morning Fog."

Master Bedroom - "Morning Fog"

Then the master bathroom, which you've already seen in a previous post as well. The color is "Conservative Gray."

Master Bathroom - "Conservative Gray"

So that's the paint colors we chose for the main living level of the house - what do you think?

Something's Cookin' in the Kitchen - FINALLY!

A LOT has happened in the kitchen over the past few weeks! Once the floors went in and were stained (more to come on that in another post), it was time to start installing the cabinetry! This was so exciting to watch and really helped us understand what the kitchen would look like in person and what it would feel like to work in that space.  Here are a few photos from the start of that process...

Kitchen space with cabinet doors stacked on the floor to the left. Some initial cabinets starting to go in on the right!

Cabinet door stack.

Cabinets awaiting install.

The cabinets came out great and we're so happy with the quality.  It took a few days for the team to install the cabinets, and I took photos throughout to capture the process.  Time for more pictures!

Pantry cabinets (inside room) and outside cabinets on back wall starting to go in.

Pantry storage being installed.

Island coming together!

A few steps further and the cabinet doors went on the cabinets.  You know what this means... more pictures!

Lower pantry cabinet storage with wood top installed!

Another view of the island from the back of the house looking towards the front.

View from mudroom, back of island looking towards wall of cabinetry.

The next exciting install came inside the pantry.  The doors went on the tall cabinet that you'll see from the outside of the room (since this doorway is open), and the addition of the upper shelving area.  The room was also repainted a lighter color than originally painted.  I think it looks awesome now!

Cabinet shelving in pantry.

Angled view looking into pantry from kitchen - tall storage closet.

So, that's it for now.  More to come on the kitchen very soon! As you can see, we're finally getting much closer to the end of our first floor renovation.  We can't wait to start cooking in our new kitchen and having all of our friends and family over for some fun!

A Place to Drop Your Things...

Since Frank and I park in the garage everyday, we almost always come into our home through the breezeway.  When we moved in, there was a step up from the breezeway into the Dining Room.  As we talked through our renovation plans, we decided it would be better if there were no step up immediately to enter the home, and if there were some place we could drop our things as we entered.  There's nothing I hate more than a big pile of mail on the kitchen counter, and shoes all over the place. 

Our solution was to create a mini-mudroom with a "sunken" floor.  We chose to tile the floor with the same tile we used in the entry/foyer, and added cubbies for coats, a bench to store and put on shoes, and even a "stuff" tower for mail, phones, bags, etc.  The mudroom entry lets us enter the side but still take off our coats and shoes right away without walking all the way to the front door, etc.  So here's how it's shaping up...

Standing at the end of the kitchen island, looking towards the mudroom/breezeway.

Mail/Stuff Tower.

Mudroom bench seating and coat cubbies.

We'll be adding hooks in the cubbies as well, but those are still in the works.  The mudroom is turning out just as we hoped, and we know it's an area we'll use heavily every day!

Windowwwwwwws!

The windows are here! AND they're now all installed!! The crew's been installing this week, and since it took me so long to get to writing this post they're now all installed.  We're so excited!  The delivery came at the very end of May.  Frank and I were very busy the last few weekends though, with my half marathon, and traveling up to NJ.  Here's a glance at what the delivery looked like when the windows arrived...

Truck Delivery for the windows and sliding/glass doors!

Stack-o-sliders

Stack-o-windows

Once they all arrived, we had to wait for the window sills to arrive.  Frank and I went with a limestone will, to compliment a few other limestone installations we already had in the house (fireplace, mantle, etc.).  Once those arrived, it was time to install. 

Day 1: The crew installed the two master bathroom windows, and the side breakfast nook/patio door.

Window in mater bathroom from inside.

Side of the house - window in master bathroom from the outside, minus trim at this point.

Exterior view of the new patio/breakfast nook door!

Day 2: The crew moved on to installing the kid's bedroom windows, the breakfast nook back window, and the big front living room window -- that one was a beast!

Kid's bedroom - interior view of windows.

Exterior (front of house) view with two kid's bedroom windows in (far left and middle) and master bathroom window at the far right installed, minus trim.

Breakfast nook area - interior view of patio door and window.

Exterior view - living room "beast" window.

 Day 3: The crew opened up the new window between the kitchen and dining room, installed that new window and installed the dining room window and master bedroom window.

Back of house exterior - you can see where the new window opening is starting to take shape.

Here is the new window all opened up, and the dining room window in the back with the crew.

Interior view from the kitchen - breakfast nook window on the left and new window at the right of this photo.

Interior view from the dining room - new window on the left and dining room window on the right.

Interior view from the breakfast nook - all three windows (new on in the middle).

Day 4: The mancave window went in, as well as the mudroom sliding glass door, and the master bedroom sliding glass door! That's it for getting the windows in place!!

I came home to this! Standing in the breezeway, looking at new slider into mudroom.

Interior view standing in kitchen/living room - mudroom slider and breakfast nook patio door.

Exterior view - master bedroom slider.

View from the back of the house (prior to mancave window install).

So there you have it!  The windows and glass doors are in!  The interior doors arrived this week, along with a few other fixtures.  Things are really moving along here.  Next up, trimming all the windows and moving on to more of the finishing -- installing hardwoods, touch-ups and painting, etc.  Things are looking good for our July finish!

Open Floor Plan Updates...

Just a few pictures of the drywall now up in the open floor plan main living space... enjoy!

Standing in dining room looking toward front door/foyer.

Standing in mudroom looking toward front of house and living room.

Standing in mudroom, looking straight forward toward kitchen.

Another from the mudroom looking into the kitchen.

Standing in mudroom looking towards the breakfast nook and back of house.

Standing in the breakfast nook and looking down the hall towards the dining room.

Standing at the back of the house looking toward the mudroom and front.

New wall by breakfast nook.

Looking into the dining room and towards the bedrooms (top right of photo).

That's it for now!

Demo complete!

We've had lots going on at the house lately.  The new crew has been working fast!  They completed the rest of the demo on the first floor in just about a week.  Here are a few photos...

Hall Bath Demo

Kids' Bedroom Demo

Standing in the Master Bath looking into the Master Bedroom - Demo

Standing in the Master Bath looking into the Master Bath - Demo

Next up, came insulating and shopping for more supplies...

Master Bedroom looking toward the back of the house.

Kids' bedroom looking toward the front of the house.

Living Room looking toward the front of the house.

Standing in the mudroom looking toward the kitchen.

 More to come soon!