As promised, here are a few shots of an (almost) sort of tidy version of my main living space and a glimpse of my kitchen. Oh wait, first I'll give you a "before version".
The built in cabinet/wall on the left is a part of the tomb that contained the old kitchen. It completely enclosed one fourth of the square living area making the entire space (both kitchen and remaining 3/4 living and dining area) dark and awkward.
In this picture you can see the hideous old stovepipe where a giant platform held the big blue cast-iron wood stove. Also, I must point out the attractive wood siding.
And now, AFTER: Drum roll.....Okay, wait, before you actually see these pictures I must call to your attention the time span that passed. This room was completely overhauled over the course of 14 MONTHS! The bulk of which I spent pregnant and hunched over our bathtub cleaning dishes while the kitchen sink and counters were backordered! HOLY HELL. We stripped everything out of this square room and rebuilt it except for the ceiling. For those of you construction minded readers, this meant new drywall, new wood floors, new windows and doors, new wiring, new kitchen cabinets, counters, appliances, new fireplace-you get the idea. UGH! Now that you can fully appreciate how much living hell we went through to get to his point, here it is in "After Mode":
The built in cabinet/wall on the left is a part of the tomb that contained the old kitchen. It completely enclosed one fourth of the square living area making the entire space (both kitchen and remaining 3/4 living and dining area) dark and awkward.
In this picture you can see the hideous old stovepipe where a giant platform held the big blue cast-iron wood stove. Also, I must point out the attractive wood siding.
And now, AFTER: Drum roll.....Okay, wait, before you actually see these pictures I must call to your attention the time span that passed. This room was completely overhauled over the course of 14 MONTHS! The bulk of which I spent pregnant and hunched over our bathtub cleaning dishes while the kitchen sink and counters were backordered! HOLY HELL. We stripped everything out of this square room and rebuilt it except for the ceiling. For those of you construction minded readers, this meant new drywall, new wood floors, new windows and doors, new wiring, new kitchen cabinets, counters, appliances, new fireplace-you get the idea. UGH! Now that you can fully appreciate how much living hell we went through to get to his point, here it is in "After Mode":
You'd think that a perfectly square room in which to fit your life would be easy...NOT. We used the small rectangular space behind the sofa for a kids' area. It not only holds their toys and books but also room for two kids' easy chairs and a small table with 2 chairs. The mid-height bookshelves are from Home Depot (about $90 each) and so are the super cool pendant lamps over the kitchen island ($40 each). The girls still have the two pink Anywhere Chairs from PotteryBarnKids.com which I highly recommend as they have survived EVERYTHING (see the flu bug entries from January). I also put a turquoise shag rug down there(which you can't quite see) so they could get cozy with books and toys, Target.com. The colorful wool rug in the living room area (which I still haven't grown to love) is from Target.com.
On the left hand side of this picture you'll see my last problem area:the entertainment center. What I failed to show was the built in fireplace area with the TV above it which is butted up to the entertainment crap further to the left. I'm taking suggestions to solve the make-shift junk piece next to the fireplace which houses the stereo and DVD equipment, photo albums, CDs and DVDs. This is not part of my vision. Finding a small but tall piece of furniture with some drawers and open shelving (so the remotes still work) is impossible. It also cannot impede on the very closely situated dining area. I'm leaning towards some varying depth modern wall shelves. When I solve my (now 2 year) problem I'll be sure to let you know.
I hope this gives you some insight into my living space. I am typically seated at the dining table, eating, drinking or writing-with my back strategically pointed at my children.PS There's a reason these pictures are not fully enlarged...
Comments