the hunt for a home

So, we did it...again. We bought a house that needs some serious love. But this time was a little different than our last trip around the house hunting block.

As you might recall, Adam and I had pretty different ideas regarding our first home. He wanted a house with "potential" and I wanted, well...a house that didn't need to have "potential" because it was already charming. I lost that battle. But 30 days after we closed, our little home had finally reached it's full potential and we've been in love ever since.

It's because of this experience that my journey hunting for our new home was much different. I heard myself saying, "if we knock down this wall and extend the kitchen..." There were many times that Adam would just start laughing at me. How far I've come!

So...here she is!

There is a lot of work to do so let's break it down by room:

Den
When you first walk in the front door and turn left, you see the den. Currently there's a built-in on the east wall but that'll be removed and likely replaced by some other built in that will house a TV. The dark wood banister will be reshaped and reworked - still not sure if we'll do white wood or wrought iron. Our plan is that the perimeter of the room will be lined in waist height bookshelves so that the space doubles as a library. New carpet, fresh coat of (light colored) paint and new white trim. Obviously some new curtains are also needed!

Den Inspiration Board:

Dining Room
So rather than going left when you walk in the front door, go right and you'll be in the dining room. The dining room is pretty simple right now so there isn't a ton of work that needs to be done. We'll paint the walls light (potentially gray), lay wood floors, new window coverings, paint trim and hang a new light fixture. The wall on the left (reference image below) is actually floor to ceiling mirrors! I'm in love. I think it'll make the room super unique so I'm anxious to see how it comes together.

Dining Room Inspiration Board:

Family Room
Back to the front door. Now, rather than turning left or right, walk straight ahead. You'll pass the back side of the fireplace as entering the family room. This room will need some work...

First, we want to cut a hole in the big, white, loooong wall because on the other side of that wall is a hallway with four bedrooms. But, there's really no easy way to get to the bedrooms. Hence the hole. We'll hang a sliding farm door so that we can still close off the family from the hallway.

We'll likely paint the fireplace a light color or stone over the brick. Mantel will be white. We'll rip out the media unit next to the fireplace and likely build something back for a TV. Walls in the room will be painted a light gray, trim white and wood floors. Considering french doors to the patio but we'll have to see if they fit into the 'ol budget. Either way, new window treatments are a must!

Family Room Inspiration Board:

Kitchen 
Just off the family room is the kitchen. Now, I know you're wondering why we feel the need to do anything because it's so gorgeous, but I think we can make it feel a little more "us"! Where to start...

So the basic layout of the kitchen is a square. Sink, dishwasher and cabinets make a u-shape and the oven, fridge and additional cabinets are all in one straight line; making the room pretty square-ish. This layout will remain the same, but that's about it.

First, we'll knock out the soffit above the cabinets. We'll then replace all the cabinets with white inset cabinetry that will extent to the ceiling. The bottom cabinets will also be replaced and topped with cambria black granite with an antiqued finish. An antiqued finish is more dull - doesn't have the same shiny seal that most granite finishes have. The backsplash throughout the entire kitchen will be Carrera marble tiles, the trim will be painted white, walls will be a shade of gray and the floors will be wood.

To make this a little easier, let's walk through the above images.

Image 1:
We'll remove the built in oven and microwave. Most of the hanging cabinets will be replaced by a hood and then we'd like to purchase this beaut...

We'll still have a little cabinet space but the idea is that this area will be dedicated to the range and hood. The current fridge/freezer combo will be replaced with, drumroll please...a full size refrigerator! Think we're crazy? We decided that we don't really use our freezer that often so why dedicated so much kitchen space to it? Instead, we'll put the traditional fridge/freezer in our pantry. It'll still be easy to access but this way we'll have more of what we use most...fridge! Here's what we're thinking in terms of refrigerators...

We'll only have one door but the first image shows how it'll be inset.

Image 2:
During the process of hanging new cabinets and laying new countertops we'll take out the stove top (pictured in the lower right corner of the image) and the floating cabinets that are seen above the stove. We're hoping this will open up the room a bit more.

Image 3:
As mentioned, the cabinets and countertops will be replaced. We'll then replace the dishwasher and add an inset speed cook oven (microwave with the capabilities of an oven) in the lower cabinet area. By the way, if you haven't heard of a speed cook oven you should totally check them out! I wasn't a believer until we talked to a dozen people that said they'd never go back after having one. I actually made a poor sales rep bake cookies in one so I could make sure they baked right ;)

Image 4:
Another view that gives a different perspective.

Last but not least, the breakfast nook. This room is right off the kitchen and I simply love how sunny and bright it is (well, not in this picture).

Still not sure if we'll carry the gray walls into the breakfast nook but the trim will be painted white and the floors will also be wood. New chandelier and window coverings to make it feel like home.

The pantry that I mentioned earlier does not actually exist yet. We'll cut a hole in the wall (pictured on the right) in order to build in a large pantry. The garage is on the other side of this room so it'll work out perfect! A pocket door will provide easy access to our cooking needs.

Opposite the windows is a built in desk. We'll rebuild this area to be more hutch-like. Kinda like below...

Kitchen Inspiration Board:

Bedrooms and Bath
As mentioned, on the other side of the family room is a long (bowling alley-like) hallway that has access to all four bedrooms.

For simplicity sake, let's break it down by bedroom...

Office: 
The first bedroom will actually be converted into an office. We'll paint the walls, paint the trim white, lay wood floors, convert the closet into an office storage area (printer, paper, files, etc.) and upgrade the window coverings.

The picture below shows how we'd like to layout the room - one desk running along the back wall and then a desk in the middle of the room with two chairs facing it. We actually have the exact same desk shown in the pic!

Office Inspiration Board:

Guest Bedroom:
So this will be our guest room...

Similar to the office, we'll paint the walls, paint the trim white, lay fresh carpet, replace the closet door, hang new lighting and update the window coverings.

Guest Room Inspiration Board:

Nursery:
Nope, still not pregnant! But considering we're about 11 months away from beginning renovations, we might as well plan, right? Here's what we'll be working with...

You guessed it - we'll paint the walls, paint the white trim, lay fresh carpet, replace the closet door, hang new lighting and update the window coverings.

Nursery Inspiration Board:

Master Bedroom:
I'm pretty excited about the master bedroom. It's a big space so we have a lot of room to work with, which means we'll have a little sitting area in our room. Like our own little oasis! Because we're planning to expand the closet and bath, it was easiest for us to draw the new room layout in illustrator. But first, let's start with some pics of what we're working with...

Like all bedrooms we plan to...paint the walls, paint the trim white, replace the light fixture, replace the carpet but we've decided to keep the window coverings. Just kidding! The biggest change will be the expansion of the closet and bath by getting rid of the vanity area. Here's the plan...

Master Inspiration Board:

Hall Bath & Master Bath
Two of the greatest bathrooms of all time are in this house. Would you like to see?

Bathroom accessible from hall and guest bedroom.

Master bath currently accessible from hall and master bedroom. After renovation, it'll only be accessible from the bedroom. Reference floor plan under master bedroom.

Bath(s) Inspiration Board:

So that's the plan for the main floor. As you can see, we have a ton of work to do, but luckily Adam and I really enjoy this stuff. We were actually just sitting here talking about how funny it will be to read this post when all the renovations are done. How far will the "actual" stray from our inspiration boards?! We'll see once we start work in about 11 months! Until then.