How We Celebrated Our Anniversary- Part Three: Let There Be Light (and cabinets and counters and paint)

Previously

When we last left off, we had knocked down half a wall, and then patched it back up.  Here's some photos to jog your memory, if you didn't feel like clicking the link up above.

Okay, so.  Down went the wall, goodbye went the gallery frames, and we tossed our pantry to the wind (just kidding.  It's currently sitting in a corner in the dining room.  Eventually it might make it down to the laundry room or garage, but don't hold your breath).  We were left with a giant cardboard box filled with our chips and cereal, and a whole lot of patchy walls and open/empty electrical sockets.  

With a wave of the magic wand, however, all of that has changed!  The electrician bounced in and fixed some things (the wall socket things were way too low for the level of the counter), then the drywall guy came back and patched some things, and then the cabinets/counter dudes came and installed... well, the cabinets and counters.  Scott and I were in the process of painting the space when the electrician showed up again to put on the plates and hang our lights, and then suddenly without any warning, we were done!  Well, mostly.  There's still some painting to do, and some plates to purchase, but good news- we have cabinets!  And counters!  And the whole space is so open and bright!  NO MORE SPLIT LEVEL KITCHEN!

First of all, our fancy cabinets.  They aren't just any cabinets, OH NO.  As you can see, there are two big drawers, and regular cabinet with a shelf- and then a middle/corner cabinet that is ACTUALLY a lazy Susan, and a pull out drawer that holds two- count 'em, TWO- trash cans.  Jack is a huge fan as well.  Jack actually loves this whole situation, because now he can sit on the ledge and survey the front door, deck door, living room, dining room, kitchen, and hallway from one spot.  

We also painted the kitchen!  No more of that beigey-bleh color that was all over the house.  It's a shade lighter than the living/dining room, and is the same color as the hallway and bedroom.  

Our new lights.  This was kind of a super spontaneous add-on.  When the electrician first came to the house, he asked if we wanted any lighting up there, and I said, "ummm.... SURE!"  He asked how many and my response was "umm..... two?"  So now we have two lights.  And I LOVE them.  The colors are not as bright in the photo as they seem in person, but I think they perfectly pull all of the spaces together- there's the blacks and browns that match the counters, the yellowy color is like the sunflowers I have in the kitchen, and the blue pulls in the blues I have in the living space.  

Lots more counter space!  We were able to hide some appliances in one of the new cabinets, and brought some of the others out onto the new island for an all over more spacious area.  

More pic spam:

Still on the To-Do list:

• Paint the ceiling
• Paint the ledge/shelf and baseboards
• Replace the missing light switch plates
• Fix the few missing/cut tiles

Before/During/After Pics:

How We Celebrated Our Anniversary- Part Two: Knock Em Down, Build Em Up

We capped off our first year as a married couple by blowing out some walls in our house.  Like I mentioned previously, we really disliked the cramped, closed-off feeling of the living/dining/kitchen spaces.  So we fixed it.  Or rather, we hired some folks who know what they're doing to fix it.

Here are some before photos:

Bye bye, gallery wall.  I loved you so.

And here are some progress shots:

Our contractor is brilliant and kind of crazy.  One day the wall was there.  Then I got home from work, and there was no wall.  We didn't realize he was doing the wall removal part that day- but he did!  Because he doesn't play around.  

So that's right after the wall came down, and as you can see- wires abound.  Then the electrician and the drywall guy came and worked their magic, and now we have: 

Still to go: cabinets, countertops, lighting, and paint.  Here are come comparison shots of the progress.

Much better!  Can't wait for it to be completely complete, so we can stop storing our chips and cereal in that huge brown cardboard box.

How We Celebrated Our Anniversary- Part One: Let There Be Light

By putting in a new window and blowing out some walls, of course!

Hi everyone, it's been a while ("FINALLY," exclaims my dad).  We have a lottttt to catch up on.  For one thing, Scott and I celebrated our first anniversary a few weekends ago.  It's been a full year of mawwiage, new jobs, house purchasing, and renovating.  That last part has been fairly recent, and is the focus of this entry.  

When we landed in our home, we had pretty much only two gripes with it: 1) the entry way blows (there pretty much isn't one in a split-level), and 2) too closed in and dark.  In the span of two weeks, we've managed to work on both of those issues.

First, our window!  My pride and joy.  One of the first things I said when I saw the front of the house, was "what's with that space over the door, there should be a window there."

You can't even know how much brighter the house is just from this window!  Hint: it's SO MUCH BRIGHTER.  Abby has always loved laying at the top of the stairs just in case someone decides to come over, but now she never leaves, because there's a giant swatch of sunshine that she can lay in.  Here's some more photos because I'm obsessed.  

LOOK how bright!

As you can see, we still need to paint before it is DONE done.  But I just looove how the foyer looks now.  The rug and the plant and mirror made it nice, but the sunshine from the window makes is wonderful.  And this was a super quick project (then again, we definitely did NOT DIY this.  It was super fast for the pros).  I left for work in the morning, and by mid-afternoon, it was done.  Ten-Thousand percent would recommend.  

Stay tuned for How We Celebrated Our Anniversary- Part Two.  That's the one where we blow out a couple walls and live out of a box.  Are you excited?  Cuz I am.