One Room is Finished!

We started  out in May with  a purpose  and aim to   finally  take on the renovation projects  we  wanted  on our lower level English Tudor   home with its  small  spaces and  need  for updating...My  daughter  convinced me that   wide open spaces  were  soon  going  by the wayside  because  at some time  folks just dont want  a messy kitchen  full of  dirty dishes  to   be  within  sight of a  nice family room...  and besides,  our family loves having their own quiet  private  spaces to  veg out in....read a book, or watch the race or game on tv...So the  aim was to update the space we have and   try to bring it into the 21st century.The  beautiful sunroom   was  one of the main selling points to  us buying this home with its cherry wood panelling... it may not appeal to younger buyers,  but we understand its value and  love its warmth.

My favorite season    to  enjoy   out there is  autumn...  because  in summer, it is just too hot, and  unless we  turn on the expensive electric heat out there,  it is  really cold!  

But an autumn view is   lovely!

But  a room   over  the years  can really   becoming   too much...  soo many  collectibles trying to crowd in and find  a space to shine...  It was looking more and more like  Grannie's  house!

  

A  winter's view is   divine as well.... 

but  the rest of the year,  we  suffer   extreme  heat and cold in that space...and as we are getting older,   and  the everyday view outside  isn't  as  engaging  as it  once was to us...  we decided to make a change.

 So we moved  everything out and piled the furniture in the middle of the room.

 I am loving my new  wooden   2.5 inch blinds  so  sharp looking....   they let the view in when I want  view

 Or I can  close them down some for a  bit of privacy and to protect the furnishings  from the   brights sun's rays...

 I  have been  much more  discriminating about what to  put back in that room!!!Loving that!

And at night I will feel  like sitting out there  and not  feel  totally exposed to the neighbors...

I am hoping it will keep   some of the heat out and  some of the warmth in  during various seasons...  and make the room that much more enjoyable!  So there is my first room all done!!!

 I am sharing on Metamophosis Monday and  Before and After Wednesday

Little by Little

 Click the icon to return to   The Decorated House.  if you have been visiting me, you  probably know that   we are deep in the midst of  our kitchen  redo... 
Let me pause here to   say  how  very surprised and pleased  that 

last week   with this post.

 We live in  a 1930's  English Tudor...whose kitchen hadnt been updated in over  40 years.....   except for  several paint jobs and   switches from  Victorian to  cottage style looks....  we  updated the shades  and  lived  with it all these years...  now little by little things are  happening!  In the following  photos you will notice  things continue to be in a state of flux since  early June!    Albeit,  we  were gone 2 weeks for vacation...  but getting these cabinets painted is  a  time consuming  chore!  But  today something major occurred.  You will note   those  outdated shades  behind  my newly painted   cabinet base and   header/valance.

You will  also,note   the  many cabinet doors  that are in some  stage  of  either being primed or  second coated ....

and this morning  Lynn got the doors rehung over the frig! yayayayaya 

  aha!  The shades are missing....

and  now   I have new shutters!!!!  Love, love, love them

 I love how you can close the bottom and keep the top open  or all open

even the kitchen door got a  redo....!   yayayayaya 

Now if  Lynn can  quit playing with those shutters and  get back to painting I will  be happy  again! 

Stay tuned more changes are a comin'!

I am also sharing on Metamophoses Monday.

A few More Updates with our Kitchen Redo

 Click the icon to return to   The Decorated House.  if you have been visiting me, you  probably know that   we are deep in the midst of  our kitchen  redo...  We live in  a 1930's  English Tudor... our  kitchen is a  smallish  square...  we had cabinets on 2 walls  with  room on the other side for a  dinette set, but we never used it as a dinette so  as I needed the storage I had  the hutch is tarted housekeeping with there  loaded to the max with  china,  candles, and  seasonal  items.

 

Here you can see how   blahhh the old kitchen was .. several years ago we painted the cabinets  to brighten the  look...Because we are of  a certain generation we  believe salvaging  what  you can so we decided to just  replace the doors on these  good solid cabinets and    have  new  cabinets  built to fill in the   blank opposite wall.  well  they ar e installed  but  it is taking  hubby   longer than we thought to  get  the whole  lot painted... We are using rolling pebble by Behr... it is surprising  how this color  shifts   from  taupe to green depending on the time of day... I  absolutely love  the color!

 

So  let's  continue with  some other  changes..  below you see  our old top mount sink and faucet

Now   with our new granite installed I  wanted a one hole faucet  and   an under mount sink....  we are  so very pleased  with the new look!

If you spy you can see   the  bottom edge in the above window sill  which is painted the new color compared to the other sink photo and the   lighter color..  Since I  love my " grannie'  border...   I think the  new paint color     is more dramatic with the    border  which also  draws in the old wall color  a deep  burgundy  which I  will also keep.  to me the  border  is a throw back to the   English Tudor style of the home and the English country  decor throughout!One reason hubby  hasn't gotten more painted accomplished is that  we have done a bit of shopping...  we decided that our frig was just  too old to   press  our good fortune...   because of our smaller space  finding a small  french door  frig  was   not easy and  with these  going on such a  great sale we were  rather afraid they may be doing away with the design for this smaller size. so  we have a new one on order..we found this Samsung on  sale  for  800 less...  what a bargain!

and because  it sits right beside the   frig  and the old one was looking very shabby..  we  went ahead and ordered this

  This Bosch  was Lynn's  decision because he is the main dish washer here! They  won't be delivered some time next month!

These will also arrive at  about the same time!

 After they are installed we can hang our new pendants 

 

  there  to replace the recessed lights  under each window valance...  I think that will really update the look  ....   so I  still have so much to look forward to!  

Before and After Stage 3

Well, Lynn has been painting on the   old cabinet  frames  on the old side of the kitchen this week..  he finished the second coat and they look   fabulous....  just in time for the granite folks from Johnson Granite in Mount Airy, NC...

 here you can see   the  new paint on the base cabinet..  He will paint the doors and  drawers  this afternoon!!   Our new under mount sink is  lying there in the   cabinet....    my excitement  is rising!

More later!!!   I'm just  upstairs  awaiting the epoxy smell to   dissipate a bit!  Ok, so I took a couple more photos this afternoon with  better light...

 Well,  we had  so much to  make up for  this afternoon,,, no painting got done.. tomorrow is another day!  But it is hard to wait to see it all come together! We did  pick out our  replacement  ceiling fan today...   that  brassy white one we have now  looks so shabby... yayayayay  I will  be   extremely happy to  have the  cabinet doors painted and   we wont have to look  into and see how  jumbled they   are....  I still have much to  purge  in those cabinets

I am going to enjoy my new computer station...  our wonderful installer  is  creating a  back board    that will cover   the      burgundy    with   a foam board    in a  matching tone....  just for fun we did look at new appliances today... not  sure about that yet or not....  we've never  done every thing all at once in  our married life of 43 years....    we always  have something to look forward to. 
 Linking here   with Grace at Home! 

Before and After Stage 1

  The Dedicated House

 Metamorphosis Monday

It's a  great morning at our house.... we have been planning and  purchasing and  downpaying on a  complete  kitchen makeover... as seen below it was  terribly outdated...  Our  painted wood cabinets  are  wonderful  in that they are solid wood and    custom  to their space,

but  not to the room and so  I was using   furniture to  make up the difference in   storage capacity.

 This hutch was  loaded to the max    with all of my  several sets of  dishes  and  serving items.

 My 1930's kitchen is  what it is. small,  so    we want to maximize the  space  with new cabinetry  while   utilizing the  original  cabinets minus their facade...  to update   and  renew the  space..

 So this morning  Lynn was  disconnecting  the sink    had moved the  stove  out of the way.. the base cabinets  and  cabinets above the  fridge  were   cleared out and  all over my  dining room

  

   as well, the hutch was   gone  and the stove moved to make room for  some  cabinet  tear out  ..

 Notice that there isnt  a full inch of  space above  my f ridge  which  limited me from purchasing a new  one  last  January during the  New year's  sale...  so  that  cabinet had to be  completely torn out so the new one  will accommodate  a new fridge sometime down the road...

So by 9am  the cabinet folks were here    to begin  tearing out  what will be  wholly replaced..

let you  tell you that these cabinets were built to stay... forever.....    so strong and  well designed  but  just not that  functional   for today. 

Finally,  the cabinet over the fridge was  out... 

How about this 1930   wallpaper that was revealed! 

Then   the   side cabinets were  out...  because of the  stove placement    there will be a blind  cabinet with a rectangular  pull out  shelf  that  is  commercial grade... I  can ever store my    kitchenaid mixer on it!  yayayayay!  I will also  get    a whole    cabinet of drawers...   replacing     two drawers I have lived   with  for over 20 years!

I  am  thrilled  that   I still have my sink and  countertop.. installation  will be   Thursday  and then  Lynn will  begin the painting....  I love my paint color

I think it will look great  with the granite..  and to  help   keep the kitchen light.. Im seriously  considering  keeping  my white appliances.. at least for a while!
 OH,  and   we  ordered  the  plantation shutters    last week...

They will be like these only single  hung on my  single windows 
Oh,  and in place of the    ugly  old-fashioned  recessed lights  under the window  valances  I have  these   cute pendants..

 But everything in its time....