House Before and After: Kitchen Remodel

I am among the believers that the kitchen is the central point of the home! The kitchen tends to be the primary gathering spot and due to the fact that I love to entertain and my husband is a fabulous cook our home search required a large kitchen. We made the mistake of looking at model homes in our initial search which left me desiring the newly popular 'great room' style. The great room combines multiple spaces into a singular unified space (ie. kitchen flows into the dining room and the living room). The moment we walked into our current home I immediately envisioned the removal of the wall between the kitchen and dining room in order to create this open great room feeling. It went from a "want" to a "need" once we closed escrow :). After all our hard labor and DIY projects my husband and I decided that this would not be a project we would take on ourselves. After interviewing a few different contractors we settled on one which turned out to be a disastrous. Because I am from the school of thought that it is impossible to find a reliable contractor, I think I set myself up for failure. All said and done the window between our kitchen and dining room turned out great and was worth the 7 day turned 7 week project! Here are the before, during, and after shots of the kitchen. Keep in mind that this is still a work in progress and I welcome any suggestions on what to do for kitchen window coverings and any other ideas.

Before...

This house was a foreclosure and the previous owner took his beautiful 48 in range. After a 2 month search we found this GE monogram range with a double oven, grill, griddle and 4 burners at a reasonable price. We LOVE it!!! We struggled with what to do for the back splash behind this gorgeous stove. We settled on this marble brick looking back splash and took on the project ourselves. I learned to tile, grout and seal the grout. It is much harder than it looks, but super rewarding when it was all done!

After some painting and installation of appliances but before Construction...

During Construction...

The construction involved moving the refrigerator to where the desk used to be, extending the granite and adding cabinets where the refrigerator used to be, moving the plumbing for the refrigerator to the new location, moving electrical, adding a wine cabinet, making a granite step-up bar bar on the dining room side of the window, arching the window and the doorway to match, custom cabinets to frame the refrigerator where the desk used to be and a little painting to finish the job. Here are the photos!

After...

Happy Thursday!!!

House Before and After...Deck

It's that time again...I needed my creative outlet back! We FINALLY got around to having a housewarming and have spent the last few months transforming various areas of our home. In celebration of our hard work I plan to show the before and after photos of the house for the next few weeks.

This is the backyard deck with the infamous jacuzzi where we have spent numerous nights relaxing. In typical husband fashion, Chad went to Lowe's and purchased a wood stain to paint the jacuzzi paneling. He painted about 2 panels and got distracted leaving me to finish off the project :). I spent an entire day staining the wood but was very pleased with the end result. In hindsight we would have picked a darker gray color rather than the green/gray that we ended up with :). Chad power washed the deck and it went from a grayish color back to its original tan. Then I finished it off with the purchase and assembly of these beachy adirondack gray chairs, side table and outdoor pillows with a hint of yellow!

Before...

After...

Happy Sunday!!!

Monday Mood Modifier

"Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved"

-Helen Keller

Start living today! Rather than wallowing in your misery begin by doing one thing per day that helps strengthen your soul!!!

Happy Monday!!!

 (Image via travel.talk.teach)

Our Dining Room

Although I may not be a design pro, I have found it extremely therapeutic to piece together various rooms in our new home. In our dining room I was going for a rustic beach look. This is what I created and how it stands before the upcoming kitchen remodel (window coverings to come...)


  

(Images via traveltalkteach)

Happy Friday!!!

Forgive Yourself Today ♥

"When you hold onto the past with bitterness and anger and don't allow yourself to experience the present moment, you are wasting today. If you hold onto bitterness and grudges for a long time, it has to do with forgiving yourself, not the other person. If you hold onto old hurts, you punish yourself in the here and now. Often, you sit in a prison of self-righteous resentment. Do you want to be right, or do you want to be happy? Forgive yourself and stop punishing yourself."- Author Unknown

Happy Thursday!!!

Monday Mood Modifier

Everyone needs live plants in their home and most importantly a money tree. The braided money tree is a fixture of Feng Shui and symbolizes good fortune. For those like myself that lack the "green thumb" this is the perfect starter plant because it is difficult to kill and requires little water :). Not only are live plants beautiful, research has shown that they have healing powers. Studies on hospital patients found that patients exposed to live plants experienced a decrease in blood pressure, reduction in stress and reduced muscle tension. Additionally, patients were found to have a quicker recovery and needed less pain medication when they had a view of greenery and plants. Brilliant!

Here are some photos of my money tree and a succulent that I received as a housewarming gift:

(Money Tree from Ikea)

Happy Monday!!!

Aquarium Therapy

Need a new way to help reduce stress and anxiety??? Head to your local Petco with a few dollars in hand and invest in some fish! Studies have revealed that simply watching fish swim in an aquarium can help reduce blood pressure, stress, anxiety and increase ones' ability to relax. Furthermore, research on Alzheimer's patients who were exposed to aquaria were shown to need fewer nutritional supplements than those patients who were not exposed. Fascinating huh?

These little creatures not only have significant health benefits, they also add unbelievable colors and aesthetic value to your home. For a grand total of $12 I got a beautiful glass fish bowl, a turquoise Beta fish (to match my color scheme), turquoise and blue gravel and some fish food! I named my fish "Vida" with the intention of getting his sister "Pura" as in "Pura Vida". Unfortunately Beta's are fighter fish that need their own territory so Pura will have to have her own bowl or wait until the hubby builds a divider for Vida's bowl. Vida lives in his little bowl on our entry table:

Happy Sunday Funday!!!!