Transform

 

My husband and I bought this house eight years ago, at the tail end of the housing boom. I was in my first trimester of pregnancy and not at all interested in dealing with the rigmarole of moving, massive amounts of paperwork and redecorating. When we found this house we loved the floor plan, location and mature trees in the backyard. What we didn’t love was the horrible paint colors, ancient windows and original kitchen but we saw the potential and knew from the start exactly what we wanted to do…

These walls had to come down, the extra space and natural light makes all the difference in the dining room

(click on photos for a larger image)

 

The kitchen was completely original from 1939 with the exception of the floors and countertops.  It severely lacked counter space and storage, it also had a very awkward doorway which blocked your ability to open the fridge all the way.  We turned the original laundry into a walk in pantry and added tons of counter space by moving the sink to where the eat-in area was

 

The family room was added on in 1958, it was a great space but had too many openings: 5 doorways and three windows.  We sealed up two doorways and two windows, we insulated and installed drywall in the ceiling to brighten the room. The walls were wood paneled which we painted when we moved in but they got ripped down and replaced with drywall.  With all the support walls coming down they installed a giant beam that spans the room for a completely open area. We planned on putting in hardwood floors but we went way over budget and decided to wait

We added on about 100 square feet to create a mud room/ laundry room. It has a large coat closet and discreetly houses the cat litter box.

The changes to the living room were minimal: skimming the textured walls and ceiling and adding recessed lighting, we rearranged the seating and my husband got his dream vintage mid-century Danish bookcase.  The foyer was gutted removing the coat closet and adding a floor to ceiling window which brings in so much light and you can now see all the way from the backyard into the front.

 

It was not a fun process and I would never live through another remodel but we are so thrilled with the end results that I have almost forgotten how miserable it was to not have a kitchen for three months! Thanks for visiting my little home tour, I enjoy home décor almost as much as I love fashion!

xx Zia