I think I got ahead of myself. See, I got to really analyzing my ideas and realized that I kept wanting to squeeze in more counter space and storage and that really crowded the dining area. On a whim one day when I had my graph paper out, I decided to knock down the wall between the dining area and the living room. It worked! I had room in the kitchen for an island or peninsula that I'd been dreaming of!
Carmel's beautiful kitchen
Of course it's never as easy in reality as on paper. There's wood burning stove on the living room side of the wall in question. Moving it would require a lot of effort on my husband's part. Scooting the dining table and chairs further into the living room would also make our long and narrow space harder to arrange without being crowded. But I showed my sketches to my husband and he liked the idea!
So now the tentative plan sometime in the next couple of months is to move the stove, knock down that wall (it's not load bearing, but there are 3 outlets and the thermostat to move) and install flooring throughout the living room and kitchen.
Gina's 2x4 flooring
That's probably all we'll get to this year, what with bunkbeds to build, the boys moving in together, repainting their room...
...and getting the nursery ready for our new arrival. (Ok, this is just a dream. I'm pretty sure we're having a boy, but I love this nursery so much!)
As I mentioned in my 11 for 2011 post, we also need to focus on fixing the basement walls so we don't have any more wet floors.
So back to the new floorplan in the living room, here's the rest of the plan. I'd love to get this sectional...
"Soho" by Value City Furniture
...and this rug
...and use this color as an accent for pillows and pretties
"Rain" by Sherwin Williams
...and do this popular board & batten technique (same colors too!)
...and it wouldn't be complete without dropcloth curtains, right?!
Traci's dropcloth curtains
I'm excited! I hope we're able to pull it off. Hope you enjoyed the inspiration!
re: wet basements
ReplyDeleteI just read in the DM register that Iowa's climate has changed enough (and the rivers or something) that we can expect more wetness forever and ever. Blech.
Love your ideas! Nothing like tackling that all with a baby on the way!
OK- We totally knocked down the wall between our kitchen and dining, it was non-load bearing and it too had some electrical. Turns out it was not that hard, Hubs did it all, and now I have a beautiful island and kitchen. My cabs look like the ones in the first pic. The best part is that we can say that we did it all ourselves. Soooo cool!
ReplyDeleteJust do it, I say! Just do it!!!