Tuesday, March 11, 2014

A New Floorplan!

In my last post I talked about how we started off 2014 with a burst heating pipe and over $25,000 in water damage and how we made a split-second decision not to put the house back together exactly as it was.  Here I am with an update!

The renovation has been completed and we're pretty much done playing "Musical Chairs" with our furniture, shuffling it around from room-to-room.  Today, I'd like to introduce you to our new Living Room/Dining Room combo!

This is pretty much exactly what you see when you walk in the front door (courtesy of the panoramic photo capture mode on my camera):

Directly in front of you are the stairs to the second floor.  To the left is our new living room, which used to be a bedroom that was separated by a wall that we removed and to the right is our dining room, which used to be our living room.

Here's the new living room side:

And here's the dining room side:

Before this room was our dining room, it was our living room and was closed off to the room on the other side of the stairs:

Here is that same exact view now (with the front door closed):


Huge difference, right?! The wall that was separating these two rooms had a closet on the other side of it for the bedroom, but it wasn't a load-bearing wall.  We also had the railings for the stairs replaced and I just love that you can see through the staircase now.

I'm still working on hanging things on the walls so they don't feel so empty, but I'm loving how it's coming along.  Here are some close-ups of some of my favorite details so far:

I springed-up my coat rack as much as possible with some bird decor:

I just loooooove this bling-y chandelier I got from Overstock.com:

Those frames behind the table are filled with some free botanical prints I found online, that I put into wooden frames from WalMart:


I'm on the hunt for a large ornate mirror to hang over the buffet in the dining room, so hopefully I find something great soon!

In the living room, I'm loving the colors introduced by the pillows and painting:


Check out this lamp that I spray painted and the red bird art I got from a calendar.  I replaced the art inside one of those square IKEA art frames with the bird:


I've still got lots to do, but I'm enjoying the openness and brightness of the space so much!

7 comments :

  1. I am glad that flood turned out well for you. The new floor plan is much improved, and you have decorated it well. Good job!

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    1. Thanks, Jessica! Us girls with Capes have to stick together! :)

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  2. Hi there! I saw your comment over at Live, Love, DIY and decided to check out your blog. Very nice! :)

    I can totally relate to the whole flooding thing. Just before Christmas a drain pipe (placed in an exterior wall - Grrr) froze. This drain line is for the washing machine. Anyway, we had a good amount of flooding.

    Great idea in opening up that wall. What a huge difference! I bet you are loving that feeling when you walk through your front door now. :) Ha! Love that chandelier! I have the same one by the staircase. It is so sparkly. ;)

    Cheers!

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    1. OH man, I feel so badly for anyone that has to deal with any water damage in their home. The whole time, I just kept saying, "At least it wasn't a fire." But I have to say, it sort of forced us into "remodel" mode a little faster and I'm okay with that. I can't believe you also have the same chandelier! Isn't it so fantastic for the price?! Thanks for stopping by :)

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  3. Hi Christine! Thanks so much for the light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel inspiration! You were right...totally made me feel better! :) You're house is looking amazing! xo

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    1. Thanks for stopping by, Virginia! Say hi to the Kitties for me! :)

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  4. I just came across your blog today and love your style! We are just now embarking on buying our first house and looking towards renovations. I feel like I could have written some of your previous posts myself! Thanks for sharing and for the inspiration!

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