My husband will say "Blame Pinterest." I don't know what got into me but I had a bee in my bonnet to do "mini" facelift type project in our kitchen and den area. We always knew that a little work would make the space more attractive and more functional, and one morning I woke up with more of a sense of urgency than usual. Why wait, let's fix it so we can enjoy it now, not a year from now! And to be honest, I think I was right. We are really enjoying our new space and wondering why we didn't do it even earlier.
They started the work while we were in the Caribbean and finished a few weeks later. Living through construction is not fun. Ellie and I really had to get creative on a couple of occasions when the cable was out, the internet was out, the workmen were taking up half the house, & the noise & dust level were out of control. We survived. Of course, construction never goes as exactly planned and there were a few surprises. I can't even go into the details because its over and I am blocking all of the bad surprises from memory.
Anywho... here is our kitchen/den before the "project."
A small doorway leads into the kitchen from the den:
A giant box/room protrudes into the den. That is the very sad and terrible laundry room.
The sitting area, which as great windows to the floor but you can't see them because the couch has to go in front of them.
The kitchen, which we have always liked but it is even better now!
The new view from the den to the kitchen! We've got a breakfast bar! We had to change out the granite to add the breakfast bar because we could not find a good match for our existing granite. We went with Black San Gabriel but chose to keep the original Kashmir Gold granite on the island. I wondered if I would regret going with the two-toned look. I don't. I love the contrast! We also bought a french door fridge with the freezer on the bottom. I am pretty much in love with it. You might also notice that we changed the wall color from white to a very pale blue.
And here is the view from the kitchen into the den. I love that I can see Ellie from the kitchen when she is playing in the den. That is HUGE! No more peeking around the corner every few minutes to make sure she isn't in harm's way! When Sam is home it's fun too - I can talk to him from the kitchen while he sits comfortably in the den!
We are still working on doing some decorating - I think we are going to put a couple of club chairs by the windows at the end of the room and we are going to get a new area rug. Right now I am just enjoying the improved quality of life afforded by taking down that wall between the living room and den!
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