Here is our living room before anything was done to the walls. The only thing done when this pictures was taken was the carpet being ripped up. This is basically standing in the front entry way looking in at the living room/dining and you can see the kitchen as well. The place already has great windows and great light fixtures. Things that we don't have to even begin to change right now!
This is looking at the living room from the kitchen area. I love the great big window that overlooks the front porch. I can't wait to get some funky drapes up there!!!!
Here is the kitchen from the back entry looking into the living/dining area. We are changing the wall between the kitchen and dining. I can't wait for you to see how it looks now! We're putting in a bar area so we can have the kids eating there! We plan on doing new countertops and new cabinets. The floor in the kitchen will also be the laminate we ordered for the whole house. Oh I love it!
Kitchen. See the little bitty window. What the heck do I do with that? Curtain? Nothing? Blinds?
My least favorite thing about this house is that the laundry room is basically not a room. I hate this, but I'll try and do the best with what I got! With four kids I dream of a big laundry room wtih lots of storage and washing supplies and place to hang clothes and store clothes etc. 🙂 Oh well! At least the rooms I spend the most time in during the day (kitchen & laundry) are basically the same room!!! I'm thinking about putting a curtain there and not doors. What are your thoughts? Maybe with some hooks on the side to pull them over while I'm using the machines. Thoughts?
That's the pantry to the left. I had thought about taking that door off, but am pretty sure I'm going to leave it.
There's that window again. Gosh I wish it was bigger! Also that little cabinet to the right of the window will be taken off and we'll put shelves up. Maybe 3 or 4 of them.
This is the major change that was done. We took down the arch and it goes straight to ceiling now. I love it. We lowered the bar and moved it in closer to the kitchen so we can make a bar area.
We added a chair rail here. I'll show you soon! And when I say “we” I really mean Grandpa Ivey!!!
Here are my super sweet kids being good at the moment watching the work go on!
I love the last pic, the kids all lined up looking in. Classic kid pic, they’re just waiting to pounce on the new digs. 🙂
so so super exciting!!! can’t wait for an ivey party in the new place!!
I have a tiny, tiny window exactly like that above my kitchen sink. I use a little cafe curtain so I can have privacy, but still get light & pull it to the side when I want a view! OR you could maybe put a shelf underneath it and grow herbs there? 🙂
I remember this laundry room problem from my house in Texas.I would drop all the dirty clothes from the second floor over the stair railing and haul them to the back of the kitchen. I always wished for those awesome baskets on wheels with the hanging bar on top that they have at the laundromat. At least you could have some sorting and hanging space and you could wheel it to the stairs. Just a thought. Now I want one again too! I found a rack that hung on the back of my pantry door for lighter things so it expanded the use of my pantry also.
Oh,one more thought in the kitchen. At Sam’s or probably Cosco for you, they have an awesome stainless steel table on wheels that I use for an island. I sawed the legs off by one section (about 2″) because I wanted to leave the casters on. You can use it as a prep table or turn as an extension next to your stove if you for dicing or for buffet serving. It also is narrow enough to fit through doors, and it has a shelf underneath that I keep some of my larger pots on. My husband thinks it looks like an autopsy table but I told him to get over it and all my friends think is the greatest:)
I’ve got the same window. I have a pull down shade. Privacy at night and full light during the day.
I vote for curtains in the laundry room doorway for sure! otherwise those doors will be in the way ALL THE TIME! hooks should do the trick to keep the curtains out of the way…
you probably will want that pantry door 😉
as for the kitchen window, you could try a trick to make it look bigger with a large curtain… check out the nester she has all kinds of window mistreatment ideas… use a lightweight or light colored fabric to keep it light & airy!
LOVE looking at the pics and reading about your plans to make this house your home!
blessings to your family!
Love the way its coming together! Just a quick thought on the curtain v. doors on the laundry “room”. I think the curtains would look great…but with it so close to the kitchen, would the noise of the machines bother you when they were running? Maybe some doors that fold or even fold and recess when you are doing laundry?
Here is an idea for the laundry, if you don’t want to go the curtain route but want to have a clean look when you’re not doing laundry – http://www.younghouselove.com/2007/11/spin-city/ you could also do a similar kind of bamboo shade for the window above the kitchen (http://www.homedepot.com/Doors-Windows-Window-Accessories-Window-Treatments-Shades-Natural-Woven/h_d1/N-5yc1vZ1xh6Zbn7fZ1z11wqx/R-100429466/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053) If you hang it the same height as the top of the cabinet I think that would look nice and would give it a clean look all the way across. I’d also put a shelf below the window to use that space and you could put your dish soap or a plant on it. Just an idea 🙂
I say…
Curtain, something fun, for the laundry room door. Definitely add a hook to drape it over. It would add color to your kitchen. The only draw back to that is the sound of the machines going. It would be more quiet with doors. I have a curtain on my teeny laundry area and it does not bother me.
Leave the kitchen window bare but put some kind of shelf under it and grow herbs there. It will add a living element and maybe give some height. I say leave it bare for full light. How tall is it compared to you standing in your kitchen? That might make a difference.
What color are you painting? We are getting ready to paint our walls a light gray. I am so excited. It needs some fresh paint and the owner finally said we could do it.
So fun! With that little bitty window, how about putting a glass shelf right in the middle & keeping pretty colored glass things (bottles & what-not) to put the treasures that the kids bring you in? Dandelions and random grasses look pretty if they have a place to show off. 🙂
I have the same problem with a laundry closet in the DINING ROOM! I found a cute clip where they had turned the whole closet into what looked like a built in hutch. Counter top over the machines, with tuck away “cabinet doors” covering the front. Then showy cabinets up top…I had always wanted to do that, but instead we bought a new house.
This is a very country version of what I just described:
http://www.southernliving.com/home-garden/solutions/household-dream-hide-large-appliances-00400000009985/
P.S. I think what you are doing is FABULOUS! The moving, the kids – keep it up!
Your kitchen/laundry area is so European! Did you know that frequently you’ll find the washing machine next to the dishwasher in homes in Europe? It’s true! 🙂