The Downstairs

I know I have been slacking a lot on blogging, but it’s mainly due to life is just REALLY BUSY right now.  Getting the house in order has been consuming most of our time.  While we have most of the downstairs unpacked, we still have a long way to come before we are what I consider done.  We are getting ready this weekend for our trip to Hawaii!  I cannot wait for it and to blog all about it for everyone (those who still read this).  In the  meantime, I thought I would take you on a small tour of the downstairs of the house. 

The foyer/entryway.  I love the “formal” staircase we have here.  Here is the entry table we ended up buying from the sellers.  They had an estate sale and this was the only piece we were interested in.  They had TERRIBLE taste.  I plan on paint the globe with chalkboard paint to write greetings on.

An alternate view of the staircase.  You can see the balcony upstairs leading to the bedrooms.  Zoey’s room is that door you see.

The living room.  I love the exposed beams.  We have a gas fireplace here (I’ll admit I sort of missed the fake fireplace to decorate with candlesticks).  The French doors really add lots of light to the room.

We have great built-ins. While the fireplace, built-ins, and door limit our arranging options, I love them.

This is the view of the living room from the kitchen.  We plan on painting this room soon.  (Along with EVERY room in the house.) As my sister said today, they must have liked HGTV with the faux finished walls.

Mirrors!  Yep that is a wall of mirrors you see in the dining room.  Not a fan at all, but it does open up the room.  I am missing my huge dining room I had before.

View from the wall of mirrors looking toward the kitchen.  Anyone know a great way to refinish the brass finish of fixtures.

The kitchen is one of the many reasons I fell in love with the house.  I love almost everything about it.  Only thing I would change is making it a tad wider so I would have more room between the island and the counter.  When opening the oven it’s a tight fit.  If you remember me talking about how we were having to give the buyers of our house our fridge, while I didn’t want the expensive of buying a new one, I LOVE my new fridge.  We decided to go ahead and get all new appliances while we were at it.  It updated the kitchen in a heartbeat.

I am loving having to ovens.  A wall oven and one on the range.  While I do miss my separate cooktop, I like having the extra oven.  The wall oven is smaller than my old wall oven, but it’s still very handy.

I have so much more room (cabinet) than before.  While most is filled up, I still have room.  I have a separate pantry, so there is a lot more room for items.

The breakfast area.  I’m so happy to have my kitchen table back.  My parents have been keeping it for us for the past 3.5 years.

View from the dining room.  Not sure why it looks so dark, but with the bay window it’s really bright during the day. 

My starting of a reading nook.  I hope to get a more “comfy” chair one day.

Our room is HUGE.  With the vaulted ceilings, hardwood, and lack of curtains at the moment makes it echo.  I want to at some point get a bench for the end of the bed. 

Peep into the master bath.  Once again LOTS of mirrors.  We have separate walk-in closets which is fabulous!  Also we have separate vanities.  Who knew this would make for a happy marriage.  

Patio and backyard.  We have a nice big patio.  We loved the brick patio of the old house, but it’s nice having so much room. 

The backyard is fenced in.  This is a wonderful thing for Zoey. She loves being outside and we can just let her run around. 

Another view of the patio.  It’s so nice in the afternoons.  I did not realize that even though the house faces west, in the afternoons with a two-story house it has a great shade.  We are already spending most afternoons out here before supper.

I hope you enjoy the small tour of the downstairs.  We plan on painting all the room seen in the near future.  Having a little person sure makes it harder though.  If I find time tomorrow after packing I’ll give a tour of the upstairs.