house pics

We've made more progress on the house and despite some bare walls, the downstairs is mostly complete.  We hosted a few events between Thanksgiving and Christmas and it was fun to get to use our new space and see how it functioned with hosting.  One of our goals when building was that the kitchen/living room area would work well for hosting people, and it seems to work great... the big island and open layout definitely help.

Here's a peak inside...

Some before pics:

right inside the front door (dining room on the left, kitchen/sunroom/living room through the hallway)

sunroom

living room

... and the much improved ones:

the powder bath, which we decided to try crackle paint on.  Turned out we probably should have experimented with it a little before we tackled the bathroom, and it turned into a little bit of a disaster - ran out of crackle stuff and paint and it didn't look good.  So we repainted a couple walls dark and left the sink and toilet walls crackle... it's interesting, but I like it :)

dining room

living room.  our brother-in-law built the entertainment center, which is our favorite piece of furniture.  the doors slide close over the TV, with shelves on both sides

more living room

the view from my kitchen sink.  I love being able to feel a part of the action while in the kitchen

I posted a pic of the kitchen before, but we added a subway tile backsplash, which I love

sunroom.  love all the natural light it lets in during the day

view from the entry hallway into the kitchen/sunroom

view from the living room into the sunroom/kitchen

view from the kitchen into the dining room.  I like how the dining room is connected to the kitchen, but separate

And now we're working upstairs!  We painted (well, I should give most of the painting credit to Chad :)) over Christmas break and the boys/guest bathroom is now navy, the upstairs loft area is very very light gray, which I plan to continue into the [now white] entry once we decide to paint it, and Beck's room (which the boys will eventually share) is orangey-red (his request).  Chad said to just pick a color for the boys room, so we didn't sample it.  Turned out a little more bold than I intended, so we did a white/navy stripe on two walls.  I think it will be fun and bright when it's done.

Our bedroom is still a need of some major attention... here's the proof:

It's been the gathering place for decorations that need placed and other random things, so nothing goes together and it's plain and boring.  We are pretty much Never in our room other than to sleep, and I'm getting ready for it to be a place we enjoy. :)

I'll do a post of the upstairs, once our bedroom and the guest bedroom are done... with tax season coming up, that may be by this summer?!