After being out of the country for a couple of weeks, we were anxious to get back and see what progress had been made at the house. I’m happy to say a lot was done at the house and we are so, so close to wrapping up the full project… but not quite there yet.
Walking in the front door brought a huge surprise, of new paint, new floors and all of the dust and clutter gone. Oh and look at that kitchen!
The living room was blue, but now a green-gray.
That gives way to the kitchen and the new paint. The kitchen color turned out a bit brighter than we were hoping, but I think we can live with it.
And look at those countertops! There is one section that still needs to be installed, but most everything is in place. We went with a silestone, quartz product. It’s durable and looks great.
Along with the countertops, all of our backsplash is now installed as well. We decided on an oversized subway tile to give the timeless look, yet update it a bit from the traditional sized tiles.
One of my favorite features of the kitchen is still the peninsula, and the wood feature on it. Especially now with the countertop and the waterfall effect, the contrast really shows.
For pendants, we found these great retro looks from restoration hardware.
All of the appliances are still covered in the protective coverings, so things like the hood are still covered up a bit. I am already contemplating all of the things I will be able to cook in this big double oven.
The newly-finished floors also turned out great. We recovered the water-based stain with an oil-based one that hopefully is a bit more durable to things like dog nails.
The back of the house is the home of the new dining room, and our extended kitchen/wet bar area. I like how the round sink turned out here, giving us more room for food prep and drinks preparations while entertaining.
Above is a view from the back of the house, looking to the front.
Looking from the back toward the peninsula, show a big pop of color in the new powder room.
We opted for one feature wall of a big, bold blue. TBH the color was somewhat inspired by our November visit to Frida Kahlo’s Casa Azul.
If Gabe has one item in the house that he’s excited about, it’s this mirror. The “selfie mirror” highlights the feature wall a lot, but does also make for some great selfies. Make sure to take lots when you come to visit and tell Gabe how awesome his mirror is.
Looking down to the basement, a lot of finishing work happened here too.
The original exposed brick was painted and sealed to keep a nice pop of character.
The shower door in the basement bath is also now in!
One thing the tile crew forgot to do was to add a shelf in the shower. While we were gone, they were able to remove one of the tiles and build in the nook/shelf for shampoo bottles and what now.
They also fixed the detail work on the side of the stairs. As you may recall, we weren’t super excited by the design they put in at first. This looks much simpler and nicer.
I’m really pleased with the new floors. Let’s see if they hold up to the dogs.
Another big change was bricking off the former door in the laundry room. For such a small space, we decided that we didn’t need two rear doors, so we sealed it off.
I can’t wait to get cooking.
Two Boys & A House 