Before and After Shots

As I have already mentioned, our house was tan inside and out when we bought it, and definitely didn’t look like a house that belonged on the water. We did a lot of work when we first bought it to get rid of the tan on the inside and then in 2018, we did some major renovations to the kitchen, laundry room and closets in the hallway along with adding new millwork, doors, and beadboard wallpaper on the ceilings in all the common areas.

As you can see, the room felt really short, even shorter than it is because everything was low. We added the built-ins for much needed storage as well as a focal point for the room. I am not sure why the room looks so bright yellow in the one photo–it is a soft gold which is closer to what it looks like in person in the bottom photo.

This is Chris’ room. I think that the former owners also used it for a bedroom. The way the rooms were set up when we saw it for the first time were confusing. The guest rooms are small, so this is about all the furniture that will fit. I’m going to brag on my husband a little–he built this gorgeous bed. A local artist painted the chest in the corner for Chris’ nursery–we can go a little more childish in this room because Chris has moved out.

This is Jack’s room. The vivid green of the coverlet makes the walls look greener than they are in real life. They are a beautiful soft blue-green.

They called this room located in the same hall as the boys’ bedrooms a “hobby” room. Since I have been doing consulting for most of our time at this house, we converted it into an office space for me. It’s the only room where I got to do whatever I wanted to–so lots of stuff on the walls, over the top light fixture, and lots of my favorite color, green. Again, the shelving goes to the ceiling to make the room feel taller.

The KITCHEN…..

The kitchen is petite–only 12′ x 12′, and the layout when we bought it didn’t work at all–no deep counters for rolling out dough, and everyone had their backs to one another. We fixed all that with the new design. We eliminated part of the wall on the left to open up the entry way, which always felt like a long, narrow hall. We also added a peninsula to provide more work and cabinet space. We replaced the single hung window with an awning casement window and got rid of the valance–many people thought we made the window bigger, but we couldn’t because of the brick exterior. We brought the cabinets up to the ceiling for more storage space which has the added benefit of making the room feel taller. It may surprise you to know that Mike and I picked out everything together and agreed on every detail.

Originally the hall from the garage into the house was nothing but door after door after door. Since we eliminated the large pantry cabinet in the kitchen, we needed to put a pantry elsewhere. We took the coat closet and the pantry closet and combined them to make a super functional pantry with wine fridge and ice maker. This set-up works so much better for our family.

The original laundry room was huge because the former owner used it as a sewing room. Anyone who know me, knows that I don’t sew, but we do entertain. The laundry room was originally an L shaped room. We cut off the widest part of the room to create a laundry room with a large table for folding, wrapping presents, or arranging flowers. There are also wide drawers for storing wrapping supplies. And, I finally have a laundry sink! We used the long narrow piece of the original laundry room for a butler’s pantry which includes a full sized refrigerator and freezer. Because this room is so attractive, and a door would be in the way when unloading groceries, or retrieving items for a party, we left the door off of the butler’s pantry, but added a pocket door to close off the laundry room. If you know me, you won’t be surprised by the fact that all the shelves and drawers are labeled with their contents. This renovation has added immeasurable function to this house. However, the most commented on aspect of the room is the floor tile. It looks like flat woven carpet, but it is a porcelain tile.

Our next challenge is going to be the guest bathroom. Mike and I are thinking about tackling that this winter. We’ll see.