Just like many of you, I have become immersed in all the wonderful images on home renovation that the web (namely Pinterest & Houzz) has to offer. I also really enjoy following along with some of my favorite blogs as they dive into home renovation projects big & small.
When my husband and I purchased our 1967 dearly beloved (wink, wink) house four years ago, we did so with the plan that we would renovate the lower level of this 2-story home before moving in. Due to some loan issues, that plan was pretty much crushed. And so we moved into a home that reminded me of the 60's everywhere I turned. Since the day we moved in I have immersed myself in multiple projects to try and make this house feel more like our home. The one thing we have not been able to do is change the floor plan to make it more functional for a young family. Our home has a lot of walls, lowered ceilings and cramped hallways with every room feeling closed off to the others. Our dream was to basically tear down every wall we could to open it up. After living here these four years, we have come to realize that while we still want an open concept home, we are more willing to keep some walls and use some common sense on the layout. All along I was only interested in turning our old home into one that felt like the new construction home we last lived in. Now however I see that it will be much better if we just work with some of the funky things we can't change about our house and emphasize some of the things we love.
Before
Before
Before
Trying to revamp an old house is tricky, let me tell you. I have played around with so many re-designs and nothing every felt quite right or had the wow factor and flow I was hoping for. So after all these years we decided to hire and architect to get us out of our slump and impress us with new & fresh ways of looking at our space. Hiring an architect can be a bit of an investment (they don't come cheap!) but we are more than glad we did. We now have an amazing floor plan that opens up our layout and provides all the functionality and more importantly the wow factor I was hoping for. I strongly recommend to anyone facing this type of frustration to look into bringing in some help with this process.
So now that we have a killer floor plan, we must decide if we can actually afford to make these changes now. After talking with a couple contractors about all the changes we want to make, we've decided to phase it out. Phase one is basically the entire downstairs (kitchen, family room, office, laundry & 1/2 bath) except our bonus room, finishes & new appliances in our laundry room and our covered patio outside. Those will have to be phase 2 and maybe 3. So now the fun part, the part I'm really good at...filling every spare minute with research on just what finishes I want my house to have. It's just absolute torture (ya right!) looking at all the beautiful kitchens and baths out there. The real hard part is actually narrowing things down and making decisions...I love them all, how can I possibly choose?! Here are some of my favorite spaces. Once we get closer to pushing the start button on this reno I will put together a style board so you can see our plans and choices on finishes.
I can hardly wait until we get the green light to make these dreams a reality. Until then, you will find me shoulder deep in research on home remodeling, kitchen & bath design and of coarse hunting for deals & discounts.
~Trisha
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