My Family Room & Kitchen

Hi everyone!  I'm back to share some photos of our family room renovation, with a little kitchen thrown in too.  These areas are connected, and definitely contain the majority of our "living" in this house.  When we're awake anyway.  :)

The feel of the house when we bought it last summer was cozy, but I knew I wanted to make some changes to reflect our taste.  Here is a "before" of the family room:

And here is the "after," from basically the same angle.  I stepped backward a few more paces but you get the idea!

I actually painted this room a warm green/beige at first, but within 24 hours I knew it was the wrong color!  The room doesn't get a ton of direct sunlight and the color felt cold.  My husband, who is ridiculously patient with me, agreed to add this board and batten wall treatment to give the room some interest.  Then I painted the upper portion of the wall "Echelon Ecru" by Sherwin Williams.

Here's a "before" of the fireplace, which is wood burning and was one of the main things I loved about the house.  I think I cried the first time we used this...on a chilly day...in September.  A little eager?  :)

The "after."  We painted the whole fireplace white ("Roman Column" by Sherwin Williams) and it updated the look instantly.

This next photo gives you an idea of the kitchen, which is adjacent to the family room.  I am standing near the fireplace to take the photo, if that makes any sense!

I'm not showing you too much of the kitchen, because, other than paint over the plum color on the walls, we haven't done a lot.  We know that in the long-term, we hope to give the kitchen a major overhaul but that takes lots of cash, as we all know!  We'd rather save up and do it right in a few years. In the meantime, it's functional, and I can dream!

 This last photo is my favorite, because it gives you a sense of how the room "feels" when you walk in now.  I love the textures and colors together.  The seagrass rug was a $50 Craig's List find and the antique Persian rug on top was something I found at an antique shop in Ohio's Amish country...all balled up and forlorn, filthy, just waiting for me to come and rescue it!  (And on a related note, I now know how to hand-wash antique rugs in my driveway, in case you ever need to know.)

We're almost done with our home renovation tour...I'll be back soon with some more details!