Buy my house?

The Anniversary Home is officially on the market!

In fact, we have our first viewing this afternoon. I did a special tidy/clean last night, bought some pretty flowers and made sure to leave all the lights on this morning when I left for work. We'll see how long before my enthusiasm runs dry and I'm scrambling last minute to throw junk in drawers to make the house look decent. 

So friends, if you know anyone who wants to buy a beautiful Victorian farmhouse in Pennsylvania, please send them my blog or email. I'd be happy to put the hard sell on them tell them more about this fabulous house.

I mean, who wouldn't want to live here?

This vintage style Victorian with wraparound porch was the original home of the Mayor of the town and located in a great school district. Recent updates have made this home comfortable and inviting. New designer kitchen with Thomasville cabinets, farmhouse sink, over-sized center island, high-end stainless steel appliances, granite and new hardwood floors. Formal dining room adjacent to kitchen with tall pillars defining the space. Formal living room with hardwood floors and gorgeous wood pocket doors. Climb the grand, rich wood staircase to the second floor featuring a large main suite with a wall of windows, second bedroom and library / office with full hall bath. Third floor features two additional bedrooms, both generous in size and rich in woodworking. Existing stable barn, prime for renovations as family annex and currently acting as storage and two car garage. Home features hardwood floors throughout most of home, new roof, new gutters, new chimney capping, new carpets, new sand mound, well tank, etc.

Kitchen Renovation Day 65

Happy Friday blogger friends! Are yall as happy as I am it's almost the weekend? We've got a pretty jam-packed weekend which includes dinner with friends, house projects and packing for our vacation next week. I've always been a to-do list girl and I'm in to-do list overdrive lately. We've got two weddings in two weeks plus a family vacation at the lake in between. Must. Be. Organized.

Thanks for all your kind comments from my last kitchen update post about the granite being installed. We are beyond thrilled with how it's turning out. The guys have been hard at work painting the walls and the windows and it's just starting to really come together. I love it.

It's already been so nice to have a functioning island and we're not even officially using the kitchen yet. I came in the house the other night (we always use the back door) and had my purse, laptop, several bags of groceries, etc. The island was calling my name and you know what happened. Everything got dumped there. Of course it was all put away in due time. It was nice just to have a place for things.

Hello pretty paint color



Like every room we've painted, I'm now obsessed with this paint color. As you can see on the far left, we had seven - count em - seven - paint samples we were working with. To be fair, several of these were up for consideration for the foyer. Oh, I can't keep a secret if I tried. The foyer and it's crazy lime green walls are halfway transformed. Those pics will come later. We're here for the kitchen.

This color is Valspar Smoked Oyster at 75%. It goes beautifully with the cabinets, the floor, the granite, everything. Not too dark. Not too light. I can only take partial credit for this color. Andrew and Alexa made the final decision and I am so glad they chose Smoked Oyster. (Folks - if you don't have a graphic designer in your life - you really should get one! Miss Alexa has an amazing eye.)



The columns are in and I'm really not sure about them. I hope they grow on me but I'm not really sure if they fit. Perhaps it's too early to tell.

But moving swiftly on, the Smoked Oyster color continues into the dining room, although it's difficult to see it here because it's dusk outside. (Lie. It's difficult to see because Mr. B has still not fixed the light fixture in the dining room. Oh well. Maybe someday we'll have light in there.)



I regret ever doubting I'd love the chocolate colored island with the wall cabinets. I love it. It's a great contrast with the countertops and gives the room some depth so it's not just a sea of cream colored cabinets. And there's going to be tonsssssss of extra storage in there.



The window sill has been raised and looks great from both the inside and the outside. And the sink looks great too. More on that later. You'll notice the backsplash underneath the cabinets is not painted because it's going to be tiled next week. Pretty, clean, white subway tile. Can't wait to see that.

The taps aren't in yet, but hopefully next week. I love how they've put the granite around the sink. There's a formal word for it - overlay perhaps? - but who cares. I like it!

And finally, the view from the sink looking in to the dark dining room. I promise I'll get better pictures of the paint color in there. Once there's a light fixture. Which reminds me....I think we were supposed to pick one out for them to install? Eeek. Suggestions friends? I'm at the end of my decision-making patience.

Hope yall have a great weekend!

Kitchen Renovation Day 41

Bam. Finished!

Alright, not so much finished, but seriously close. Is that a beautiful sight or what?

Now, obviously, this stuff is not in "final" position. But our man arranged everything for us today to get an idea of how it will all look when it's "really" in. And, to make sure we've left enough space in the walkways / paths for cabinet doors to open, etc. Duh. That would be smart. This is why we do not attempt to do this ourselves.

I'm still a little nervous about the chocolate island. If yall love me as much as you say you do, you won't dare prey on this little inkling of hestitation I have festering in the back of my head that it's not going to look right. The granite will tie it all together...right?

I tell a lie. There's still a ton to do. Those pesky windows still need to be replaced. Bonus points for the person who saw that the window on the left is lower than the counter!

The skyscraper on the left is the pantry. Not the giant, walk-in butler's pantry I've dreamed of, but hey, I've got a place to store stuff and that's all that matters. :::Shutters back to the memory of the old kitchen with three measley cabinets:::  wait. :::Remembers new kitchen still has limited cabinet space but is quickly comforted by thought of pantry:::  Ahhh.

Surprisingly, I haven't started obsessing about what color to paint the walls in the kitchen / dining room yet. For the first time in months, my purse has been paint swatch free, and it's kind of liberating. We'll probs hit up Lowes this weekend and that will be enough to set me back into full blown paint color obsession mode. Strangely, I'm okay with that....

Kitchen concepts

I'm sure you've all been holding your breath this weekend in anticipation of the outcome of our meeting with the architects on Friday. In short: It was everything I hoped it would be and more. Most of all, it gave me hope there is a light at the end of this tunnel!

The Phase II offices are located right between a Wawa (yes) and a Starbucks (double yes). You better believe I enjoyed a little Christmas cheer (Mmmm, pumpkin spice latte) before heading over to the meeting. The offices exude creativity and I'm guessing that's partly thanks to the caffeine overload inside. And the cheese popcorn. Whatever it takes to get the creative juices going...

Jay and Peg showed us some sample cabinets, flooring, moldings, rugs, etc etc. I unfortunately didn't take any pictures (it was all arranged so beautifully though!) and we had a great conversation about likes and dislikes - one of many more I am sure because I have a feeling it's going to take a lot of back and forth.

We spent majority of the meeting reviewing initial schematics of layout and design. Here's our starting point:

A pretty simple layout. The kitchen and living room are both pretty decent sizes but the space isn't fully utilized due to random doors and walls in awkward spaces. Through many conversations, a some spectacular insight on Peg and Jay's part, we were able to come up with a short list of "must" change items:

1.  The bathroom door in the dining room. Thanks, but no thanks. No one wants to get up from a meal to excuse themselves to the bathroom, which is two feet away. Unpleasant. 

2.  The back porch is, by function, our main entrance, so we wanted to utilize the space there since it's currently just an outdoor porch.

3.  Since the day we viewed the house, I've been annoyed by the basement door in the kitchen (very random) and have wished we could change it.

4. I wanted the wall between the kitchen and the dining room to be removed so the rooms were attached, if only by sight.

5.  As you'll remember from the photos, we needed to greatly increase the storage options in the kitchen (and ultimately, the dining room).  Three cabinets ain't cutting it. It just isn't working.

So after reviewing three concepts, we came up with this revised concept, to include the best of all the ideas presented. 

I know the picture is a little small, but use your imagination and work with me here kiddos.  I'll give you an "executive summary" so you can piece together the picture with the narrative:

1.  Basement: Pending some structural stuff (I stay out of all that!) they are moving the basement door out of the kitchen and into the existing hallway closet. We'll lose a closet but gain a mudroom in the back with plenty of storage. Fine with me!

2.  Mudroom:  The current full bathroom and patio become a powder room and mudroom.  No more accessing the bathroom through the dining room and we "gain" the lost patio space into a functioning utility room. I had hoped to put the washer/dryer room here too but just not enough space. We'll have to figure something else out.

3.  Cabinets:  The new layout gives us TONS of cabinet space. In the kitchen, in the newly created pantry, above the new desk, in the new island, in the built in china cabinets in the dining room. Surely everyone else is as obsessed with storage as I am, right?

4.  Island:  I'm really excited about the island. It's been on our minds from day one and fits perfectly into the new space. By removing the wall between the dining room and kitchen, and replacing structural columns a little further in the dining room, we create extra space in the kitchen for both pantry/desk and a big island. I've hosted enough parties in my time to know everyone congregates in the kitchen and it's always the center of the home.

Phew. Lots of changes. 

And I know what you're thinking, so before you ask:

• We're starting to talk with contractors and cabinetry people now for prices.
• Ideally, we'll start construction in early February, hoping to finish in April
• I have NO clue what we're doing for finishes, so stay tuned.

Happy house remodeling everyone!

Kitchen, Living Room and Dining Room sneak peek

Today's tour will round out the rest of the first floor.

I must give full disclaimer on the kitchen.....it's awful.  Plain and simple.  It probably hasn't been renovated since the mid-70's when the last major work was done on the house.  I am adventurous and have some "vision" but this was even pushing it a little far for me. We still have yet to cook a meal, or even unpack, this room.  The good news is the architects are on the case. 

The living room and dining room will be beautiful once painted.  The ceilings are tall and both rooms are large and spacious, which is unique for a Victorian. 

Enjoy!

Living Room looking into the foyer.

The color? Not so much.



Amazing radiators.

From the foyer looking in.

The pocket doors are in this door frame - I owe you a pic!

Never said I was an excellent photographer.

I guess I was trying to capture the ceiling height?

Dining Room.

Blue.

And don't even get me started on why there is a FULL bathroom right off the dining room.

This door leads to the kitchen.

Why is the light switch so darn high? I have to raise my arm in the air to reach it!

I told you it was bad.

Please ignore the inspectors bag!

But seriously.  This is bad.

At least its a large room!

3 cabinets.  That's it.

The back door to the porch.

This is really the entrance we use most often.

Side view with doors to dining room and foyer on the left.

More to come tomorrow!