I realize at some point I need to stop referring to the new house as, well, the new house. Soon, it will simply be our house. Now that we’ve sold our current house (and are renting it back from the new owners until after the shoot), I’m starting to distance myself emotionally from it…albeit slowly. Ten years will be hard to walk away from, but the more progress we make in the new house, the easier it is to imagine it as our home. #thatwasdeep
Today’s pictures aren’t pretty by regular blog standards, but they are as good as gold to me. Typically, my rockstar-contractor would be done by now (he really is that fast!), but since this house was so unexpected, he had to shoehorn us in around his other jobs, so we’ve had a few days with no activity. But what has been done is good….real good.
All the plans and Before shots are spelled out in this post, but you can see the foofy cabinet crown molding, and awkward cabinet over the vent, have been removed, and new drawers are going in to break up the row of doors.
He started the beginning of the vent box that will go to the ceiling. It’s genius how he’s framed it out, and how simple the box is…remind me to do a post on it once he’s done. It will get your wheels spinning for sure!
And the most glorious tile that ever was has started going up. Would you
believe me if I told you the tile was Home Depot?! And only
$4.65/square foot!? Yes ma’am, it is (available online only, but ‘ship to store’ was fast and free!). They’ll finish it out with more tile and dark grout.
I can already see how the stovetop area will become the focal point. The Kitchen is large, but there was no area of focus, so your eye just skimmed right over it.
This bank of doors has been broken up with more drawers, and a pull-out trash.
These doors and frame were ripped out so they could be re-installed flush with the rest of the cabinets.
More doors gone. This area says Coffee Station to me…what about you?
Oh, the biggest change of all was ripping up the tile and carpet on the entire lower level. I’ll get a floorplan and house tour post together soon. Or in a few months. We decided when we bought this house, that anything we do, we’re going to do right. So if that means we wait until we can afford the real-deal, then we wait.
Fortunately we scored such a great deal on the flooring by buying it wholesale, we’re able to lay real engineered hardwoods throughout before moving in. (Lumber Liquidators has been amazing, and I can’t speak highly enough on their customer service and patience, as we wade through all the options!)
My job has been to make 87 decisions a day…thank goodness for texting! We’ve decided on SW Mindful Gray for the Kitchen cabinets, and SW Iron Ore for the Butler’s Pantry cabinets. I’m using the same color strip throughout the house, with the exception of Iron Ore. Black Fox was the darkest color on my strip, but you can see in the lower left how brown it reads in the house.
I think the walls will likely be SW Repose Gray. Do you have any experience with any of these colors?
I’ll give you a little peek at the surrounding rooms and what’s going on there…the Kitchen, Breakfast Room and Family Room are basically one open space. Wallpaper starting to come down in the Breakfast Room.
This door leads to the Laundry Room, and since it’s so visible from the main areas, we’re having a little fun in there….here’s a peek.
The fireplace is a little serious for us, so we’ll slap a big TV up there, and say buh-bye to the hunter green tile. Here’s a peek of what’s going up instead.
This view of the Family Room shows the previous tile and carpet divider, along with the broken windows. The outside panes of two are completely gone, so we’re replacing all four with frameless glass for an unobstructed view of the screen porch and backyard.
We’ve only had one goof-up so far, but it was a pretty pricey one! When they called to confirm if I wanted the tile gone in every room downstairs, including the Laundry and Powder Bath, I was like the Queen of Hearts and declared ‘Yes! Off with their heads!’
But I hadn’t taken in to account the Pantry. Which so happens to be (don’t hate me) a full-blown walk-in. We’re talking 72 square feet. The genius builder used every bit of under-stair space for it! So we were left with the decision to either re-tile it, or carry the wood floors through it, as well. I couldn’t bring myself to pay for more tile and labor, since we’d just ripped up perfectly good tile (for a Pantry anyway), and the cost for wood was virtually the same. So we’re going to have a ridiculously overpriced nice Pantry when this is over.
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| You walk in, take a right, and then a left…that’s the Pantry. Basically bigger than my college dorm room. |
I took all these pictures Tuesday after work, but yesterday was an exceptionally productive day…so I’ll have another update soon! Don’t forget you can follow daily progress on my InstaGram and Facebook. Assuming Facebook deems them worthy enough to show in your feed. So tell me, have you used any of these paint colors? What’s the costliest mistake you’ve made in your home?!
I've never commented here before, but I've been following your blog for a while because you seem like such a cool person! Just wanted to say how much I've been enjoying your new house posts, I'm excited to see how it all turns out!
Thank you so much — for the kind words and commenting!!! xoxo
I too have been following your blog for about a year ….Love your fashion style and looking forward to seeing how your home turns out !!!! Keep Calm 🙂
http://Www.createbakecelebrate.com/2013/09/create-upstairs-paint.html
We used passive in our entire upstairs and love it (above is a link to the pictures). It reads lighter in our space than in your swatch. Love all of your tile choices – cannot wait to see the tile over the tv!
It's such a lovely color! It reads a little blue in my house, but so pretty!
HI there. I've never commented here but wanted to reply to your paint color choice. I have repose gray on just about every wall in my house and I love it. It flows easy and is a great "neutral" We have lived here about 2 years…… the architect took pics for his website. Here is the link. http://www.plansolutions.net/gallery/hernandez-residence/
Holy wow!! I can't believe that's your house! You lucky duck….you live there!! It's gorgeous, and thanks for reassuring me on the color…I'm excited now!! xo
Oh my goodness – that backsplash is simply beautious! I love it – what a statement! 🙂
I can't believe how much you've already got done. The home has such a great layout and that pantry is to die for!!!
The pantry is awesome, and so ridiculous! Everyone that sees it turns to me and says, 'I hate you!' 😉 xo
I love your plans and I wish I had put those drawers in my kitchen when I was remodeling, well more of a spit shine than a remodel. I am familiar with all those SW colors lol. I have Mindful Gray throughout my entry, dining and home office. It's also in my not finished yet master bath. It goes great in everyone's house I've recommended it to. There's a brown undertone to it, which I like because so many grays can go blue. Repose gray was too dark for where I needed it to go, but it's also a nice color. Lightening it to what you need is a great idea.
It's such a warm, yummy color! Thrilled to hear it works well…it's going up this weekend! xo
YAY! Super exciting! I'm loving the tile! 🙂
Lovey dove the tile you've selected for the back splash and the fireplace surround! …and the penny tile I'm guessing for the laundry room??? Adorable!
We purchased our hardwood from LL as well. Unfortunately, we are not loving the wood we selected. It isn't wearing well at all and after only 2 years, we're talking of replacing it. 😐 We got something new that didn't have reviews and now I'm kicking myself.
That really bites, girlie!!! I hope they work it out for you. We're using them for install, too, so I'm pretty sure they warranty it. Or they'd better!
Loving that tile! So fun to watch this all come together!
OH MY, that backsplash is absolutely GLORIOUS!!! I still need to put up a backsplash in our new home and you've got my wheels spinning 🙂
Mindy
It's the one place that makes the biggest impact in the kitchen, for not a lot of money. My two cents, anyway! 😉
This is all so exciting! I love how the tile backsplash looks in the kitchen. WOW! It's all looking so good! I don't think you'll ever regret the nice floors in your pantry (even if we have to call you a brat for it!)!! 😉
I'm fine with the brat label. 😉 xo
I can't believe the backsplash is from Home Depot! Killer!
Right?!?!?! Well done, HD!
my whole house is repose gray (builder's choice), and I love it. It is a true light gray in every room of our house, no matter the exposure. We have it in a flat finish and also have high ceilings in each room, so it may read darker with lower ceilings. It's a little ridiculous how much I love your backsplash tile, although I could never commit to the pattern. Go you!
THRILLED to hear you love the Repose!!! It's going up today!!
It's looking so good, Cassie! Your son in the breakfast area with his back turned to you, reminds me of my son. Teenagers! I can't wait to see the finished product!
He's checking out some gadget on the wall, of course! And the dog right at his feet…love it. 🙂
That backsplash is to die for! I can't wait to see more pictures. The continuous wood floors in the pantry is a great decision! It makes for a nice flow. My daughter's room and bathroom is in Eider White and I love it. It's a very subtle, peaceful grey without it screaming "GREY!!!"
I love the Eider, too…it read a little blue in our house, but it's such a lovely color!
so excited to see everything come together! xo jillian – cornflake dreams
My heart is so happy for you and your family with this beautiful new home! Not to mention that you're providing me lots of inspiration as my husband and I just purchased and moved into our first home a little more than a month ago. We also are using SW paints throughout our house, including a few that you mentioned. Repose Gray is a beautiful choice! Since the walls in our entryway connect all the way through our kitchen (there really isn't a good divide where to change wall colors), we are going with Zurich White (looks similar to the Eider White). And, Mindful Gray is going in our laundry room for a dramatic pop of color in a small space.
Congrats on your new house, Karly!! Thanks for your thoughtful comment!! xo
We used SW Essential Gray and SW Proper Gray in our house 10 years ago. We love that it goes with our contemporary furniture but also warm and inviting. Can't go wrong with those colors!
Love, love, love the backsplash. It is so you!!
How wild and exciting — a wonderful new place to make memories! Love what you have picked out for the finishes.
I don't have experience with those grays, but I have used Behr Chocolate Froth in several of our rooms. It's the perfect gray/beige (leaning more toward gray).
I like the drawers. We did something similar last year when starting our kitchen reno. My sweet husband built all of them himself since store bought drawers were around $100/each, and I needed about 6 of them. My island is now all drawers, as is the cabinet that stores our pots and pans. Otherwise, it was too much wasted space. We did leave the cabinet doors on, so you can't tell there are drawers unless you open the doors.
Also, we installed a beautiful, magnificent fire clay apron/farmhouse sink. I love all 120 pounds of this baby so much! Because it's so deep, our doors under it no longer fit. I had the genius idea (*pats self on back*) to put a drawer in there. It's where I house my trash and recycle bins, so I had my husband build a front panel for the drawer that looks just like the cabinet doors, and then I added a matching drawer handle. It's a perfect solution, and I love how it looks.
I hate renovations and how it disrupts our lives, but I love the end product – so it really is worth it. 😉 Enjoy yours!
Lucky you with the handy husband!! it's crazy how much more storage drawers provide…I'm not going to know what to do with all that space!!!
I hope you will do a post about converting those cabinets to drawers! I am loving the updates!
I'll get the details and pass it along! It's very simple!!!
Ditto to Susan's comment. I would LOVE to know more about converting the cabinets! I didn't even know that was possible!! I can't wait to see everything completed!!
Love the tile! Repose Gray is my very favorite paint color!
Yay!! Excited to see it in action!
I love, love, love your tile selections and am so excited for you! I haven't tried any of those paint colors, but we painted most of our downstairs and our 2-story entry with Ben Moore's Light Pewter. It reads well in all kinds of light without any purple or green undertones. Grays are hard. I tried 15 before I saw this one in a friend's house and said, "that's it!" In my prior house, I made a huge, costly mistake by hiring a decorator when I didn't even really know my style yet. I ended up with lots of reds and golds and fake greenery. Not my style! When we moved into this house, I completely changed directions and now love it so much more 🙂
Ah the blues and purples….why are grays so hard?! Thrilled you finally found the right one for you!
Looks great so far! That kitchen tile is gorgeous! I am loving that you are carrying all different black and white tile throughout the spaces, it is going to be awesome when it's all done.
Fingers crossed!!!! xo
Wow! That tile looks amazing! I love it.
We've moved so much I generally refer to houses by number. We are in House #11. Soon to be moving to House #12. I'm having the same type of problem when referring to our "old town", which we are moving back to….I"ll have to come up with some other name, I guess.
TWELVE?!?! That is a lot of decorating opportunities! 😉
Love seeing the progress on the new house! You are making great choices. We have our dining room, office and guest room painted Mindful Gray. Those rooms were painted awful colors when we moved in and I had to change immediately! The guest bathroom is Repose Gray. Totally agree with you on the Black Fox color going brown. We painted our front door that color and it doesn't look like a true black at all. That's the only color I wasn't happy with.
I might have to get the name of your contractor. I wasn't sure if you are in Dallas proper or a suburb. We are in a suburb of Dallas so not sure if he services that area.
Yes ma'am….in the burbs of Dallas! My rockstar-contractor covers most of the metroplex….shoot me an email, I'm happy to share him! xo
this is so fun!!! I love seeing all the progress shots, screw pretty photos 🙂 PS your tile selection is excellent!
I am loving these updates! We plan to build our house in the next couple years {scored the lot next door} and so seeing all the choices you're making is really helpful! Love the idea of more drawers in the kitchen. Much more functional! And your tile choices are blowing my mind. Love!
How fun to build…and crazy cool you scored the lot next door!! That will certainly come in handy!! xo
Love that you went so bold with your backsplash tile. It's beautiful!!!
Oh my gosh I can already imagine how beautiful this will be! LOVING the grays and, of course that show stopping back splash!
That backsplash tile is GORGEOUS! I cannot wait to see how it all comes out. Don't feel so bad about the pantry tile, odds are you would had them break during removal anyways.
Oh yes, good point! I was just saving them the trouble of having to rip it out later! 😉
I'm totally living vicariously through your reno… I'm trying to ignore the itch to move! Love where you're headed!
I am SO HOOKED on your renovation!!!!!!!!!! I can't wait for each new post. This is what dreams are made of 🙂
I tried a LOT of grays when we painted our new home. Revere Pewter has been a fantastic choice. Prior to finding that, my contractor mixed a custom color for me that is similar to the Revere Pewter but darker – it has a little bit of the brown undertone in it; we have this in our open living space. I'd be happy to send a photo or share the formula if you're interested.
Thanks Tara!! You are awesome and so sweet to offer! Repose is going up today…so fingers crossed I love it as much as you love yours!
Hey yes, I used Mindful gray in my step-daughter's room and I LOVE it. I posted about it on my blog..(Rachael's room) We also used it in our tray ceiling in our master. we haven't painted the walls yet, but it will be one off that color card. We used Dorian gray on the buffet that is in my Pink Dining room! It is beautiful. Those are great colors on that color card.. wow, I have been away for a while and I have a LOT of catching up to do.. let me get to reading 😉
Girl, yes….where have you been?!?!?! I love that whole strip…considering Dorian for our bedroom!!
AND that tile ROCKS.
OH YAAAS, HONEY! I can't wait to see what else you do!
Love everything!!! I am so excited to see your style unfold in this home. The living room windows are stunning as are all of your tile choices! My husband and I are trying to wait to do things "right" when we renovate this home…easier said than done! We are moving at snail pace trying to save up for everything….it will hopefully be worth it though!
It's so hard to not rush things…I get so excited, but I know I'll be glad later if I make sure something is right before pulling the trigger. Good luck with your renos!! xo
When I say "this home" I mean our new house–it is a fixer upper as well! Shouldn't be up and typing at 2am 😉
Well, we added a second floor to our vacation home several years ago, doing the general contracting ourselves. Totally forgot a linen closet on the new second floor (but it's gorgeous!) and I have to adapt a broom closet on the first floor for a coat closet soon…
Daaaaaaang, added a second floor?!?!? That's serious stuff!! You guys are amazing!
So exciting! I love following along and am so happy for you. Sincerely, a mom of two and long-time follower living in NYC
I'm LOVING all your amazing tile choices! I can't believe the backsplash tile is from Home Depot! Who would have thought? I always find it hard to make bold choices, but love that your going with your gut and taking a risk! Your home is coming together beautifully!
You DEFINITELY made the right choice for your kitchen tile. It is SO you and I know the end result will be stunning. I can't wait to follow all your other changes!
I am officially jealous! What I like is that you are creating a unique space with those tiles, etc so it won't look all "bloggy" I LOVE it!
I'm so behind on blog reading and just catching up now. Had to comment on this exciting development LOL. It's just so good! My hubby doesn't understand how excited I can get for other people when they transform something this amazing. Love the tiles so so much.
I am just catching up on all my blogs since after the new year, we did basically the same thing you did: our perfect house sort of fell in our lap leaving us moving, selling, and packing over the holidays (also in the Dallas suburbs)! And I just ran to Sherwin Williams over my lunch break to get several test pots in some of the same colors you list (I also added in light french gray and anew gray to test out) so I'll be interested in watching how yours turns out!!
Love what you have done so far. Are you doing a post on the floor soon? We used LL at our previous house and loved our floors. Getting ready to change the floors in our current house and will be going back to LL. Would love to know what you went with.
I really can't believe your kitchen backsplash is from Home Depot… that's the best score I've seen in a long time. It's going to look super! So where is the house? Still in Plano?
My friends are using your contractor to do their kitchen:)