Kitchen Island

Here are some pictures of the new kitchen island. It's portable, aka it rolls. But, it's just the right size to provide a little extra storage and much needed counter space. Might even put a couple stools on the far side for seating. :)

New Front Door

Finally got to replace my front door and storm door, and add new molding. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves:

Here it is in all it's glory!

Left: Original front and storm doors | Right: New front and storm door. I know which one I like best!

Here's what it looks like from the inside (at dusk).

Close up of the glass.

There is still more work to be done, like painting the molding. But, it's a great start and I love it!

B&A: Outside!

In addition to all the wonderful things that have gone on inside, some work has been done on the outside as well.

Before

I first saw The Armistead in the winter. The foliage was nice but, as you might expect, rather trim. However, I knew there was a wysteria plant around my front railing and come spring/summer, boy did it go wild! I had to prune that thing weekly. And, even then, it grew so fast, I feared if I got it, it would ensare me within. As you can see, it started to take over pretty quickly!

Front entry in winter...

and, in spring/Summer

That there in the middle is a sassafras tree, in winter. Seems docile enough.

Hydrangeas in winter - pretty docile.

Hydrangeas in summer - pretty big.

Planting table and pots from previous owner.

Sassafras trees can get pretty big, esp. with 3 trunks!

Had to take off the two side trunks. It made the yard seem about twice as big!

After

Again, as with the interior, I've gotten lots of help with the exterior. My Aunt D'Arcy has a yard for the magazines. When she came down to see the place, we had a great day at Home Depot getting some flowers for the summer to put together a container garden. Eventually, I have big plans for redoing this space, as I think there are lots of great possibilities. But, this was a great start.

Front of the house: Removed the wysteria and added a few potted flowers.

Approaching the house, without wysteria.

Potted flowers - lavender!

Maddy loves this view!

Hydrangeas under control.

Organized planting area, with herbs.

Sitting area under the Sassafras.

Container garden of flowers. Unfortunately, I didn't get photos of them in their prime. :-(

B&A: Kitchen

Those of you who saw the house before, or the pictures, may remember that the kitchen was...shall we say...a piece of work. Actually, it has many lovely features including:
- It is quite large and spacious,
- It has a huge, literally 60"x76", window, with window seat for kitties, that lets in tremendous light,
- Pull out "Rachel Ray" pantry, and
- White cabinets and light gray counters.
So, all in all, a great base to start from. However, most prominently, the previous owner had favored a red white and blue heart motif. I'm all for it if that's your thing. But, it's not my thing, and it had to go. Unfortunately, some of this motif was, um, built into the infrastructure of the domicile. Specifically, it had been tiled into the large window sill of the large window. What to do? Thankfully, I have a expert painter friend, who knew exactly what to do, and a mother who was willing to do it. After a number of hours spent asphyxiating herself with a tub and tile refinishing product, I had a gleaming and completely unrecognizable (thankfully) windowsill.

Check out the end results below!

Before

The kitchen came with the hard wood style laminate that the powder room had. When I had the hard wood intentionally did not re-do either room. Although it means those floors don't exactly match the hard wood, I plan to eventually put tile in both rooms, so didn't see the point in changing them right now. I'll probably get a sisal rug to put down in the meantime.

Note the fan pulls in the motif.

Looking out into the hallway.

After

Here's the runner in the hallway outside the kitchen. While I absolutely love the color of the hardwood floors, it is quite dark and it is rather hard to see at night. These runners with a lighter pattern have definitely helped.

I got new, light yellow dishes right before I moved and really loved them. Gray seems to be very vogue right now. So, I thought with the white cabinets, gray, yellow, and white would make a nice color palate for the kitchen. After painting about a million test swatches, I went with Behr Silver Drop (790C-2). It's about the most perfect neutral gray you can find. I had thought I might go with something darker, or a little more blue-based, but the counter tops ended up having more tan in them than I thought. But, this color, in a semi-gloss provides the perfect, unobtrusive backdrop for the kitchen.

New and improved tile!

Window re-do!

Check out the curtain detail!

Comfy, coordinating window seat, also by Mom.

Maddy loves the window seat, too.

Heidi also enjoys the window seat, I just don't have a picture yet.

B&A: Office

As many of you know, I work a lot. And, I work from home, a lot. So, one of my "must haves" for a house was a dedicated room for an office. I wanted a room that was functional and comfortable and that, frankly, I could spend a lot of time in. So, a lot of my initial investment in furniture and accessories has been for the office. This has turned out to be a approach, as I have spent quite a bit of time in this room since moving in. Aside from curtains and another picture or two this room is done and I really love it!

Before

My office is in the small bedroom upstairs. This room is only about 9'x10', so it's rather small but a good shape and certainly sufficient for a comfortable office.

 

 

 

B&A: Master Bedroom

The Master Bedroom has not been one of my top priorities so far. However, given that I had a decent set of furniture and most bedding and accessories, it's in pretty good shape. Here are the before and after pictures.

Before

After

As with the other rooms, I have replaced the carpet with hard wood flooring. This room already had a ceiling fan with light fixture. This room is on the front of the house, overlooking the courtyard. It gets great morning sunlight in all the front windows. I painted it Behr Sandstone Cove (730C-2), a beautiful neutral with some depth and interest. And, in lieu of hanging pictures, I got some neat laminate decals to decorate the walls. I'm enjoying them so far. But, they come off easily if and when I get tired of them. :)

Runner in the upstairs hallway.

B&A: Guest Bedroom

One of the advantages to The Armistead's design is that both the master bedroom and guest bedroom are quite large. The guest bedroom is in the back of the house and has a small window that looks out over the back yard. It has an ample closet and plenty of space. Like the rest of the house, it had plain white walls and a good standard shape.

Before

After

The guest bedroom is plenty big enough to have a sitting area. And, I've been lucky enough in recent years to inherit quite a bit of beautiful furniture that goes together quite well to outfit just such a room.

Since moving in, the bland berber carpet was replaced with the dark hardwood floors. The walls were painted in the neutral but not boring Behr White Clay (730C-1) to enhance the subdued light the room gets. And, I've since added a ceiling fan with light fixture.

All in all, I think this room is nearly complete. In fact, it's so lovely, I like to think of it as The Armistead B&B Suite. Guests welcome any time!

Part of the beautiful suite of furniture from the Paitsels.

The beautiful bed from that suite of furniture.

complete with chairs from Dick and Audrey DeVilbiss.

This chair was a gift from my Grandparents Vaughan, when I was a little girl.

The sitting area for two...

Hunter loves these chairs, too!