More before and after

OK, do you want to see some big changes? This was our kitchen before. The furniture and bananas were the previous owners'.

Yes, that is purple wallpaper and yes that is blue formica and yes, holy crap!, that is a blue metallic refrigerator. This is how it looks today:

This room was pretty much stripped back to the studs. In progress shot here. We replaced cabinets and countertops, removed the window on the back wall in order to relocate the stove there and put the sink in front of the garden window. We replaced all the lighting and installed the skylight. We replaced the white vinyl flooring with terra cotta ceramic tile through the kitchen and dining area. I had the wall from the living room, on the left, extended, with that little step-down, to cover the ends of the kitchen cabinets and define the kitchen. The garden window and the dishwasher were the only things that stayed.

Looking from the living room toward the dining area and the room beyond, that we now call our "den," looked like this when we bought the house.

You are seeing a bit of the bathroom doorway that was changed, as well as the rather large opening into that little room back there. We closed in that bathroom door and extended the wall on the right side of this photo to make the doorway into the den narrower and give us a usable wall there. You can see those changes in progress here. This is how this area looks today.

This is a small house, but just right for the two of us. The kitchen and dining area are open and visible from the living room, so I wanted it all to flow together literally and visually. I chose kitchen cabinets and finishes that are similar to the furnishings in the living room and dining area, especially the cabinets. The open arrangement works so nicely for us and is especially pleasant when I am working in the kitchen. I don't feel so isolated.

We still have work to do on this house—that may always be the case! But in the short term, when we are finally able to sell our old house (it is currently rented) we hope to remodel and enlarge the master bedroom and bath. We also have plans to build a detached studio (for me) and greenhouse (for Ray). We hope to get started on that project sometime this summer. The crash in real estate and the dive the economy made came at the worst possible time for us, and changed our plans, but we've learned, pretty well, how to be flexible and rethink a situation. Meanwhile we are happy out here in the woods and I really, really, especially love my kitchen.