Kitchen is Soooo DONE

Well it's been awhile since I caught you all up on this client's kitchen....Here was the progression, Kitchen is Almost Done....Then around the holiday season we were in the thick of it, with a Kitchen is Almost Done - UPDATE.....And then yes I went "ghost". :)  But not for any reason other than my clients have had some personal issues they were dealing with and it was not ever a good time to come over to take Hero "after" shots, until just recently...

I guess the good thing with the major delay is it should feel completely fresh to you all once again....

So without further ado, here are some "befores" and "afters" of the whole kitchen project....

Before:  Faux painter just finished painting this wall...

After:  And for the good of the kitchen that wall had to come down. :)

Before:  Choppy walls, awkward spaces.

After:  Nice, big open space.

Before:  This laundry room, helped make the kitchen really small.

After: Laundry room moved, now not only a bar but a coffee bar right next to it...And lucky stripe extra, a real brick wall from the family room fireplace, looks like I planned it right?  I can't take credit.

Before:  This family needed storage...

After: So we took care of that problem.

Before:  What's there to say, can you think of anything? ;)

After:  We kept the price down by keeping the ovens

Before:  This was on the other side of Before picture #1 at the top.

After:  I didn't have a head on picture of the sink area but here is a photo that hopefully gives you an idea of how it looks now.

Before:  See that wall over to the left...Gone. :)

After:  Just a slight difference

Oh and my clients still love their kitchen...The newness hasn't rubbed off yet...

I would love to hear your comments about this kitchen remodel.

Spring Break...Part 2

Spring Break is almost over for most of you out there...I didn't get one.....But I did get lighter traffic in town and a quietness at work which has been a nice change to catch up, so that is a good thing.

Continuing on my quest to share again some of my past postings here are a few more for you to enjoy...

Inspired by Chard?  I was actually inspired by the colors of chard.

When Size Matters  These are Extreme King size beds, which if you had a dog as big as mine would be nice to have.

This Stairway IS Heaven  I can't tell you how many times my clients don't know what to do with their existing staircases showing age and how to update them.  If you are like them, I hope this posting inspires you.

Life Imitates Art  Okay in case you are new to my blog, I had to add this one so you can get a glimpse of my rock star dog, Calvin, he says "woof" to you all.

Enjoy your weekend and see you next week!!!

Spring Break...Take a Breather

It seems to be Spring Break for most, so I thought this week would be a good time to catch up on some past posts that have been popular before....Quick, easy reading, nothing too taxing for the spring break mind....

Glass Fetish  This name really says it all...I have a glass fetish and I want to share it with you.

#1 or #2?  I know this is going to be hard for most women to believe, but this blog posting title got a lot of attention from men.

Up On The Roof Top   Some of you may be going here for spring break, so thought I would share what I learned about just the roof top of this amazing mansion.

Mirrors Need Love Too  This posting was VERY popular and everyone loved this idea. So I thought I would share it again for those of you who missed it last time, or for those of you who forgot to add it to their list of "to dos" the first time around.

(Guest Bath: Before)

(Guest Bath: After, notice anything?)

I hope you are all having a great week, whether you have off for spring break or not, remember to relax and breathe....Spring is here!

Mirrors Need Love Too...

I recently worked with 2 clients who needed to add some "love" to their bathrooms. Obviously color and accessories are no brainers for quick changes but have you considered what you can do to your mirrors?

Here are some "before" the love and "after" the love bathrooms....

Master Bath: Before

Master Bath: After (Client is in the process of replacing her builder grade lights)

Guest Bath: Before and After (client is in the process of painting her walls)

Mirror Mate has some gorgeous frames, easy ordering instructions (I promise you can't screw it up), installation is a breeze and you get the immediate "AHH" effect.

Both of my out of town clients were definitely intimidated about ordering these because I wasn't there to measure and make sure they would work.  But I got to tell you they fit perfectly and they both had them up within moments and they both sent me pictures immediately afterwards they were sooo excited.

Master Bath: Before & After (Even a cleaner counter) :)))

Guest Bath: Before

Guest Bath: After (Client is in the process of replacing these lights as well)

So have you seen these and have you given your mirrors any love yet?  I think they deserve it don't you?

This Stairway IS Heaven

I just got my camera fixed and I am in the process of taking some "afters" to share with you, so this is "hot off the presses".....I took these last night, not that I was anxious or anything, ha!

This particular client's 1991 home has always had carpet on the stairs.  Though my client loved the carpet she was tired of it being on the staircase.  Truly it didn't bother me, but the staircase was feeling a little tired...I mean even though 1991 feels like just the other day to some of us, it was almost 20 years ago...Has that sunk it yet? ;)

A lot of people use the terminology incorrectly when discussing staircases so here is a little picture guide to help explain things a bit better as I go through the details of this job....

Back to the staircase....

We replaced the carpet with hardwoods, not just the tread but the riser as well.

Did you just notice that gorgeous hardwood border inlay on the floor as you were glancing at the above picture?  Well here it is up close....Isn't it beautiful?  We replaced all the oak hardwoods to these floors which is the color combo that inspired us for the staircase.

The open partial treads were the same tired yellowing oak as the banister so we darkened them up to match each other.  (Picture of the tired oak hardwoods)

Now look closely on the 2nd picture "going up", those partial risers are still white.  I don't think it looked bad with the balusters but it drove my client crazy because going downstairs they looked rich and beautiful but once you were down the stairs and looked up you saw "white", so we fixed them....Cue the faux painter....

(going down)

(going up)

...She painted them to look like the wood that we just stained the yellowing oak.  I love all the tricks faux painters have up their sleeves.

Because of the style of the home we decided on keeping the balusters as-is, well I mean with a fresh coat of white of course.  

So big improvement?  We think so.  This staircase has at least another 20 years in it.