This is what our house looked like in 2003 when we bought it. It was a lovely shade of pink/beige and it was huge for just us two. 4 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms and it was a great location, lots of outdoor space. We bought the house knowing that we wanted a family and bought the house for that, we just didn't have the family.... yet. We had moved in with only what 2-one bedroom apartments can hold. Needless to say, most of the house was empty and for a long time because we spent all the money we had on the house itself. We were DINKs (dual income no kids) and we had so much time to do anything we wanted back then. It's difficult to remember what life was like back then honestly, even though it wasn't that long ago. It was the BK period of our lives (before kids) and that ship has sailed.
Lance and I like to cook and here we are from a party we hosted for our families probably for our housewarming. Wow we look different! But, I will tell you - the kitchen looks almost EXACTLY the same. Same old 80's oak cabinets, same tulip looking blue tile backsplash, same sink, same double oven. The microwave recently died after 15 years, so we have a newer one now. The previous homeowners did a few changes like adding the double oven, the cooktop on the penisula, the dishwasher and a refrigerator.
And here is my little Bella... we miss her so much! And glasses - I don't miss them at all! Before Lasix - I couldn't see anything due a strong astigmatism. So glad I did that!
And here is how our house looks now! We had it painted a grey-ish brown color about 8 years ago. We have a new roof 2 years ago since it was leaking. One of the biggest transformations was the landscaping - we've done a huge amount of work around the yard. We've had trees fall, moved small trees, installed a border around all the garden beds, installed gravel pathways, and added way more plants/color/texture/forms to the plantlife. There is also the monstrosity to the left of the garage that is Lance's most recent purchase. Sigh.... Just know that it won't stay there.
Here is the exact same house in our neighborhood, but the opposite layout. Their garage is on the right, where ours is on the left. This house was our inspiration for adding more space and functionality to our home. They added a dormer above on the left where they previously had a vaulted ceiling and they added a 3rd car garage.
And here is what our house will look like! We are adding the dormer where the vaulted ceiling is now on the upper right. And we are adding a large 3rd car garage to the left.
To do this - you will see below that we need to square off where the new kitchen is going by adding 40 sq feet and you see the garage on this level also.
This is more detail about how the kitchen will be built. It is ~doubling the kitchen size! One of my problems I had in my old kitchen, besides being 80s and ugly, was that I had a formal dining room that only fit ~4-6 people, and then a small eating nook next to the existing family room that really only fit 3 people, but sometimes we would squish in 4. In the middle of these two spaces was my U-shaped kitchen. People don't live with formal dining rooms anymore in this modern world, so I was happily willing to give this up. And once I saw that all it would take to make this beautiful new kitchen with only adding 40 sq ft - I was hooked and no going back.
All of this requires permits, We knew this upfront because of the garage and the bonus room. So, adding 40 sq feet to the foundation was no big deal. Plus, hiring an architect was well worth it = the permits were approved quickly!
Here is what the back of the house will look like.
And the North/East side - we are adding a ton of new windows. Yeah to light!
We are making lots of selections now for the cabinets, colors, tile, countertops and all things kitchen. I will post when I know what we are choosing. But to close out this post - I will leave you with my kitchen inspiration photos. Light, bright, pops of color, modern/classic/timeless, with wood and metal sparkle.
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