House Renovations

This post is a VERY long time coming.  Seeing as we have been in our home for 6 months!  Also, we really haven't made any new changes to our kitchen since November, when Cole was born.  We had people finishing up electric actually while we were in the hospital and when we get home all the big things were complete!  Yes we still have some toe kicks and trim and walls to paint.  And we may add crown molding (the ones we measured don't fit now- apparently our ceiling dips a little!) in the future, but for now it is functional which is WAY more than it was in September when we bought the home.

When we first started looking at homes I ruled out all raised ranches.  I told Dan I didn't like all the steps with kids and anytime he showed me one I told him"no."  But when this one popped up on our radar I fell in love with the cathedral ceilings in the addition they built on so I said I would *look* at it.  Almost every other home in our budget was ok, but we hadn't found the one that we felt we could grow into.  Let's be honest, Chicago is a pretty expensive area and we didn't have a large budget so most of the homes we were looking at were smaller.  However, they were finished.  This one had more space, but was a rental and needed quite a bit of work.  Not just on the inside (kitchen, floors, yellow tubs, etc) but the outside of the home has peeling paint, bricks falling off, and some pretty rough landscaping going on.  We know that every home we purchase will have a list of work that we could do.  So we are just embracing what we have done so far instead of focusing on all the things we would like to do with it in the future.  It's a work in progress :) 

So, here's the major changes we did!  We tore up the carpet and flooring on the main level.  We took down two walls, gutted the kitchen, and moved the dishwasher.  Then we purchased all new appliances and bought our cabinets, sink, and hood from Ikea.  We built them all and installed them ourselves (along with help from family and friends!) which was quite the sanctifying experience but we did it!  Honestly, we could not have done all of this without the help and guidance from our friends and family.  Dan and my dad spent his whole birthday ripping up floors and then my dad spent 12 MORE hours by himself while we celebrated a friends birthday party in the city pulling up every. single. nail from the carpet.  And there were A LOT.  Dan's dad helped us install the cabinets and hood and painted part of our kitchen.  Even my brother helped us assemble some cabinets!  And many of our friends helped us gut the kitchen, install the floors, and invited us over for meals while we lived without a kitchen for two months.  It was quite a two months, but I wouldn't take back anything because I LOVE how it looks.  (even all the heartburn I experienced at 32 weeks from bending over to click our laminate floors in lol) The open concept is wonderful for this stage of life with little kiddos and I love that our bedrooms are on the same floor as well.  (which I never thought I would think that!)  And just this weekend we painted our fireplace white and I LOVE it. 

This home is such a blessing and we are so so thankful that we ended up here!  Yes, there is much more we would like to do, but for now, we have a floor to walk on and a kitchen to eat in and for that we are so thankful :)  So here's the changes we have made!

BEFORE:

 AFTER