New year, new house!

 The hustle and bustle of the holidays has about died down, and now the real work begins for us (Kermie and I ... and whoever we persuade to help, that is ).  For the past year or so, we have been toying with the idea of remodeling our house.  We outgrew this lovely abode many moons ago and had thought we wanted to sell in the past.  But after much contemplation, we've decided to see if we can keep the house we fell in love with about eight years ago and change it to meet our current needs. This remodel is going to be a major undertaking and possibly take a while, so I thought that if any of my readers enjoy watching HGTV as much as I do, you might enjoy going through the journey of remodeling our home along side of us.

Let me first start by telling you a little about this house.  When we first bought this house, we fell in love with its' potential, character, and uniqueness.  It was built in the late 1800's and has an interesting history as a saloon/boarding house for train conductors stopping by.  It has been remodeled and updated over the years and I unfortunately did not take pictures of the house before we got a hold of it.  On the other hand, I plan to do a much better job of taking before and after shots of our current renovation.  So, I'll begin by  showing you what we have to deal with at the current moment and what our plan will be.

The space below is currently used as a dining/catch all room.  Our house is just a little over 1800 sq.feet which makes every room fairly large and open.  I love the big rooms, but I also think we have a lot of wasted space.  It's time to make use of it!

The entry way into the kitchen will now be closed other than an opening near the kids' art easel that will lead to a new guest bath and Grayson's room.  Cabinets and appliances will go along that wall.  

I plan to make this area a breakfast nook.   

A wall of cabinets/appliances will go here.

The space below is currently our kitchen.  Please excuse the messy counters and broken cabinet doors!  We are turning this into Grayson's new bedroom. 

I have no idea what I'm doing with his room yet!

The next space is our only true hallway that leads to our only bathroom, mine and Kermie's closet, and our bedroom.  We have lots of plans for this space.  Some of it will remain a "hall," some will be turned into a laundry closet that is part of the master suite, and some of it will be an entrance to the new bathroom.

I can't count on both hands the number of times our current shelving has fallen.  It is duck taped in multiple spots!

This is our current bathroom and laundry room.  I can't wait for those two to be separate!  Out of this space will be a new guest bath and our master bathroom.

Next, is the master bedroom.  I love our room, the size and color of it.  We will take out the carpet and lay hardwood.  We will get a new bed and I'd love to have a sitting area.

I did not make my bed today! :)

The last three spaces will probably have the least amount of reno done to them. We plan to repaint the living room, foyer, and Ella's bedroom (last!  Her room has been done so many times!).  We are also bringing a piano to put in by our french doors which I am pumped about.  It will all get repainted!

Ella is on a pillow pretending to be canoeing.  Not sure what all of the animals are doing face down in the water!!

Grayson will take the tall bed and will be getting a natural wood dresser and desk to match.  Ella will get a big white bed and some sort of desk as well.   

Now that you know what we're working with, let's move on to the fun part!!!  I have been brainstorming as has Kermie for quite some time on how to best make our house fit our needs and keep its' charm.  So, here are a few ideas that we have.

Master Bedroom minus the carpet.  Add a rug.  Something like this.  Tranquil!

I LOVE this for the master bathroom.  Will probably go with a similar seafoam green, but not the same tile. We are having a large walk in shower.  

Something like this for the sitting area in our bedroom.  

I love both of these breakfast nooks. 

I am digging the grey cabinets on bottom!  IKEA has some that I really like.  I also like the open, rustic shelving.  It will force me to stay organized!

Definitely doing concrete countertops!

I'd love to have a farmhouse sink!  I saw one at the Reuse Store in Dry Ridge, but it had a crack!  Keeping my fingers crossed!

I like both of these looks for the guest bathroom.  Not sure on this yet. 

We will have a kitchen island that will hold our sink.  I still haven't found anything that I totally love, but these are along the right lines. 

I also like these two looks for our master bathroom.  Other than the color, I can't decide what "look" I'm going for yet.

This past weekend, we went to the Reuse Store in Dry Ridge to see if we could find any tile for the bathrooms.  We did end up finding the floor tile and the tile for our shower.  I want to put something dark in the bottom of our shower to off set the two tones.  

                                      

As of now, we have several holes in different walls within our house where Kermie is trying to get an idea of his game plan.  He has found lots of cool treasures while knocking out walls and visiting the attic/basement.  

This is an old piece of tile from the AC Tile Co.  It dates back to the 1800s!  

A newspaper that also dates back to the 1800s.  

An old cigarette case. 

And, some other odds and ends like a horse shoe, tons of coal, and old tools.  

Our first reno will take place in the bathrooms and will happen SOON!  I hope to take many pictures throughout the process to show the transformation.  And, I'd appreciate any prayer for my sanity throughout this whole process!!!