Christmas is...

Home Renovations, Second Installment

And here are some teaser shots of our dining room and kitchen progress.  A more dramatic "before" and "after" comparison to come!

Highlights of this reno:

• updating the cabinets with new, oil-rubbed bronze hardware
• replacing laminate countertops with granite and an undermount sink
• taking out the old fluorescent box light and installing six recessed light cans in kitchen
• a new tile backspash with undercabinet lighting
• tile floors installed in kitchen and adjacent hallway
• new fridge and dishwasher (waiting to add a new range for a few more months)
• repurposing the previously cream colored chandelier (in dining room) with oil rubbed bronze spray paint
• exchanging the carpet for custom-stained maple hardwood floors in the dining room
• scraping off the popcorn textured ceilings and spraying with a "knockdown" texture
• replacing the old patio door with a new model
• doing most of the work ourselves or with friends' help, saving us more than half the projected costs!

But the whole reason for starting this project was to knock out part of the wall between the kitchen and dining room, combining the rooms with a breakfast bar island.  Everyone loves it except for our dining room table set which now only gets used on those "special" occasions.  More pictures to come soon!

Home Renovations, Part One

Whew, this next series of posts has been a long time coming!  Since April we've been slowly doing some major and minor home reno projects and now you'll finally get to see some pics!  I'll start with our siding job.

When we bought out home it had its original 1977 masonite siding, so it was well due for an update!  We hired Larson Siding, here in Rochester, to do the job for us.  They replaced it with vinyl siding and even used a new product called "Stack-n-Tack" which is the stone accent facing you see!  We're very pleased with the result. (You can't see it very well in the bottom picture because of the direct sunlight, but the stone is on either side of the front door as well.  Also, since this picture was taken we have also re-hung out shutters!)

Where's Caitlin?