Last Year’s Home Renovations

I thought it would be fun to show you the last year’s home renovations that we made to our house. 2019 went quickly, and now looking back on all of these projects, I can see why. We were busy! Changes were made to the Living Room, Kitchen, Master Bathroom and Bedroom, and we put on a metal roof!

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Taking a Wall Out For an Open Concept

This is one of my most favorite projects we’ve ever completed! Here is the view from our living room looking into the kitchen. Before the wall was taken out, you would never have been able to see the kitchen table in this shot. I cannot believe the difference a wall can make! It has changed our everyday lives, and it is so much easier to entertain with a more open concept. Many people have asked why we put the strip on the floor between the living room and kitchen. The rooms were not level, so we weren’t able to have the hardwoods flow from room to room.

Renovations are just getting started here and the shiplap walls have been taken off.

Here’s a fun fact! During last year’s home renovation, when the wall was being taken out, we found the original shiplap they used when building the house in 1920! It was in pretty bad shape, so unfortunately, we weren’t able to use any of it.

Here is the view from the kitchen table looking onto the living room.

When we were making these changes, I also painted the kitchen walls white. I’m not sure what I was thinking with this yellow? I didn’t realized how much this bold color took over the room, and distracted from the view.

Closing Up the Door Between the Bedroom and Living Room

Our home is very small, only 1600 square feet, so wall space is definitely sought after around here. Because of this, we had to come up with a plan as to where to put the armoire that no longer had a home, after knocking out the wall between the living room and the kitchen. We decided the best option was to take the door out between the living room and bedroom to add wall space there.

This view of the living room was from when we first moved in. Yes! I actually painted the walls that color! I really want to say that taupe was a color trend back then. Please, please don’t judge me!

The shiplap was taken down and the door was boarded up.

The shiplap was put back up.

One of last year’s home renovation projects that we did in the living room, also affected the bedroom. As you can see, a newly created space was made for a small table or chair in the bedroom, after adding the wall between the living room and bedroom.

Here’s the previous doorway between the bedroom and living room.

The door was sealed, and the tongue and groove was added.

Ceiling Beam Addition – Living Room Renovation

These faux ceiling beams make such an impact to this room. I love the look of the wood beams above and the sea grass rug below, with all the white in between.

This could be my very favorite “before” picture of my living room, taken right after we moved into our house 7 1/2 years ago. At the time, the only thing we had done, was paint the window trim and baseboards white. Over the years, the renovations to our house include: adding ceiling beams, hardwood floors, crown molding and shiplap walls. Making all of these changes was a slow process, mostly in stages. It always amazes me when I look at this picture, to see how much we have really done to add character back to our 100-year old home.

Adding Shiplap Adds Much Needed Texture – Living Room Renovation

Adding white shiplap to these living room walls was such a game changer! My hubby and I had several conversations about painting the dark gray walls many times. He was afraid that we would lose a lot of color in the room, and it would be too stark. But because we have the bright colored furniture, the white actually makes a nice backdrop for those pieces, and pops even more!

I went through a “gray” stage, and when I painted two of the living room walls, I didn’t realize how dark it made the room, until I added shiplap to them. My style has evolved through the years. I go back and look at old pictures of the house and shake my head. Dark gray walls and bright pink may be a cute look, but I wanted to go with more of beachy feel.

The shiplap has been put up, and now it’s time for some paint.

Bathtub Addition – Master Bathroom Renovation

One of the first renovation projects we did last year was to add a bathtub. I’ve had a lot of arthritic issues the last few years, and we felt that soaking in a tub at the end of the day would really help. My “decor brain” wanted a cute stand alone tub, but this was the most realistic option for me. (It’s a jetted tub, but I had edited the jets out for an IG post because it looked better!!!)

This is where the original closet was. We moved the wall away from the bedroom a bit, so we could add a built-in cabinet to the bedroom on the other side.

I know I mentioned that our house is really small, so we were so excited to have this extra room for some much needed storage space!

Built-in Cabinet Addition – Bedroom Renovation

This 100-year old vintage cabinet was a stand alone piece that we wanted to have in the bedroom, but it wouldn’t fit. We had the perfect opportunity, while opening up the wall on the other side, to add a tub. Doesn’t it look like it’s been there all along? From what we’ve been told, this chippy cabinet was built at the same time as the house. Each of the previous home owners left it when they moved out. Now the cabinet will stay here forever!

We had a large mirror here before the built-in, to make the room look larger.

Open Shelving – Kitchen Renovation

I felt like the kitchen needed more warmth, and this corner was lacking something. So we took out the white glass cabinet and put in open shelving. I have been hesitant in the past to have shelving open to all the elements, because it seemed so time consuming to wash dishes before they were used. But everything on them is for display, and used very rarely. I also painted the glass cabinet turquoise for an extra pop.

Here’s the before picture with the white cabinet still in place.

One of my favorite DIY projects last year was painting this black cabinet to turquoise. It made a huge impact in my kitchen!

Pantry Update

I can never get the perfect picture in the pantry because it is so dark, but here it is. One of the first projects we did after moving in, was to gut the previous bathroom that was in this space. We needed the extra storage space (are you sensing a theme?) and this gave us so much of that. During last year’s kitchen renovation, we decided to upgrade the shelving. And the yellow was painted over in this room as well.

For a fresh look, the shelves were taken out, to make room for newer ones with a dark stained wood and bead board.

Adding a Metal Roof

It was time for a new roof, so we decided to go with a metal roof. We’ve lived with it for a few months and love it! The rain does sound a bit like a water feature upstairs when it is pouring rain, but I actually like that. This picture was taken from the backyard, which rarely gets shown.

Here they are, taking off the existing roof.

2019 was a very special year for us. It was the year when we were able to check off all of our large home renovation projects from our almost 8-year old list. And it’s a good thing, because the amazing person who renovated our entire home, and built our greenhouse, raised garden beds and deck, has now moved to Lake Havasu to pursue new opportunities, We will miss him dearly! All the projects we decide to do going forward, will be much smaller in comparison!

Thank you so much for visiting. I’d love to hear what you thought of last year’s home renovations. Leave me a comment!

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