It’s that time of year again already!? 2017 was a big one for Henhouse and we are so grateful. This year was filled with more projects than ever (and many more to come in the new year), lots of great collaborations, and a new home for my family!
I’ve been looking forward to sharing more of our new house with you, and if you follow me on Instagram or Facebook you might have seen a few sneak peeks and progress photos. It’s been fun to start fresh in a new space, and work together as a family to make this house feel like our own.
We started work on the house right away, focusing on the kitchen and a few other upgrades to the main floor. Here’s a look at some of the before photos.
Before
The photos above are of the kitchen and breakfast nook before the renovation. It was it good shape, and the layout was OK but I wanted to create something special and durable to suit our family. I came up with a plan to add some more counter space, maximize storage, and make the breakfast nook more usable for our family of five.
Above you can see the before shots of the dining area, the front foyer and the wall in the breakfast nook/ den before we ripped it out and rebuilt it to create more space.
After
After years of creating custom kitchens for my clients, I finally had the chance to create one for my own family! We are all so happy with how it turned out.
We took everything out of the kitchen, and installed new hardwood flooring, new custom cabinetry, countertops, fixtures and lighting. We also changed the layout to create more counter space for when we have multiple cooks in the kitchen!
The tile backsplash goes all the way to the ceiling in the sink area and adds a bit of texture and reflects the light. I chose a stained wood for the lower cabinets to add warmth, and white uppers that match the wall paint for an airy and continuous feel. We are loving the open shelf over the sink for everyday, high use items – it’s so easy to grab what we need and adds interest.
In the breakfast nook we opened up a wall to the kitchen, and added a column to mimic one at the opposite end of the kitchen. The wall I mentioned before was ripped out and replaced with a beautiful curved wall. You can see the progress photos above – our builder did an incredible job! This wall ties in with the front foyer, and gave us space to add more seating around the breakfast nook.
The dining area is off of one end of the kitchen and is a lovely bright space with windows that look out into the trees on our property. I decided to add some personality with wallpaper and funky lighting, and take full advantage of the bright airy feeling in this room. It feels fresh and bright in this space now, and the warm wood tones keep it cozy and inviting.
As you can see, I’ve been adding a dash of holiday decor here and there throughout the house. After purging so many things during the move, and with a fresh start in our new home, it felt right to keep things natural and simple. I pulled out a few items that I love and that fit in with the space, and sprinkled them around for a more subtle look.
The front foyer also got new wallpaper, new floors, light fixtures, and fresh paint. There’s so much beautiful natural light in the space, and lots of storage hidden in the curved wall.
We are loving our new home! We settled in right away, and it feels like we’ve lived here for so long even through it has only been a few months. We have a few more projects and details to take care of like replacing the kitchen island, toss cushions and lighting, but this place already feels like home. We’re so looking forward to the years ahead, and spending our first Christmas together here.
And on that note, we want to wish all of you a very happy holiday season and all the best in the new year! Thank you for following along on our journey, and be sure to check back in soon as we head into 2018 – we have a feeling that it’s going to be an exciting year!