Renovation Update

I know, I know - it's been quite a while since I posted an update about our home renovation. For the most part we're done.  The interior and exterior are both complete, we've closed out our mortgage loan and refinanced the house.  But, of course, there's still things that need to get done.  The backyard is a disaster - it's dirty (muddy most of the time because of all the rain we've been getting), and the fence is in pieces.  We kept a patio out of the scope of the project, but Winston we can't live like this.  So, the plan is to have a stone patio installed the week of Memorial Day.  Then, we can get a new fence installed.  Ah the joys of home ownership, it's just never ending. 

 

In the meantime, I've been dreaming about my new kitchen.  About a year ago, the entire project was supposed to be a kitchen upgrade + creating a screened in porch on the back patio.  My how a year can change things.  Now, with the recent back room, our current kitchen just looks so small for the house.  Here's how the kitchen looks now:

 

The room in the left part of the drawing was our old den area - now, it sits pretty empty.  For the most part, it's become Winston's playroom (he uses it to gain momentum for running around).  The plan is to convert both spaces into a larger kitchen and a breakfast nook area, like this:

 

 

Doesn't it seem wonderful?  Now, all I have to do is come up with the money to pay for it... :)  It may be a while.

 

P.S. Pics on the design portion of the renovation coming soon.  The back room is really coming together.  The master bedroom not so much.

 

P.P.S. I've gotten some questions about how I create these layouts.  I use a Microsoft product called Visio.  And for the mood boards I've created in the past, I use PowerPoint.  Both products make it super easy to dream up things and put it to paper.