It's Done!

Well, almost.  The house is 95% finished and we're living both upstairs and downstairs now.  Mike & I both knew this house had great potential but we both agree that it turned out even better than we had pictured.  Here are some before & afters...

Remember the old front room & dining room?  We knew that this would be the perfect space for a fun, open kitchen.

Here it is now ....

We opened up the original doorway, took down a wall or two and now have this amazing, open space that fits everyone and then some. We fit 13 cousins around the island before the kitchen was actually finished.

I love that! We've been entertaining nonstop, which is exactly why we bought this home. I stand back and look at this kitchen and can't believe it's really mine. I've been dreaming of this kitchen for years.

Elle's favorite part of the kitchen is this:

Can't tell what that is? That was exactly what we were aiming for. It's a hidden pantry. The door looks like regular cupboards but hides this great space behind:

It's become the kids' favorite escape. On Thanksgiving Day, I found Christian and his cousin, Tyler, hiding out in the pantry playing games on their phones. If you ever play hide-and-go-seek with my kids here at our house, be sure to check for them in the pantry.

Here are a couple of shots of the family room before:

And here it is now...

Here's the entry before:

And here's the new entry.

I love, love the flooring -- both the tile and the dark wood.

The old casual dining room was transformed into our formal dining room:

I don't have before pictures of the bedrooms but here are Elle's and Paige's rooms. They're bright and so fun. :)

There's still some work to do but we're loving this house and are grateful that we found the right thing for us after 4 years of looking. Home sweet home. :)