Final pictures of the living room area

looking toward the kitchen and dining room:from the sliding doors, looking into the room:
looking from the dining room:
I really sweated over these curtains, trying to find just the right color and fabric. I wanted some kind of nubby silk, but that would have cost thousands for all these windows, on top of the couple thousands it took to get the solar shades up. So these are Ikea curtains, $30 a pair, with 50" wide panels so I only needed about 9 pairs to get decent coverage. The ceiling-mounted rods were a really juicy find - 10' wide that could go out to about 15', on clearance from JC Penney for $13. I had to make up for it with the specialty hooks with little clamps to hold the panels costing about $30 per pair of panels. So that would put the total at about $700 for nearly 30' of windows.

looking toward the sliding doors and deck - showing the remainders of the huge snow we had in January and February. I brought the patio furniture back out to the deck, but still had to wait several days before i could arrange it and put up the umbrella.

Bathroom

The focus has changed from living in it to getting ready to leave, which is not nearly as satisfying. But now it is about the product rather than the process. And the tub and shower units are still here. As it turns out, my esteemed Plumber and Water Master, Rick Littreal, told me that these are vastly superior to most of what is on the market now, and that I don't need to feel bad about leaving them in.

But I still like tile the best.

Here is the latest bathroom tiling project:

This is the wall that runs perpendicular to the kitchen. It is really part of the dining area, but is adjacent to the kitchen.

I love this little leather chair that fits the kneehole space so well. The countertop is abnormally low, so I expected to have a much more difficult time finding one. Again, new doors/drawer fronts, hardware, and countertops.

Kitchen of the Year

I was sure I would have to gut the kitchen to get results like this. Okay, yes, the appliances are all new, but otherwise it is just new doors, hardware and countertops, and a mosaic tile backsplash that marries all the colors together. I am flabbergasted that this was less than $10,000 when the average kitchen reno comes in over $25,ooo.

Big Change of Plans

All this time I thought I was renovating this house for us. But now I know I was getting it ready to sell. There is so much about this place I love, and it looks better every day. So I am trying to wrap my brain around the notion of moving out. I am finishing up the final details, and with any luck the sign will be out in front of the house by the end of the week. So tomorrow I will walk through and take lots of pictures to post. Sniff.