House Re-Design on Pinterest, Part II

Annnd we're back!

Let's get right down to business in the living room/family room of our new favorite house:

As I mentioned in Part I, I planned to get rid of the tile and install stunning hardwoods floors all the way into the living room. There is a lot of great sources for light in this open space, but let's not forget: it's an open space. I may have voiced my issues with family rooms being open to the kitchen once or twice...

Working within the layout, I would put a small table and chair set in the breakfast nook under the fan, and change out the fan for a fun lighting fixture. Because the "room" beyond the table is so open, and bright, it would make a fantastic reading room, sitting room, or area for drinking your morning coffee. I'd love to arrange a cozy loveseat on the right, facing the doors, and place two chairs directly opposite, with a nice round ottoman/coffee table in the middle. Picture this:

Now, I've got a plan, and its a little funky. See the narrow space between the brick fireplace (which, by the way, I would try to age and white-wash just a tad) and the windows? It needs something awesome. It needs... birch. Yes, floor to ceiling birch trees (sans foliage) - just in that little space between the fireplace and the windows.

It would probably be a fire hazard, but it would look so awesome, don't you think? Plus it would be a cute little nod to our wedding and the way we pulled some birch in to soften up the space.

Moving on to the dining room. Personally, I like a nice casual space to eat, even on fancy occassions when one might actually use a dining room. This room has a nice wood floor and some picturesque porch access, so it has even more reason to go "casz" as the kids say.

First things first, let's remove the fancy-pants chandelier in favor of something a bit less "classical 1986". I'd also add bead board, or other wainscoting and lighten up the paint.

This dining room definitely says, "eat, drink and be merry" to me. The warm wood of the buffet and the farm style table keep it casual. The wicker chairs with generous cushioning say, "let's not do the dishes yet." Which is my favorite thing to say. I wouldn't pick this blue wall color, but I would have blue accents via some of the pretty dishes from my wedding, arranged playfully.

There's only one way to wrap-up this re-do, and that is with the mudroom. The picture here doesn't offer much perspective, but it does show that there is a washer/dryer area available.

So, imagine if we did this, for looks and storage:

Finally, let's face it... with 2.2 acres available for the dogs to roam, we really need this (if there is room):