House Renovation Update - Upper Level - Kitchen, Living Room, Bathroom

Posted by My Heart & My Home Boutique May 04, 2015

House Renovation Update - Upper Level - Kitchen, Living Room, Bathroom

After almost 2 years of persistence, determination and lots of hard work renovating our 1950's home by DIY (only those who have experienced serious DIY renovations or those who helped us would truly know the pain and tears we went through). You can see some of the Nitty Gritty of our renovations here. I am pleased to say our kitchen, living room and bathroom in the Upper level is finally done.

We had a bumpy start and came across several unforeseen circumstances, just to name a few- replacing ancient electrical system in the entire house, asbestos removals, plumbing issues, they just ate away our renovation savings setting us back significantly. We had no choice but to deal and fix those issues before we can go forward in our renovations.

It's funny, we envisaged that we would complete the entire house in a year, almost 2 years has past and we "just" finished the Upper Level and 40% of the Lower Level... that's only the inside of the house. We've got more challenges lined up on the outside but we'll get through it, we always do.

The swimming pool installation is happening soon and will be finished before summer comes, so that helps us stay positive and keeps the excitement alive. Great things ahead, great things ahead..almost there, almost there is the voice that get's us through.

So let me show you the transformation of the house so far.....

THE KITCHEN

This is by far now my favorite place in the house and always will be.....it's my place of zen and my go-to for regular therapy to stay sane.

We knocked down the wall/doorway that separated the dining and the kitchen to allow light to spread evenly throughout the upper level creating a nice flow.


BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

We're happy and thankful to have been blessed with a house that flows with grace and elegance, with an airy dining room that overlooks masses of greenery through a wall of glass french doors and windows.

AFTER

We also added a long island bench for an abundance of serving and eating space...but most importantly to inspire and cater for the chef within me.

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

We also knocked down the wall behind the stove to create open plan kitchen living area and turning the bedroom behind that wall into a living room.

It only made sense to do so to make the most of the original built-in fireplace that came with the house but never used being all cooped up inside that bedroom. It also had a window that looks out to the front yard so it would be nice to open the entire living space end to end.

We now have lots of light coming from all different direction and we had plantation shutters installed through out the house to dull out any harsh sunlight that comes through.

BEFORE

We sold the old kitchen and appliances through Ebay and went fairly quickly. We sourced our new kitchen from DIY Australia but it took about 4 months before it was installed.

Slowly furnished the new kitchen with new appliances (my kitchen toys..I'm still dreaming of owning a baby blue kitchen aid one day), a double oven is on the top of every bakers list...so I had to own one.

We added some new furniture's except the dining table. We purchased that beautiful old piece from Brady's Used Furniture, which I then refurbished myself to a two tone french style table using my own chalk paint but using Annie Sloan's waxes (tutorial here). One of my fav things to do in my spare time is giving new life to old tired furniture's...you can see some of my projects here.

AFTER

I've added splashes of light blue through out the kitchen e.g appliances, baking ware, tea towels for a bit of subtle and charming contrast...and I especially couldn't resist when I saw these adorable baby blue duo, I just had to have them.

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

As you can see the difference in the above pictures, we blocked off the original living room and turned it into a guest bedroom. We like the idea of keeping the rooms and bathroom in one side of the house and the other as the kitchen and living space area.

THE LIVING ROOM

BEFORE

As some you who keep up with my blog and FB page, at the very start of our renovation project I expressed how deeply inlove I am with Hampton/French/ Shabby Chic decor and surely you can see how those style has influenced the decor and feel in our home.

We wanted to create a living room with an instant cosiness, sending an invitation for any of our visitors to sit back and relax...even stay for a while.

The original wooden floors we decided to keep and professionally stained to a chocolate dark brown color, again for some contrast.

To keep the place warm in winter and cool in summer, we laid down several decorative neutral outdoor rugs for durability and giving us the ease of washing it down outside if need be.

AFTER

We chose soft furnishings, muted colors, creamy neutrals, lots of whites for a classic, fresh and never-aging look but bringing touches of different shades of blues for contrast and a bit of pop.

AFTER

We also chose blue because we love the ocean (surfing) and the closest one to us is 30 mins drive so bringing the ocean/beach hues in our home takes us there momentarily. Also because it's not such a feminine color and in the end, it's Jeff's home too.

AFTER

And it's a perfect color scheme that allowed us to keep the barely played greyish blue piano he's had since childhood, it fitted perfectly and snug between the nib wall and fireplace..like it was meant to be. It calls for us to play with it once again.

AFTER

As the temperatures drops, we want to be able to rug up in front of the fireplace with layer upon layer of warming winter textiles such as thick knitted wooly sweaters and faux mink throw and sheep skin rugs, a cup of hot chocolate in our hands or wine while watching movies after movies.

With softly dimmed lights and the aromas of my handmade soy candles floating in the air..... simple home pleasures that will get us through the chill.

THE BATHROOM

This room I despised the most on the upper level of the house the moment I laid eyes on it. It was smelly, dirty and hated the wooden boards on the top of walls. I understood that it was the original bathroom but I knew right there and right then if this house became ours, it.has.got.to.go Pronto!

When this room was stripped completely bare to expose the beams during the renovation process, about-to-happen disasters started presenting itself. Wooden beams were rotting inside the wall and about to collapse, infestation of unknown species had nested inside the windowsill.

To top it off, we were appalled to find out the bath tub had no proper drainage.....meaning every time someone had a shower, their soapy gunk ran straight under the house and left running or sitting on the ground which happens to be an under storage area...ewww, ewww, ewww! I can be forgiving knowing the house is old, but that is not on.

No wonder there were damp issues and rotting walls on the ground floor kitchen and bathroom, because all that soapy gunk was just running into the walls downstairs and going nowhere.

Anyways, if ever we buy another house to renovate..and most likely never...but if there is a next time, have kept a mental note to inspect thoroughly...even plumbing!

BEFORE

AFTER

We opted to tile the shower floor with marble mosaic, as opposed to a store-bought base, adds a streamlined style, as the bathroom floor extends seamlessly in the shower.

We also went for a frameless glass, apparently its the latest look du jour. Easy to clean with a squeegee too.

AFTER

This right here is my second go-to place to unwind. Pitty its only good for one, we wanted to get the double but it wouldn't fit in the area.

AFTER

We chose to have multiple shower heads for the ease of also cleaning and washing down the whole shower bathtub area and it's height adjustable...it helps for short people like us.

We've always dreamed of having a rain style shower so we had to have one in this bathroom.