{where we live}

The space we spend about 90% of our time in these days is our kitchen/living room...which is one big space that works so well for our family. It is also the biggest work in progress in the house.

When we moved in it looked like this...talk about a blank slate...

Thank goodness we were able to replace the ridiculously awful carpet with wood laminate last fall...

That was a glorious day.

We've also begun our budget reno of the kitchen by painting the upper cabinets white and replacing the hardware with oil rubbed bronze handles for the doors, and the drawers will be getting bin pulls.

We left the cabinets on either side of the window open to make the space feel lighter.

And above the stove to store our cookbooks and some other pretty items...

We also replaced the recessed light over the sink with a pendant kit which was fairly easy to install. I wasn't able to find a glass shade in the right size that I liked, so we used this small olive green lampshade we already owned. I fashioned some curtains out of an extra pair of chocolate brown panels from our bedroom, a tension rod, and some ring clips (that I spray painted in an oil rubbed bronze finish to match the hardware)...

The lower cabinets are going to get a darker paint treatment, and the retro tile backsplash will probably be getting a coat of celery green paint until we can afford to replace it. I do wonder what color those tiles are underneath that chocolate brown paint...

Smack dab in the middle of both rooms is "toy central"...our IKEA Expedit bookcase with great canvas bins from Walmart for the boys' smaller toys and books.

The only other item in the room that will definitely be staying in the final design is our chocolate brown sofa, which is extremely comfortable. Even though I would love to get a more modern sofa, there is no room in the budget for that, and we can definitely modern it up with some fun pillows...two of which we already own.

This one was originally in the boys' nursery...

and this one (originally from Etsy shop joom) was a gift from my wonderful friend Allison...

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Eventually we will be painting all of the trim in the room (major project) white and the walls a shade of tan.

I've put together a little mood board for how my dream "great room" would look. Hopefully I can make this plan a reality over the next year or so.

The green chairs are from Urban Outfitters, as well as the side table. Those are dream items and definitely a little out of our budget right now, but what's life without dreams, right? I found a gray lamp very similar to the one in the mood board at our local Big Lots over the weekend. It is definitely on my wish list. A fun canvas from Walmart and gray curtains will finish off the look.

{click on the image for a larger view}

We are doing it bit by bit, but having a plan to admire makes it seem more real and possible. Hope you hang around to see the transformation!