Home Tour
Well this has been a long time coming! The way I figure, our house will never be as pristine as it is right now (now that we will have a puppy to muck it up in TWO DAYS), so I whipped out my camera and went to town.
Our style is very much modern, mid-century, minimal. We like subtle accents of wood and plant life amidst our greys and blues and greens. I shared this photo on Instagram a while ago, and it sums up the aesthetic we go for pretty well.
A little about our casa:
- 1,300 sq. ft.
- Split level - kitchen, dining, living are downstairs, and bedrooms and bathrooms are up
- 3 bedrooms
- 2 bathrooms
- No basement - just a crawlspace
- Laundry located in the garage
- 2 car garage
- Built in 1990
Below, keep an eye out for the links to each room's individual posts where you'll find some before and after photos (I'll be going back and updating the photos for those posts soon). Every inch of our home has been updated and the kitchen was completely gutted a few months ago. Without further ado, let me walk you through our home!
Entryway and Living Room
Our entryway was our most recent project. We picked up those black shoe containers at IKEA and added a stained piece of wood to the top to make it look more finished. It's been an awesome "dumping grounds" of sorts, for our random odds and ends. Our living room is obviously one of the main places we spend time. The coffee and side tables were DIY by Tom, and the rest of the room is pretty minimally decorated. It's bright, clean, and functional. Those floating built-ins have been wonderful for electronic storage. They still need tops to finish them off, and we're on the hunt for a different floor lamp behind the couch, but it's a great living area none the less.
Entryway post
Living room post (coming soon!)
Kitchen and Dining
The kitchen that came with this house was the one major vice for us. We knew we'd have to re-do the whole thing, and about a year later, the task was done... all by US (well, Tom). It's added so much to our lives and we absolutely love using our new kitchen. Hidden storage for brooms or mops is tough in this space, but we've managed to make things work. Also, being a shorty, my handy little step stool/ladder is a must :) We still have to add a backsplash, plus some other minor additions, but overall it's done and we adore it.
Hall and Landing
This wasn't a huge task, but it made such a difference to have the ceilings smoothed out and the walls brightened from dark tan to light grey.
Guest Room
Finding a good shade of green for a room can be tough, but we're pretty happy with this one. It's a calm, soft little retreat for our visitors, and every now and then I'll spend an afternoon working from the bed in here. Just for the change in scenery.
Guest Bathroom
The vanity and upper cabinet color matches the side tables in the guest room... just a little touch to bring the guest spaces together! It's a simple little bathroom but comfortable and functional.
Spare Room aka Wood Room
This room is sort of our floater room. We've had ideas or plans for it in the past, but nothing has really come to fruition. So we use it as an extra guest space. But we're also toying with creating a shared home office! We added the wood wall and feel it adds a neat feature to an otherwise small, boring little room. Maybe you'll see a post on this in the coming months!
Spare room post (coming soon!)
Laundry Room
You know, having the laundry in the garage really doesn't bother me. When our water heater died on us shortly after we moved in, Tom bought and installed a tankless one over in our crawlspace to save room in the garage so he could create this little corner for me. I had no qualms with doing this task in the garage, but I was wishing it felt more sanitary. Husband to the rescue! One of the photos shows how it's in its own little oasis away from the rest of the garage.
Also, I had made that piece of art some time ago, and could never find the right place for it. The words are from Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing (which holds a special place in our relationship) and I finally realized this spot was better than anywhere. Tom made me this little space, but I do all our laundry... so the words are a sweet reminder every time I do this monotonous task each week to remember how blessed I am to love someone so much.
Master Suite
This room is our escape, so the stark white mixed with hints of green life and grey create such a bright place to wake up each morning. We sip our coffee, talk, and get ready for the day together (my desk doubles as a makeup vanity). Our bathroom is the same shade of green as the guest room. We love our suite and will hopefully be updating our furniture in the coming year or so to styles that suit us a bit more.
I hope you all enjoyed the tour! As you can see, we are very much minimalists and find joy in our home's clean, simple aesthetic. It'll be fun to see how this little space of ours might change in the coming months in terms of decor, or with the addition of a giant breed dog. We shall see!
Question: What kind of range is best?
I can't resist a little Office humor.
Here's the dealio.
We're hoping to renovate our kitchen sometime this year and it's going to need all new appliances as well. The fridge has already been chosen, but the range (and we are for sure getting a range) has been of recent discussion lately.
I grew up with electric coils and have never had an issue. Since I learned how to cook on them, the issue of "control" has never bothered me that much and I got used to it. After we got married our apartments used electric coils - still used to it, still not a big deal. When we got our house, though, it came with a gas stove - much to Tom's delight. I had heard him speak highly of gas and the ability to control the temp more easily, so I was looking forward to trying it myself and was honestly convinced I'd love it. We love to cook, so having gas was pretty exciting (searing over electric coils isn't the best... things like that). Sadly, I really do hate to admit it: I hate our gas stove!
Years ago, we made an agreement that I would eventually get the final say on a fridge, and Tom would have the final say on a range. We would take each other's thoughts into account, but it would ultimately be up to that person. The reason we made this agreement is because Thomas feels more strongly about stoves than I do, and I feel strongly about certain fridges.
Unfortunately, I now feel pretty darn strongly about ranges! So we're going over the pros and cons of certain types and trying to make an educated decision. Granted, we won't get one for several months, but it's good to be prepared and be able to keep an eye out for sales on appliances you eventually want to buy.
We are still weighing the pros and cons and I thought it might be sort of fun to open the floor for discussion with others. Let me share with you what we have and please share your two-cents as well in the comments.
Gas
CONS
- Entire cooktop gets hot
- Open flame is dangerous (towels, children's fingers, reaching for cabinets above)
- Middle space too hot to use for drippy spoons/utensils
- Difficult to clean
- Takes forever to boil
- Cannot get to food if dropped under flame
- Cannot whisk for long periods without burning hand/utensil handle
- Can heat room temperature
- Oven takes longer to heat
PROS
- Cheaper
- Temperature control
- Can still use in power outage
Electric (Glass Cooktop)
CONS
- Lack of temperature control
- Hot burner
- Uneven cooking
- Takes a while to boil
- Can't use in a power outage
- Glass could crack/break
PROS
- Cheaper
- Easy clean-up
- No flame
- Only single burner gets hot, not entire surface
- Safer for fabric and children
- Attractive look
- Can use as extra counter space when not in use
Induction
CONS
- Expensive
- Needs special pans (though, we do own them)
- Unknown: neither of us have used it before
- Can't use in a power outage
- Unsure of technical issues
- Lack of product choices or variety
PROS
- Temperature control
- Fast boil time
- Easy cleanup
- Safe, cool surface
- No flame
- Attractive look
- Can use as extra counter space when not in use
This is a really difficult decision! What are your opinions? We don't know a ton about induction, but we're very curious.
I mean, when shopping for these things, even the location of the knobs becomes a factor! We're not sure if we trust a completely "touch-screen" based range - what if something in the software busts? What about ovens that have a small upper level and a larger bottom level? Don't you save some energy and time if you can heat up only the smaller oven for baking cookies or cooking a casserole? Can basic be better in saving yourself from tech errors down the road? What's the deal with slide-in ranges - are they worth the extra cost?
We would LOVE to hear your thoughts!