Family Room

The family room combined with the dining area and kitchen make up the center and the heart of the house. This is where we spend most of our time. The thing that I loved most, when I first saw the original building, were the wood ceilings throughout the house. I had always loved that look and to have those already in place, put us ahead of the game. After visiting Magnolia in Waco, Texas, I was inspired to paint the red brick on the fireplace white, and the built-in bookcases on either side were painted black.

Dining Room

The dining area is in the center of the large room in the middle of the house, which is right next to the kitchen and convenient for dining, puzzles, and board games.

Kitchen

We lived here for two years, before we finished out the kitchen.  When we moved in, Frank hooked up a kitchen sink with plywood counter tops on 2x4's. I bought a couple of stainless prep tables and a kerosene gas 2 burner cook top.  We did buy a new stainless refrigerator so that was good.  We ate fast food a lot of the time, as we spent any free time we had, working on the house.

Guest Bedroom

This was the first room that we finished, so that we could move in and live here while we worked on finishing the rest of the house.  My main objective was to have a bedroom, bathroom, and a laundry room so that we could move out of the apartment in the back of my husbands shop.  Once those were finished, I couldn't get moved in quick enough!

Guest Bathroom

We kept the footprint of this bathroom because it worked well and was large enough to have a big shower.  I didn't want to spend the extra money on a glass enclosure, and the opening was too big for a basic shower rod, so Frank came up with the idea of a iron plumbing pipe, which he mounted to the ceiling.  I love it and when he asked me recently about updating it to a glass door, I declined.

Sunroom

The original building had a large metal and glass window dividing the sunroom from the main house.  There was a small entry door, where our refrigerator now is.  We took out the window and opened up that space to give us the beautiful views of the water.  We use the sunroom for many purposes, such as our home gym, painting, and dining when the whole fam comes to visit.

Master Bedroom

A couple of years ago, we completed the master addition. Frank's must have was to be able to wake up and see the water over his toes. I had the idea of black walls and he wasn't so sure about it, but went along.   

We added a gas fireplace and wood in the ceiling. I love how it turned out.

Master Bathroom

To keep with the black and white theme, I went with black floor tiles with black grout and white tiles in the shower.  I knew that I wanted a stand alone tub, and this one is the most comfortable one I've ever been in. The vanity and storage cabinet is from Restoration Hardware. I had to save up for a while to get it, but I love it and have never regretted it once.  One mishap we encountered was about an hour after we installed the huge mirror over the vanity, it came crashing down.

Master Closet

My favorite room in the house.  For almost 3 years, We had our clothes in our utility room, a small closet in our bathroom and stored in tubs.  I would get so upset in the morning trying to find and put together something to wear to work.  Most mornings, I would get mad enough to cry.  So when this closet was built, I was the happiest girl in the USA. We added a place for a stack washer in dryer in the closet but haven't gotten those yet.

Utility

This is my catch all, always messy, utility/laundry room.  This is on my list of projects for this year.  I want to add shelves for storage, a counter for small appliances, and a sink for potting plants and filling pet water bowls. Stay tuned for this one.

Exterior

Although, those concrete blocks were cute, I was so happy when the siding went up.  We chose a board and bat insulted siding that has been really durable.  I usually do a pressure wash a couple times each year, to wash off the spider webs and grime from the year mowing.  We added a front porch and a wood ceiling and had a diamond pattern cut into the concrete floor.  The back covered porch was added, and that is where we gather most of the time to cook and have coffee in the warm months.  I had a hard time convincing Frank to build a pergola.  He just didn't see the point of doing it and not putting on a cover, but I didn't want to shadow my sunroom and I knew a pergola would be beautiful.  I love having dinner out there with the string lights on and that gorgeous view of the water.