Sometimes Those Walls Must Come Down!

As I stepped through the front door of this house with the realtor for our initial walk through I immediately thought "Houston, we have a problem", you could see the kitchen sink from the front door! Now I don't know about you but as a homeschooling momma of three lets just say my kitchen sink is not the first thing I want people to see when they walk into our home!  Below I drew the layout of that part of the house so you can get a better idea of what I am talking about.

This is how the dining area looked on that first day we saw the house with our realtor.

As we conducted the house tour I quickly realized that we could make a wider opening to the right of the kitchen doorway since the breakfast nook was on the other side. Oh what difference it would make, I was sure of it! I loved the location of this particular house above all the others I had seen and I knew we could more or less transform the whole feel of the house with just that one simple (not so simple?;)) change.  This is what it looked like after hubby removed the old carpet and tore that section of the wall down to create the new opening.

Former entrance patched up and flooring being installed.

We decided to make the spot where the former entrance was a big slate colored chalkboard and painted all the other walls a light cream color. We also painted the dining table and chairs in Creamy a Sherwin Williams color.  To read more about how we painted them without sanding go here.
I still have to move the chandelier and hem the curtains but we are so glad to have most of it done!  Here is the after (So sorry for the glare created by the windows. I love all the light that streams through them during the day but it is not good for picture taking!)

Before

After

A better view of the wall to the left.

Before ( Looking in from the breakfast nook side, realtor picture )

After

Close up of opening

Moral of the story? Don't be afraid to tear down a wall (or two), sometimes it can make all the difference!
If you like the print on the breakfast nook wall learn how to make it here. You can also see more of our makeovers, Before and After's here and here.

I am linking up to Modern Country. Check out her blog for lots of inspiration!

Top Ten Reasons to Paint Your Walls White

Are you afraid to go out on a limb and paint a room (or two or three) in your house white?  I was hesitant at first but decided to take the plunge after realizing that almost all the rooms I had saved on my computer as favorites had white walls!  Here are the top ten that inspired me.

Here is our family room, the first room I ever painted white.  I am in love!

Hmmm.... I wonder which room I should paint white next.



*images from BHG, Country Living,  House Beautiful and The Lettered Cottage

Painting On My Mind

What originally started out as a simple entryway makeover has spilled over and turned into a bigger "decorate the the entire space" kind of project.  Since our front door opens right into a large area that serves as our front living and dining room,  decorating the entryway also means looking at the rest of the space and making sure it all flows well.  Right now I am tackling our 60" round dining table.

I have it covered with a tablecloth because the table top surface is not in the greatest condition.  This is what is under that tablecloth .....

 Not only is the table scuffed up the stain is also too dark and it does not blend well with the buffet.  I want to paint it creamy white and think that it would look great against the dark floors and buffet. I have been looking at these two images for inspiration.  Any suggestions welcome!!