the kitchen/dining common area

converting the family room into 1 big kitchen/dining area. we did this right after putting in the bamboo floors. as you can see, we are major clutter bugs. but we cleaned up and started really looking at what we use vs. what we were just keeping for no reason. harder than it sounds!


this is a view of the media nook as it came with the house. plus the old carpet that covered most of the down stairs. we wanted a built in, but it was so expensive. we finally had the funds to look at doing that this year, march 08.

i decided that if i was going to pay that much i was going to make sure we would be able to take it with us if we ever moved out! :)



love the slide out desk and hidden computer desk. other doors are shelves/storage. he is a local cabinet maker, Russell, Meadowlark Woodworks, and he builds beautiful pieces plus is the nicest guy. i wish i had asked him to use an low VOC varnish, but i forgot and when we first got it, it took almost 2 months for the fumes to completely dissipate. i am sure we shortened our lifespan a few weeks by breathing that in for 2 months. otherwise, we LOVE the extra storage and sleek lines.