the TV room

So, here is the room that was originally designated the formal dining and living room. this had to be a joke b/c the room is not very big: 22 feet long and only 11'2" wide. a shoe box basically. this has been the most challenging aspect of redesigning this room so it would be more usable. prior to this, it was mostly storage and a place to put 2 overstuffed sofas that were only $700 for both. bought as interim seating in 1999.

in 2005 we had bamboo hardwood flooring installed, ripping out all the old wall-to-wall carpeting.

in 2006 we painted the room: Cashmere Gray from Benjamin Moore. Love the color and picked everything to coordinate.


the furniture from Room & Board came in July 2008 and we already love the sectional. still playing around with configuration, but it is comfortable and functional, as well as very stylish. God played a little joke on me and the very first night we had it, thomas threw up all over 2 of the cushions (poor little guy was sick and choked on some phlegm). God's way of reminding me that He was only humoring me and to remind me not to value mere furniture over things that are eternal, that everything in this life is temporary except for God's salvation in Jesus Christ. However, I must say that leather is awesome. Those particles of throw-up would never have come out if I had gone with the standard fabric.

the curtains were just installed august 7th. JC Penny had a 60% off retail price sale. coupled with a 10% off friends and family discount, it was a better deal than Costco. the only thing I was not happy with was that they told me they could do a flat ceiling track and they lied. i even had several photos to show them, and the sales rep assured me that it would look like the pictures. NOT! their track is huge! definitely not the cool looking ceiling tracks you see in the magazines. But I have decided that I am not going to look up that high, so it is ok now :)

now we just need to hang the shelf, picture frames and chandelier from Room & Board and the room will be done. Not exactly a $1000 Ikea miracle, but worth the 9 years I have waited to make it happen so I would love the results and not just live with it.
I'll post final pictures, with all the stuff on the piano and under the coffee table cleared when the chandelier is hung. can't wait to see what it looks like out of the box!

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.

Bamboo hardwood flooring

the house came standard with apartment grade wall-to-wall carpeting. we installed bamboo flooring in 2005.

the garden 2002

front yard was landscaped by the home builder, but it was really basic. we had to put in the backyard (which was a weed forest by the time we started this in 2002) and changed up half the front yard. landscaping is sooo expensive! never knew...

here is the view from the 2nd floor, looking down on the fruit tree area just as they were starting work.

the arbor was one of the first items completed.

here is the front area we redid. it used to just be grass, all the way up to the cement. so we added the little off-set stairs (easier access to the front door) and the area for the bonsai.

arbor painted, plants going in.

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Completed! Fruit tree area:

Patio/arbor from back left corner:

Front mini Bonsai garden next 2 driveway:


very back walkway, at back side of house:back left corner looking at house, arbor:
and my favorite trees, a japanese acer maple and a weeping ornamental crab apple:

I'll post current pics so I can compare how much everything has grown. we are truly lazy gardeners!

To document changes 2 our house

bought in april 1999, before housing boom. WILL ADD all PICS WHEN THOMAS IS SLEEPING :)