Ready for guests

This week we are having a house full of guests for Thanksgiving so we spent some time cleaning up and doing a little decorating. The stairwell, basement bath, and fireplace mantle are basically all that's left to finish so we broke out some of the pictures and things that have been moved around from closet to closet over the last couple of years during construction. A few things I was surprised made it through the construction without getting lost or damaged. In particular there was a little box of window curtain hardware that I'm surprised a) that I knew where it was and b) that it still had everything in it.

I like going back to see what we were doing last year and what the house looked like. Last November we were working on laying the pavers for the driveway and finishing up the garage. It looks like in December is when the first floor walls were torn down and we started reconstructing it to how it is today. Walking around and looking at everything somewhat decorated brings a smile to our faces. Such a huge difference in a year! I still remember how it looked and we lived with it for so long these new spaces still seem a little strange, but they're a much welcomed change. In less than a year we finished 2.5 bathrooms and reconfigured a living room and two bedrooms into a larger living room, a mud room, and a new den/flex space... well almost finished, but close enough.

Before living room.

After living room (mantle and fireplace surround still to come).

Before view looking towards doorway to kitchen.

After view towards kitchen with enlarged doorway. 

View looking towards living room fireplace.

View towards front door and mudroom sliding door. Living room has been enlarged by about 3 feet. Right by the new exterior door used to be a small coat closet.  

Small sitting area by the kitchen. This used to be our tiny dining room. 

Another weekend, another room finished

The mudroom is officially checked off the list. After not having much space to keep organized the last few years it is really great to be able to have an entire room for all of our coats/bags/shoes/etc. We also cleaned up the den and finished off the den bathroom. I forgot to take pics of those, though. I'll try to post some later this week. The living room is mostly cleaned out so we're about to have most of the house completely finished and decorated. Crazy how fast some of the rooms come together. The basement bath and the staircase still need some attention, but we may move our focus to the garage next. We plan to insulate and put up drywall that we need for our fire separation. Plus I want to get it heated so our cars aren't frozen in the mornings.

Don't remember if we ever posted a pic of our new front door. Now with trim and paint.