There's No Place Like Home

There's No Place Like Home

I've mentioned a couple of times how I became a homeowner for the first time last year. House hunting is a bit like looking for a boyfriend... you tend to come across a lot of duds before you find the right one. Now, I may not have the boyfriend thing figured out just yet, but as far as finding the right house... I've got that one in the bag!
 

As soon as I went on the first walk-through at what would later become the biggest purchase of my life thus far, I knew it was love at first sight! And by love at first sight, I mean that the floors were hideous, the refrigerator door wouldn't open all the way, and there were families of spiders living in the garage... but...  looking past all of that, I realized that deep down this was my future home.
 

I had been saving and saving for this purchase and knew that as a designer, I would want to do some type of renovation to make this house MY HOME. During the long and tedious underwriting process, I came over to the house and measured EVERYTHING. I went home and drew the floor plan so that I could get the creative juices flowing. What I discovered next gave me a huge insight as to what a lot of my clients feel during the renovation process... I wanted to do a whole lot of stuff and I needed to make sure my budget would accommodate those changes. Come on and join me on a walk down memory lane so I can highlight some of the biggest challenges.
 

THE KITCHEN

If you take a look at where the refrigerator is, you might be able to guess my dilemma. When the fridge door is open... it hits the wall which leads to not being able to open the drawers inside the fridge... oyyy! The solution here was pretty simple... When in doubt, remove the wall (as long as you're sure it isn't structural)! I wanted a more open floor plan from the living spaces to the Kitchen anyway, so this change served dual functions.

 

I was pretty lucky to have a lot of help during this renovation, but most helpful of all was my Mom, or as I like to call her... my "General Momtractor". She was such a trooper... she's not afraid to get down and dirty and let me tell you... the lady Gets.Things.Done. This wall was no exception. We removed the sheetrock so that the short wall was ready to be fully removed.

 

Another issue I had with the Kitchen is that there was no seating. I'm definitely a "saver" but a whole room of new cabinets definitely wasn't in my budget. My Kitchen isn't huge so I had to get a little creative with the cabinet layout. I did some reconfiguring so that I was able to add a new peninsula that would allow for a couple of stools! I also replaced the countertops, backsplash, lighting, a few appliances and boom! I had a new Kitchen!

 

 

 Next... THE ENTIRE UPSTAIRS

 

So, upstairs I had a "teeeeeny tiny" problem. The Master Bedroom was teeeeeny tiny. And the Master closet was teeeeeny tiny too. I messed around with the idea of keeping the layout how it was, but I knew I would never be 100%  happy, especially since I had already drawn the floor plan of what I really wanted! Below you'll find my drawings of the upstairs... I've included some notes so you can see some of the big items that changed! 

 

-- As-Built Floor Plan --

 

-- Proposed Floor Plan --

 

 By relocating the closet in the Office, I was able to gain so much useable space in the Master Bedroom. Also, walking straight into the toilet when entering the Master Bath was hardly my idea of a good design, so I changed that too. This allowed space for a walk-in closet and a gorgeous focal point as you enter the bath. Check out some of the "after's". 

 

-- Office --

New closet located on the far left. The relocation of this closet gave tons of additional space in the Master Bedroom.

 

-- Office --

This wall is where the old closet used to be. The layout of the Office is so much more functional now!

 

-- Master Bedroom --

I'm a big believer in that whole "one mans' trash" thing. I found this vintage rocking chair at an estate sale in Buckhead and snagged it up right away! 

 

-- Master Bathroom --

I am in LOVE with this vanity. It was literally like the heavens shined down upon it and the angels sang "ahhhh!" as soon as I laid my eyes on it. I called about 50 people before I bought it so they could convince me it was worth the extra money... what can I say... sometimes a girl just needs to splurge!

 

-- Guest Bathroom --

In this bath, I replaced the countertop, sink, and faucet. The Grohe Atrio 7 faucet is such a great highlight in this space!

 

 

Throughout the renovation process, I learned SO MUCH about what my clients go through. Remodeling definitely takes you on a roller coaster ride of emotions, but at the end of the day, when the furniture is in and the pictures are hung, you look around and simply think...

There's no place like MY home.

All photos are my own.