The Abode

It's about time I posted some pictures of our new place. We've lived here for a little while now but I haven't had much time to sit down and post these. I even went outside yesterday to take some pictures before the sun went down. Here's the tour de grande. Yes, I just made that up.
Here's our place on Apple Avenue. Breathtaking, isn't it? I've never been a big fan of the garage being the most visible element of your home but it sure is convenient having it in the front like this.The back yard is great. It's not big enough to be a mowing pain but it is big enough for the kids to get out and play. Here's Addie's room. This is before we moved in so it still had brass hardware and mini-blinds but it's a cute room.So this is the before picture of the kitchen, which I think we've posted before. It was fine, but could use some upgrading.Here's the before shot of the "Diningroom". It's just some extra linoleum by the kitchen, really.Here's the after shot of the kitchen. I'm quite proud of it. It took me many hours of labor to remove everything and install the cabinets, countertops, flooring, appliances and all that jazz. I think it looks pretty nice now, though. It's not the hugest kitchen by any means but at least it's well done now.Here's the dining area now. The flooring makes all the difference in the world. We also extended the counters and cabinets out about 6", which takes a little of the dining area but is much needed for the kitchen. We bought a new dining table and chairs and (by sheer luck) they happened to match the floor quite perfectly. We've got some decorations and stuff up on the walls now but this was taken just after finishing the kitchen. Notice the new lights above the table. Katrina nearly vomited when she looked at the white and brass ceiling fan that was above the table. I'm not sure what to do with the two white and brass ceiling fans that we removed. I'm thinking we might be able to paint them and put them in the basement but the ceilings are already low, so I'm not sure about that.Here's the living room. The photo isn't the best but these are the new couches we bought. I convinced Katrina to get a leather set, which I really thought she'd never go for in a million years. I love the couches and I think she does too. They were a lot more expensive than fabric couches so they had better last until the kids move out :) You can't see it too well but our new carpet is super thick and one of the nicest parts about the remodel. It was also the most expensive, costing us around $2,500. Here's the view from when you walk in the front door. You walk into the livingroom and the kitchen is behind a wall (you can see the table on the right side of the photo). The gigantic shadow in the middle is from my lens. I used a wide angle lens to get these pictures but when you use it with the flash you get a beautiful round shadow taking up half the photo.
Lastly I thought I'd show the glamorous and welcoming basement. To me this actually is a beautiful thing. It's a clean drawing board that I get to do whatever I want with. I think we've pretty much decided that the area you see above will be one huge play room. I'm going to wire it for surround sound and an overhead projector (of course), which means I have to save up for a projector. Oh shux. Ideally, the wall at the top of the photo will be where the screen is. The room goes further behind where I was standing so that area will be a built in office area. It'll be one big room so that I can be a computer nerd while the kids are playing or watching sex and violence on TV. Katrina, of course, would be out at the spa so that we can both ignore the children completely. She's so obsessed with the spa. Yeah, right. Here's the last photo:This area will be a guest room. To the left is a full bath and two big closets. I put together a 3D rendering of the new basement but I can't seem to find it right now. I was actually going to start on the basement yesterday but I gathered information (and fixed sprinkler heads) instead. I'm reading and talking to neighbors who have finished their own basements so that's helped a ton.
Well, there's the house tour. I've finally posted it. I should have more updates over the next 6-12 months as the basement takes shape. After posting all of this I have to reiterate one major gripe that I've mentioned before. Why is it so hard to arrange photos in Blogger? I have to bring them in and they're all stuck at the top of the post. Then I have to move them down a few lines at a time until they're in their place. I've got this small little unexpandable window to work in. It's annoying. Gripe over. Rock On. -Nils