OK, so grand tour is definitely a misnomer. This is really more like the before tour, the oh-boy-what-have-we-gotten-ourselves-into tour of our new abode in Maine.
These shots were taken quickly yesterday morning, a grey day in Maine, so they aren't the greatest, but will give you a glimpse into what we're working with.
First up: the kitchen
This is already a work in progress, as you can see. Dexter was in Maine for a week before us, and in the house, so he was able to do a lot of sanding and painting of the wood cabinets. With 24 cabinets/drawers there's a LOT to be done. Sanding, painting, painting, painting, hanging, adding hardware. It is more work than either of us really thought through!
please note the dishwasher - moving up in the world!
That green wall? Formica!! If you have any idea how to cover it/get rid of it, let me know!
Love this little nook. There's not a whole lot of natural light coming in through those windows, though, so we're glad to lighten the place up with white paint. The stove and microwave reside to the left of this picture.
Off of the kitchen to one side is the dining room and a bathroom with a shower.
again, not a whole lot of natural light here, and that light fixture hangs really really low. Even still, we don't have much in the way of plans to redo it.
the previous owners already redid this bathroom, so I think we'll leave it as is.
The Laundry Room/Office.
I'm pretty excited about having a dryer in the house! We'll try to find a desk to put under the shelves there and make that our office space.
On the other side of the kitchen is the living room.
complete with a pouty baby, and our itty bitty couch and coffee table!
And then, the entry way (foyer?) that they've recently drywalled and primed. We're working on a paint color.
That stove in the corner is a pellet stove, to keep us warm through the winter
For some perspective, here's how it looked when we first saw the house:
Much, much better, no?
The stairs are definitely a work in progress, something the previous family is still working on, I think. Or maybe they've just decided they've done enough and will leave them as is:
that works, right? :)
Upstairs is a little quirky because the house was originally a two family home, so there's the remnants of a full kitchen there. The previous couple used it for their master bath in a way, so I guess that's what we'll do for now, too.
That's the master bedroom. The previous couple had a King Size bed in there, so even though it looks small, there's plenty of space. Our full size is going to look puny! The maroony-brown paint color is too dark/heavy for us, so we're going with a light grey wall and a dark blue rug, which will be delivered Thursday morning. In the meantime, we're camping out in Kyalo's room!
Here's what I'm calling the powder room. We (Dexter) will likely paint this grey as well, just to tie it in with the master.
A narrow, mustard yellow bathroom. At least it has a claw-foot tub! No plans for this room yet.
The nursery:
Mike & Deb, the owners, are priming this for us because the room was a deep pinky-purple color:
I'm not sure this picture does it justice, but at least you get a sense of it. Since the wood floors are painted a silver/grey color, we're going to go with a pale green color in there. I'm hoping it will feel calm and peaceful! {And, of course, that the baby will SLEEP in there :) }
Rooms not photographed: Kyalo's room - we're all living there right now so it is basically chaos - the attic room, which we think we'll turn into some kind of guest room.
I have a lot of dreams for this house, but realistically, a) we're renters so don't want to spend all our money here, b) we're having a baby in 10 weeks, c) Dexter works full time and Kyalo doesn't play independently so there's not much I'll be able to do. So with limited resources I hope we can make this place feel like HOME and OURS. Even if we're only here a year or so.
Now, who wants to come help Dexter paint??
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