We have progress people!!!

I don't know about you but I love seeing pictures of progress when it comes to design. They are so exciting to look at and it always amazes me how creative some people get! Of course, as per the this post's title, I finally have some pictures of my own to share. They are of our kitchen and family room and although these rooms are not yet complete, we have made a lot of headway in the last 5 monthes and I am happy to post what these spaces look like to date.

So, without further ado, may I present the kitchen:

This was what it looked like a few weeks before we moved in. The kitchen is on the left and the eat-in area is on the right. The island will go on top to those black wires that you see sticking out of the floor (for the dishwasher and sink).


Here is what it looked like the night we moved in. Sorry about the yellowness of the walls. Please blame it on either a bad photo or bad lighting. The paint really does look very nice!


Here is what it looked like the next morning. We were paranoid about scratching the floor so laid down cardboard while we were unpacking. And see how much nicer the paint looks? I told ya it wasn't bad :)


We then decided on this for our backsplash tile:


and voilà! Here is where we are to date. We are pretty proud of how it looks so far.


All that is left for this area is to
- find artwork for the wall next to the kitchen
- find some barstools for the island and
- get some accessories for the top of the island to make it look prettier.

And now on to the other room. Our Family Room (or "Great Room" as some people call it) is right in front of the kitchen. We decided that wanted to use it for conversation and as a place where one could cozzy up by the fire on a cold winter evening. We really tried to make it feel casual yet chic and so far, I think we are succeeding in this. Here is what the room looked like when we moved in (excuse the green tape - they were markers for some issues we identified):


And here is the room now:


We got blinds for the windows, a new sofa, a new shag rug, a beautiful chocolate brown club chair and finally a mantle front for our fireplace (which was supposed to be installed in August but that's for another post). So far, it looks great and we love the way the colours complement each other. Of course this room is no where near done but we finally have a place for people to sit when they come over (as opposed to standing or sitting on the stairs) and that's makes us happy. Or course we still have a lot of work left to do. Briefly, we need to:
- install the granite around the fireplace (the tilers are coming on
Monday to take the measurements)
- get another club chair (we only bought one to because we weren't
sure about it originally)
- get a table lamp and floor lamp
- get "something" for the wall to the right of the sofa (not sure what yet)

Oh yeah, and we need a proper coffee table.

Speaking of which, I already have some ideas here on what I want to buy. I think a glass, wrought-iron coffee table would look great. It would really keep a nice openess to the space. I really like this table that Maria Killam posted on her blog Colour Me Happy but have no idea where it is from:


This Nova square cocktail table from M.Y. Home is also really nice:


For the wall to the right of the sofa, it would be great if we could put a desk there with a funky chair. I am debating between either of these two. Both would fit the wall nicely with room on either side. The first is from Sunpan Imports and I really like the criss-cross pattern of the legs however, since you'll never really see this table from the side, I'm afraid that that detail would get lost. The secod table is from a company called Style In Form. It is sleek, minimal and also really nice.




Hmmm.. if you have any ideas of things you think would look great, let me know! I love hearing other's perspective.