Livin' It Country: House Renos!

OK - it's been a while. Actually it's been more than a while, but I have an excuse - we completely renovated our house. We moved out for 8 months and started knocking out walls before we had definite plans. We are finally back in and though we have lots of smaller things left to do (and a few bigger like the garage and landscaping), everything turned out great!
We did lots of it ourselves (and our kids), including the destruction, framing, windows, Jeff rebuilt the trusses from the inside, all the staining and varnishing of the doors and trim, laid all the hardwood and lots of other little finishing details.

The house was rectangular with a long staircase running directly through the middle with hallways on all sides. In other words, the staircase and halls took up about 30% of the house! It also really divided the house so we had 4 rooms on on side of the stairwell and 6 rooms on the other. We moved the stairs to the back corner and it really opened things up. I was then left with this big, beautiful open space but 8 foot ceilings. Jeff figured out how to rebuild the trusses from the inside so I got vaulted ceilings reaching 11 feet - Fabulous! We also decided to put on an addition with a gym (basketball court, volleyball, squash - whatever), with the kids level on top. The kids level has 5 bedrooms (2 of the kids still share), a boys bathroom, a girls bathroom, a reading loft and a kids laundry. The only kids laundry I ever do anymore is my 5 year olds - it's a dream!

Once we finally had our plans, we started the addition - a styrofoam block gym and framed in the kids level. Again, we did all the interior framing ourselves which I loved because I could move things as we went along. Not many walls stayed exactly where they had been planned and the changes we made dramatically improved the layout.

Here are a few pictures of the main level as framing progressed.

This is my walk through pantry - LOVE!

You can see how much better this room is with the sloped ceiling (and the stairwell removed!)

This is where the wood burning fireplace goes which we plumbed into our heating system.

Once everything was all framed and drywalled and painted, we quickly got moving with our kitchen. It turned out perfect! Super easy to work in and great for big groups or just a few friends.

Jose (from Mexico) custom made my sinks and range hood (for an amazing price!). Love the 6 burner all gas range from Costco. It's a Bluestar - looks amazing, cooks amazing and super easy to clean. Also loving the pot filler.

The cabinets are Knotty Hickory (I think American Walnut stain) - which is also the stain I used on all the trim and doors, just watered down with varsol - perfect tone. The doors and trim are all Knotty Alder.

I love the caged lights! The floor is a Handscaped Hickory - which is already distressed, therefore perfect for our busy household!

Again, I kind of went crazy with the light fixtures. Almost everyone is different.

This is the entry to my large walk through pantry. Honestly, I hardly need anything in the kitchen because I keep almost everything in here!

Hammered Copper Sink from Mexico. FAB!!

Love the sink in my island!

Handscraped Hickory. Installed this ourselves. Awesome!

I LOVE the way my front entry turned out! The tile is beautiful, the closets awesome, and I love the way this light turned out. I bought an old, distressed silver bowl and put a $6 light kit in it.