Preserve Drive Redux
sarah huston
It has been one year since we moved into our new home in Colorado. Funny enough, our relator did not like this house. In fact, she didn't even want to bring us to see it. But it was in our dream neighborhood, walking distance to the best elementary school. The minute Sam and I walked in, we knew it was our home. I loved the open concept great room/kitchen/foyer space, the mountain views and and spacious back yard. But mostly there was something about it that reminded me of my childhood home. I instantly felt like I was home and knew it should be ours!
However the house needed some work. It was stuck in the 90s and I really wanted to modernize it. I had dreamed of remodeling a home and the ideas just came flooding in! In a nutshell we gutted the kitchen and master bath, took down walls in the basement, refinished and added hardwood floors, painted the entire interior, resurfaced and painted the outside stucco, updated all the lighting, updated all other baths with some minor tweaks (new mirrors, lightning, flooring, faucets and hardware, etc).
It was a huge undertaking but with determination and quick decision making, it was completed in under three months! Here's a look at the main floor transformation!
BEFORE: FOYER AND STAIRWELL
AFTER
Like most of the first floor, here we refinished the hardware floors and painted all the walls and trim white. We painted the banisters dark brown and painted the stair risers white. We updated all the sconces. Sadly I don't have any pictures but there was a stained glass window that you saw right when you walked in. It was a bright blue and yellow columbine. It was pretty but I hated it. I had it removed designed a new simple and classic stained glass piece that works much better in that space!
Details:
Paint: Pure White Sherwin Williams (entire house)
Floors: 50/50 Ebony and Jacobean stain (entire house)
Banister: Espresso Bean Benjamin Moore
Sconces: Hinkley Congress
BEFORE: KITCHEN
AFTER:
The kitchen was the biggest overhaul in this house. Kitchen remodels can be hard - it took my mom years to just start the process in her home. They can bring the most value to your house so there is a lot of pressure AND there are so many choices and so many directions you can go.... you can get paralyzed in the decision process.
Lucky for me, I knew exactly what I wanted and that vision never waivered. I wanted a classic black and white bistro look - complete with subway tile, white cabinets and a black island. We began by removing the two islands, replacing with one large central island that is now the hub of our home. We eliminated the L shaped soffit on the ceiling and replaced it with two large matte black statement pendants. We replaced all the appliances, countertops, and lighting. We salvaged the perimeter cabinets by sanding them, painting them and adding new hardware. One of my favorite pieces in this kitchen is the matte black faucet that pops against the white countertops on the island. I just love working at this sink, looking across our Great Room out the windows at the sunset over the Rocky Mountains.
Details:
Range: Wolfe
Refrigerator: Subzero
Double oven and Dishwasher: KitchenAid Pro
Black Lights: Ikea Hektar
Perimeter Counterops: Honed Black Pearl Granite
Island Countertops: Caeserstone Frosty Carrina
White Subway Tile: Daltile
Grout: Pewter
Facuet: Moen Waterhill
BEFORE: GREAT ROOM
AFTER:
One of the main requirements I had when we started shopping for a new home is that the family room was open concept with the kitchen, have high ceilings and lots a natural light. I also dreamed of having a great view. Boy oh boy did this room deliver on all those! The great room is open to the kitchen area which is great for entertaining. Plus it has floor to ceiling windows that look out to the Rocky Mountains. The bones of this room were amazing and most of the work was just cosmetic. We tore out all the carpet and added new hardwoods. We painted the walls and sanded and refinished all the trim and cabinets white - adding new hardware to the doors to modernize the look. We also updated the fireplace insert.
The biggest debate of this remodel was the ceiling in this room. I loved the mountain feel of the beams but struggled with feeling like it wasn't cohesive with the look of rest of the remodel. We talked about staining the wood to match the floors, white washing them, adding tin tiles, painted the shiplap white and staining the beams, modernizing the beams by squaring them off and sheet rocking the whole thing. In the end, we just kept it as is. We get complements on it all the time.... so I guess we made the right choice!
BEFORE: BREAKFAST NOOK
AFTER:
All that we did in this space was paint the walls and trim white, refinished the floors and updated the lighting.
Details:
Light: Crate and Barrel
BEFORE: DINING ROOM
AFTER:
This room was also amazing and only needed small cosmetics changes. We added hardwoods here (it was carpet!), painted the walls and window trim white and added a new light fixture. We also updated the butlers pantry that leads from the kitchen to the dining room with all the same details as the kitchen.
Details:
Chandelier: Restoration Hardware
Feather prints: Sundance
There you have it! I hope you enjoyed some details from our dream home! Next up I'll show you updates we made in the master bath and bedroom!
xo
Sarah