pics of the remodel

I can finally share some pictures of our remodel. I'd love to show you picture perfect images but the truth is we still have some things to do. All the major things are done, but there are some finishing touches. However, if I keep waiting, I'll never be able to share. So, I'll show you what we got going on so far...


Before our remodel, we had two rooms on our first floor (plus our kitchen and one bathroom). We decided to knock down the wall that seperated those two rooms. In the before pics below, I labeled the wall that we had knocked down...

In keeping with Saudi culture, one room was our living room and the other a more formal sitting room for entertaining guests. We decided that the formal sitting room was not needed. If hubby invites company over, he entertains in his parents house next door. And when I entertain guests I don't need such a formality. I also wanted a dining room. So we decided to be more Americanized. Also, the idea of one large open space was appealing to both of us.

So then it came time for the actual remodeling. Oh, was it crazy. It was loud and it was dusty (white dust that is). And we had to live upstairs the whole time. I converted the 3rd bedroom into a makeshift livingroom. It was cozy at times. But we were happy once we could access the downstairs again.

This is our downstairs during...

We knocked down the wall, changed the tile flooring, added a drop ceiling, and of course painted.

So here are some after pictures...

We chose two shades of green, the lighter one (which looks a lot more yellow in pictures) is called Spring Meadow, and the darker shade is called Hollywood Hills. I'm still testing out pillows for our table chairs, hence the random collection.

The living room was a bit challenging to furnish. We changed the furniture from our new uncomfy Ikea sofa back to our old comfy "formal" furniture. I just can't part with our sofa...lol. Unfortunately, the rug was purchased with the Ikea sofa so it doesn't match now. But it's serving the purpose for now, we will find a new one in the future. We have plans for the TV wall; a large flatscreen mounted on the wall, and lots of shelving. The white bookcase may not stay there but for now it's housing some of little guy's books and toys.

These framed pictures above are hanging out on this table until I purchase more art and mirrors. I would like to make this a picture wall, with lots of framed art and some accent mirrors.

The sink area (I've mentioned before that sinks are often outside the bathroom to allow guests to wash up before and after meals)...

A closer look at little guy's bookshelf. I'd like to move this to his area of the downstairs and have a couple of bookcases for hubby's and my books, as well as movies.

I love lighting candles in the evenings and just chilling out at home. Our living room definitely has that comfy feeling that I was going for...

And last but not least, here's a view of the kitchen which is opened up as well...

We need bar stools for the bar and we'd love to remove the wire basket trio but that may not be possible without some major changes. Hubby has mentioned several times about re-doing the cabinets so we shall see. But for now, it's all good.

There are still many things we want to do. We need to repaint the doors, buy some more pieces, and continue with the decor. But this is what we have for now and we love it so far. :)