Posting that picture of my family room made me think I should ask for some advice here about some remodeling I want to do.
My husband thinks I have lost it. But here is the deal. We bought this house because we loved the huge family room. Here are some pictures of the area that I took in the fall. It's hard to do it justice but the area is really big. Now I feel like it is almost TOO big. In addition, I feel cramped in the kitchen area. Would I love to do is expand the kitchen area while making the family room more intimate. Here are some pictures to give an idea of what I am working with:
[img width=600 height=450]http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/2845/dscn0437v.jpg[/img]
[img width=600 height=450]http://img62.imageshack.us/img62/2121/dscn0443r.jpg[/img]
[img width=600 height=450]http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/2394/dscn0439j.jpg[/img]
[img width=600 height=450]http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/2114/dscn0440r.jpg[/img]
[img width=600 height=450]http://img820.imageshack.us/img820/4751/dscn0442m.jpg[/img]
If you'll notice in the pictures, there is an arched entryway that leads back to our formal eating and dining areas. That arch looks like a natural break in the architecture to go to work. What I would love to do is rip out the carpet along that line and replace it with hardwoods. As you can see, right now that space behind the couch is pretty much wasted anyway. If I could make it hardwood, I would then move the kitchen table onto that space.
Then....and here is my question....I would ideally LOVE to take that center island and move it back away from the fridge more (into the space where the kitchen table is now). I could then put up some bar stools there (right now it's too crowded) and open up the space in the kitchen.
So.....my question is....would that be a huge pain with the plumbing already set? As an alternative, I could just "flip" the island so that it is facing out toward the family room. I think I could do that without messing the plumbing, right?
How much would something like this run me? Any other suggestions welcome.
Worse case, I figure I can just rip out the carpet in that section and put down the hardwood and leave the island where it is. I can then put in the bar stools and use that extra kitchen space for something else.....like putting in a desk against the back wall for the kids to work.
Or I can just quit being a baby and forget the whole thing.
My husband thinks I have lost it. But here is the deal. We bought this house because we loved the huge family room. Here are some pictures of the area that I took in the fall. It's hard to do it justice but the area is really big. Now I feel like it is almost TOO big. In addition, I feel cramped in the kitchen area. Would I love to do is expand the kitchen area while making the family room more intimate. Here are some pictures to give an idea of what I am working with:
[img width=600 height=450]http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/2845/dscn0437v.jpg[/img]
[img width=600 height=450]http://img62.imageshack.us/img62/2121/dscn0443r.jpg[/img]
[img width=600 height=450]http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/2394/dscn0439j.jpg[/img]
[img width=600 height=450]http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/2114/dscn0440r.jpg[/img]
[img width=600 height=450]http://img820.imageshack.us/img820/4751/dscn0442m.jpg[/img]
If you'll notice in the pictures, there is an arched entryway that leads back to our formal eating and dining areas. That arch looks like a natural break in the architecture to go to work. What I would love to do is rip out the carpet along that line and replace it with hardwoods. As you can see, right now that space behind the couch is pretty much wasted anyway. If I could make it hardwood, I would then move the kitchen table onto that space.
Then....and here is my question....I would ideally LOVE to take that center island and move it back away from the fridge more (into the space where the kitchen table is now). I could then put up some bar stools there (right now it's too crowded) and open up the space in the kitchen.
So.....my question is....would that be a huge pain with the plumbing already set? As an alternative, I could just "flip" the island so that it is facing out toward the family room. I think I could do that without messing the plumbing, right?
How much would something like this run me? Any other suggestions welcome.
Worse case, I figure I can just rip out the carpet in that section and put down the hardwood and leave the island where it is. I can then put in the bar stools and use that extra kitchen space for something else.....like putting in a desk against the back wall for the kids to work.
Or I can just quit being a baby and forget the whole thing.
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