~MORE OF OUR ROMANTIC WHITE COTTAGE~

 Today I'm showing you a little more of my La Chaumière de Briarwood now that we have some of our remodeling work completed!

We've finally finished a big chunk of our home makeover and now that the wall we opened up has been trimmed out and painted I thought you might like to see it all together instead of bits and pieces!  Before the wall (on the right) was removed there was nothing to see except a big over-sized TV cabinet and a lot of closed-in space!  I LOVE LOVE LOVE this wall opened up and so glad we actually thought about it and planned it out before installing the wood flooring!  Since it was load bearing it took a little bit more time to finish, but well worth the effort.  We now get the north and south sun streaming directly through the windows and so the entire house is lighter and brighter!

One thing you MIGHT find interesting is this...

Almost everything in our home was purchased USED.  

It's true!

Almost everything!

Oh there are new things like ceramic white dishes, candles, lampshades, freshly made pillows, linens, etc., but nearly all the furniture, lamps and complements were purchased second-hand or were pre-owned like in CARS!  In the downstairs area of our home, with the exception of our formal dining table set and the occasional chairs in my den, nearly everything you see was purchased either at tag sales, estate sales, garage sales, auctions or Craig's List.

When my Mr. AGPMan installed the vintage French Doors directly off our entry a couple of years ago I never dreamed one day they'd be visible from the family room.  When the wall was closed up it made for some pretty decorating on the dining room side, but it was very crowded when all my family was over!  Now with the wall removed we have lots of room to move about on both sides!

I took some new shots of the downstairs CAREFULLY omitting our ripped out kitchen (you'd faint if you saw it!).  You can't tell it in the photo above, but I'm standing just outside of our torn-out kitchen.  It's functional, barely tho!  My stove is in place and so is the sink and fridge...but nearly everything else looks like, well...kinda like a war-zone!!!  Even the ceiling is out and the original studs are showing!  It's making me crazy, but we have to live with it like that for now.  Still lots to tear out and when you are do-it-yourselfers you work when you can and then leave the rest until another day.

Lots of another days lately!

Lots more coming, too!  We hope by next year at this time we'll be done!

For Friday, May 11th, I'm linking up with Kerryanne at
Shabby Art Boutique 
for the very first
Shabbilicious Friday!!!
Hop on over there to get some great ideas!  We are sure to be totally inspired!

Hope your day is fab!  I'm off to work!

Love to you...