{"id":136014,"date":"2026-01-08T18:33:32","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T23:33:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.enchantedhome.com\/blog\/?p=136014"},"modified":"2026-01-08T19:05:53","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T00:05:53","slug":"renovation-diaries-chapter-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.enchantedhome.com\/blog\/2026\/01\/08\/renovation-diaries-chapter-12\/","title":{"rendered":"Renovation Diaries Chapter 12"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good evening everyone! Every now and then like to change things up and post in the evening. Hope your 2026 is off to a good start.\u00a0 Here it has not exactly been smooth, between world events, at home with the flu (like a lot of America)….let’s just say its been an interesting<\/em> start. I started Tamiflu but a day or two too late to work, I think. Dr said it can last up to 10 days so I am on day 5, hoping it will be sooner!\u00a0 \u00a0I am hoping the second week of the new year will begin with the bang I was hoping for Jan 1st:)<\/p>\n

Haven’t done a renovation update in a while. Plenty going on though it seems to slowdown in the winter, which it technically does not, we have full crews working 5-6 days a week. I don’t get over there as often, once every few weeks during the somewhat boring part (all the mechanical, electrical, plumbing,etc..) but once we get to the more exciting parts, I have a feeling I will be going over a lot more often.<\/p>\n

The biggest news is that we totally changed up the front face of the main entrance. The original entrance was actually the back of the house with a portico and grand large columns. So we started toying with\u00a0 the idea of doing that to the front. The house is very long and once the new addition was added, it somewhat took away from the focal point of the main entrance, it almost got lost because of how wide the house is and felt “flat”. This was a big unplanned step which involved back to the architectural review board and involved weeks and weeks of planning, but was it ever the right idea! I mocked it up on AI and we are just thrilled with this decision. It is almost hard to imagine that we came close to not doing this. So they are working on that now, the cement has been poured for the portico, the completion of that part of the roof will get done in the next week or two and then the columns\/bluestone\/steps will be added. To be continued…<\/p>\n

We finally have put the last details on the kitchen. There was one elevation that was not squaring with me but as soon as I saw the hearth, my heart skipped a beat and I knew it the minute I saw it. We then had to figure out what to do on either side since the hearth is quite large and taking up most of that wall. After a lot of back and forth, we have finally come up with a solution we are all super pleased with…..finally.<\/p>\n

AI has continued to be a trusty friend in bringing many of these ideas to life and its been such a lifesaver especially when it come to being able to plug in colors of flooring options…<\/p>\n

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So here is the house as it stands-<\/p>\n

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And here it is (as per AI) with the new portico\/columns- (there is only one dormer on each side of portico, sometimes AI goofs)<\/p>\n

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Here is the hearth- first it was proposed to do two thinner side cabinets with glass (to me, it made them too thin and out of proportion with the expanse of the hearth) This image shows them wider than they would be.<\/p>\n

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Then we toyed with the idea of a double glass cabinet on the right, with a door entrance on the left. I and many others liked this but my husband did not care for it. A small part of me who always love symmetry was not totally at peace with it but i liked it better than the option above.<\/p>\n

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Then my kitchen designer suggested making them solid wood which would almost look like a continuation. of the hearth and this was love at first sight. It made such sense.<\/p>\n

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Almost sure I will go with a Bluestar range- if anyone has one, would love to hear your thoughts!<\/p>\n

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Then I played around with nickel vs unlacquered brass or antique brass hardware and to my surprise, I am really leaning towards the unlacquered brass as it really warms up the cool tones. Thoughts?<\/p>\n

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