Bay window seat progress

I’m back with an update on the bay window we’re reworking into a window seat in the kitchen. I told you a little bit about our plans for this space a couple weeks ago and I am so excited.

So I was looking back for old photos to show you how this space looked before and it immediately struck me how much smaller the bay window looked:      

I’m sure it’s because that whole area is so much less cluttered now – but the difference is huge to me!

When we took down the wall in the family room we quickly realized we’d have enough space to practically double the size of the kitchen: The sofa and sofa table used to go up to the middle of that small wall where the black dresser is. We had new wonderful, lovely, amazing space with everything moved down so we moved the kitchen table over and LOVE that change.

The next phase of the renovation was supposed to happen in the spring, but I wanted to just get the construction stuff done so we moved forward. It’s been slow going because of some delays with the doors, but we were able to move ahead with the bay window changes.

This time the hole in the house was on purpose:

To make this spot work for a window seat (my dream) we replaced the super tall windows with shorter ones. I tried to figure out ways to keep them but it just didn’t work – they are 72 inches tall and we couldn’t move them up higher enough to accommodate a seat in that spot.

I was surprised at the cost of the new windows – they weren’t bad at all. I’m selling the old ones so that will help to make up some of the cost. The guys ended up moving the new windows up a bit higher than the old ones and then replaced the door with a window as well:

We just had that door replaced last year – gah. But it had to be done because of leaks to the basement. We gave the old door to one of the guys in exchange for some services so that helped too. (I actually wanted to use it for the mud room to garage door but it opened the wrong way and we didn’t think we could make it work.)

The free services were to wire and install four lights in the bay window. We had one coach light outside by the door so we added one more to even it out now that there’s no door there:

I think it looks so stinking cute from the outside! So much better without the door and the added light outside is always a bonus too. The guys had to fill in some siding and it turned out perfectly. They ended up taking some from the side of our house that had hail damage – we got an insurance check for that over a year ago and went ahead and got that fixed too. I’ll be glad when there are no more big projects around here. This project fund has been depleted. :)

Because everything was open we were able to add a little something to the inside as well – two sconces on either side of the middle window:

I laughed when we got them up and realized I used the same exact lights in the mud room:

They’re actually exterior lights and $20-something each. I LOOOOVE them. Obviously:

Here’s the window area with the window trim, drywall repairs and the new lights:

Doesn’t it look so warm and cozy on a rainy day? Sigh. I think one of my very favorite things to do is add accent lighting like this around the house. I think it adds character and warmth to the house in a different way than anything else.

I finally got the walls painted last week and it makes it feel so much more finished! I didn’t bother patching up the baseboards where the door was since there will be a window seat there eventually:

There’s trim that still needs painted and I still need to extend the crown molding, but at least it looks somewhat presentable now. :)

There are two things I’d love to get done in the kitchen before the holidays – this window seat and the expanded kitchen island. Having the larger island would be ideal for serving and parties but I know I’m not going to be able to tackle both projects in that time. I’ll be lucky to get one done. ;)

See what I mean about the bay window feeling so much more spacious?:

I know, duh – removing a table and chandelier will do that. ;) But it’s something about the windows too. The day they finished my husband walked in and said “It always should have looked like that.” See? We’ve been saying that a lot during this process. ;)

Now to get the new door finished up and then we are DONE with the dusty part of this renovation! I’m SO THRILLED that we were able to do this – it has been huge for our family and the way we live in these spaces.