A few more house photos....family room, etc.

Since I received some pretty good feedback on my post about our kitchen (at least that you enjoyed seeing the pictures), I wanted to move on to the next couple of rooms.   For those of you who had seen either one of our former homes, you will recognize the furniture.  Here in the land of Ikea (simple, clean lines, etc.), I still laugh to myself when I see our gigantic (but comfy) couches taking over this room!

A little crowded, but cozy

I also love that we have a wall of bookshelves in this room....it is great for books (obviously) but also for photos and a few other decorative pieces (I REFUSE to call them knick knacks!)

One more "feature" of the family room is a fireplace  (It sits opposite the TV...about 25 feet away).  The heating system here is not very efficient (that's probably an understatement), so the winter heating bills can get crazy expensive!  I guess the fire can really help keep things toasty....but I will be happy to wait until October or November to see it in action!

Now....between the dining area and the family room is what I will refer to as the cat's room otherwise it is just a really large entry way that houses a piano.  There is also a half bath off this space and a small closet (containing mostly clothes and wine).  And yes, even though the cat's food, etc. are not worthy of a photo, her stuff is in here as well.  This space isn't extremely functional, but it does open things up a little bit.  

The rarely used front door

View from the front door through the family room

One last thing about this living room extension....it's also where we have the stairs going up to the four bedrooms.  Under these stair is where the majority of my storage space exists (we have no basement, the closets are at capacity, and the garage/carport is just not appropriate for some things).  For weeks, this area was the bane of my existence....ugly and full of boxes, Christmas decorations, etc.

My view from the kitchen- bleh!

However, with some help from Ikea and my friend Hanne (who can sew!), this is now a more attractive, functional space!   

ahhhhh.....so much better!

Well, there you have it...a brief tour of our main living space.  I will save the girls' toy room for another day...it wasn't quite ready for pictures :)