Georgia Mountain Cabin~Just a Minor Renovation~Part 1

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As I mentioned in my Welcome post, I want give you all a tour of my Georgia Mountain cabin and its transformation. It is the happiest of all happy places for me, and it was a true labor of love making it into our home. It's our escape from our daily busy lives, and it's where we go just to unwind as often as we can. 

Today, I want to show you what I saw the very first time I ever saw this house in person and the renovation process in the den and kitchen. I first saw the house in September, 2012. The outside really wasn't that much different then than it is today, but the inside, well...it's a lot different! The photo above is the outside of the house in 2012.  

Just to set the stage for how this renovation went...we looked at the house in September, 2012, closed on it by the end of November and met with the builder to describe what we wanted done, and after meeting with the builder, we returned to Florida. We came back at the end of December, 2012, picked out some things for the house, and that was it. We didn't see the house again in person until February, 2013, when we moved in. It was a complete long-distance renovation, but thankfully, the builder knew I had to see the progress and sent photos almost daily. I selected a lot of items from a distance, but somehow, it all came together.

Above are photos of the living room/den area. It was definitely cozy and had a great cabin vibe, but I wanted to open it up more across the back to let in more light and bring the outdoors inside. Why live in the mountains if you don't have a view. Right? The laundry room is actually in this photo to the left of the armoire, and all I could think about was how much great light that wall was blocking!

You can see, at the back of the living room/den area, is the kitchen and the staircase. The kitchen consisted of one row of cabinets along the front wall of the house with no divider between it and the living room. The flooring looks like gorgeous brick, but it was actually vinyl. I immediately knew that we had to install wide plank wood flooring. Let me tell you, the folks in Georgia do it the right way. I selected the width of my flooring (7 inches), and the builder had the flooring cut specifically for our house. Then they stained it on site.

Above is a photo of the kitchen prior to the renovation. Okay, so let's look at the renovation in progress! Boy, it was a huge mess!

This is a photo of the back deck, which I completely redid. The spindles weren't close enough to keep my little dogs from falling off, and it just needed a redo.

Above is a photo of the den area in progress. I put in the large picture window to bring the outdoors in, and I replaced the one set of French doors with two sets to open the entire back of the house. The set of French foots to the left are right where that laundry room was---blocking the view!

Above is the kitchen area, in progress. The pocket door to the left was added to close off the sunroom/dining room from the rest of the house. We'll talk about that room in another post. It's one of my favorite rooms in the entire house.

As you can see, the fireplace had a wooden mantle and wood all around it. It really wasn't that safe, so I added a new stone fireplace. Kudos to my hubby for that idea!

Above is the kitchen in progress. I replaced all of the cabinets and appliances and added stone counter tops.

This is a view from the den toward the one bedroom and bath that are downstairs. I replaced all of the cedar inside the house, as it was somewhat discolored. The door to the left, under the stairs, holds a stacked washer/dryer. When you're dealing with a small amount of space, you must maximize every inch of it!

I added beadboard to all of the ceilings and painted it a light color to open things up. It serves two purposes...it covered the outdated popcorn ceiling, and it also gives the space a great cottage vibe.

I had all carpeting removed from the stairs, and added a railing. See photo below...that made a huge difference in the overall look.

Below is a photo of the gorgeous stone fireplace and mantle. That little nook to the left of the pocket door is for the refrigerator.

Above, at the end of the fireplace area, I added a bookcase to match the cabinets. There was originally a bookcase there, and I love the vibe it created for this little nook. 

And...above, one of my all time best ideas was to add this custom bar in between the kitchen and living areas. It divides the spaces perfectly and provides additional, much needed, storage space for the tiny kitchen.

Below, are the after shots of the living room and kitchen areas.  To me, it has a super cozy feel, and meets the cottage look that I wanted perfectly. My decor is very neutral with a light blue theme throughout.

Above is a final shot of the den, looking from the kitchen. 

Above is from the den looking toward the kitchen. These great chairs are from Pier One, and so is the sofa and coffee table (which opens up to a huge wine storage chest). Shop chairs here. Shop similar sofa here. Shop coffee table here. 

 

Above is the den looking toward that little nook by the bookcase. I added a bench for reading. Shop similar side tables here. 

Above, you can see I have little stools tucked under the sideboard in order to maximize seating. The sideboard and stools are from Ballard Designs. Shop sideboard here . Shop stools here . Below is a photo of the outside, as it looks now. It's not really that different; although, I stained the outside and replaced the roof. Everything turned out just exactly like I wanted, and I hope you all love my little space as much as I do.

Next up, I'll give you all a tour of the sun room/dining room. For reference, the entrance door above leads into that room. As you can see, it has tons of windows, and that's probably why it's my favorite room! The builder wanted me to move the entrance door to the center of the house and turn the sun room into a kitchen! Hello, just NO! I don't cook that much, and it would have just ruined the unique character of the home!

Please be sure to comment on my post and let me know what you think. If you have questions about any of the decor, feel free to ask. Follow my blog so you won't miss my next great post about the renovation.

XOXO,

Julie 💋