Let me give a little background on our house first: it's a 1,695 square foot Florida style home. By Florida style, I mean that it's an open concept house that places emphasis on outdoor living. The homes are designed to be comfortable in our warm Florida climate, though with the amount of humidity we have it doesn't always achieve its purpose.
Upon entering the house the first area is the "formal" part of the home, meaning you walk directly into the formal living room and beyond it is the formal dining room. On the right hand side are the bedrooms and bathrooms, and on the left is the "family" area, or the kitchen and family room. Let's focus on the kitchen first:
This is what you see when you turn from the formal part of the house into the kitchen. It's a 10x13 peninsula plan, which is an L-shaped kitchen with a peninsula instead of an island. I like that there's a window above the sink, even if it only looks out onto my neighbor's house. At least it lets in plenty of sunlight, as you may observe.
This is the view from the garage door. This house doesn't have a back door. Instead, entry is from the front door or the garage. It's convenient to have a door from the garage into the kitchen, especially when bringing in groceries. The reason the counter is so clean is because I was getting ready to cook and I absolutely must have the kitchen clean before I begin cooking. It's an obsession of mine. Otherwise the countertop is filled with whatever ingredients are being used for that day's meal.
Here's the view from the sink. That door is the pantry which affords me lots of storage space. See that clock to the left of the pantry door? I made that back when my older kids were little. I enjoyed working with ceramics and that was one of my "masterpieces". I'm surprised it's survived this long; it's probably about 18 years old. Beyond the kitchen, through the archway, is the dining room.
Our formal dining room is more of a family game room. We're a board game lovin' family, though lately our passion is for mexican train dominos. We love playing games, and this table provides plenty of space. It looks very formal, I know, but trust me, it gets alot of use. The flower arrangement on the table is what I put out for spring and summer. It was made by the wife of one of my husband's co-workers. In the fall and winter I trade it in for large candleholders in amber glass and wrought iron. This is the view from the archway in the picture above, and from the living room.
There's another archway from the family room into the dining room. That's the open concept thing going on. On the left hand side of the china cabinet is my scrapbooking station. That's another thing the dining room is used for: my scrapbooking hobby. Come to think of it, the one thing we do the least in this room is eat :D.
And this is the view from the corner of the dining room, by the window. Beyond the archway is the formal living room, but that'll be in my next post.
Again, sorry for getting this in a week late. Hopefully I'll have my next open house pics before the end of the day. Enjoy your time in my home!
