Making This House Our Home: Sitting Room
Ryan homes is NOT a custom builder, but they are affordable and have many options. This is why we decided to build with them for a second time. But, one of the negative things that often comes up in discussion about them is that they are "cookie cutter" and you can tell right away which homes are Ryan Homes in our area because they all have a similar characteristics. We went back and forth about saving for a CUSTOM home or getting what we need now and making it our own over time. You know what our final decision was, so we decided to share our journey going room by room over the next two years while we are make our Palermo floor plan our own with some simple "custom" touches.
My only "issue" with the Palermo floor plan was that I really wanted an island that is parallel to the back cabinets, stove and fridge. I want to be able to turn right around from the stove and have the whole island behind me with the kids sitting along the back edge of the island ready for dinner. In order to "flip" the island we would have to remove the existing pantry and I can't imagine life without a pantry. Initially, we sent a request to Ryan Homes asking if they would NOT build the pantry where it is on the plans and instead build it into the formal dining room, which we had no use for since we added in the Morning Room as our dining space. Here is a "BEFORE" picture of the formal dining space from two angles. The first is from the kitchen and the second is from the front door.
They got back to us about our idea saying they would not change kitchens, so we started taking matters into our own hands. I decided if we were doing this project on my own I would do what I actually wanted... a WALK IN PANTRY! One thing we were able to do while it was being built was move the light so when the wall for the walk in pantry was placed it would be centered in the front room. The day after we moved in the contractors came to add the wall into the formal dining space that would split the room allowing access to a 5 foot deep pantry from the kitchen and now make an 8 foot deep "sitting room" space which you can access from the front door.
We decided to split the kitchen/pantry project into a couple phases, so we will share more with you on that project later! But, this month we got started in the sitting room! It is the first thing you see when you come in the door so I thought it would be a great place to start. My plan for this room is to have a cozy place I go to do my "morning work" and a place where the girls can go if they need a cozy space. We are choosing not to paint for the first year, so these are not the final pictures, but this is the décor and design.
The doors behind the chairs and the faux fireplace were from a local vintage resale shop. I had them in our other house and didn't quite know where they would end up here, but once the wall was up I knew exactly where they needed to go. Hobby Lobby is one of my favorite places to hunt down cute décor. The floating shelves and "Just Pray" sign are Hobby Lobby finds. I sent out a sneak peek picture to my sisters and a couple close friends and everybody keeps asking about this rug from Boutique Rugs.
This sitting area is probably my favorite thing ever! I originally got one of these chairs from Target for Riverlyn's "Boho Chic" style room but loved them so much I had to get two more for myself. The accent table is also from Target and the "snake plant" is from Home Depot.
Since this room is supposed to be a peaceful place where I can have some quiet time, I wanted to add a lot of greenery. I am not known for a green thumb and quite honestly I am known to be the opposite but I find a lot of calm being surrounded by plants. I considered getting some fake options but it just didn't feel the same when I check out some options while I put together my ideas for this space. I wandered around Home Depot a few weeks ago looking for inspiration and stumbled upon a Ficus Benjamina. I instantly fell in love with it's braided trunk and cute little top but when I went back it was gone. After a quick search online I found Plant Vine which happened to have my little ficus trees at a very reasonable price. I also got some spider plants to add some draped greenery by the windows.
I am so in love with this space! It turned out better than I dreamed when I decided the left over space from the pantry wall would be a "sitting room". I love seeing this when I walk in the door and love it even more that I have a calm and peaceful space to spend time in the morning.
* I am in no way affiliated with any of the products/brands I recommend in this post.
My only "issue" with the Palermo floor plan was that I really wanted an island that is parallel to the back cabinets, stove and fridge. I want to be able to turn right around from the stove and have the whole island behind me with the kids sitting along the back edge of the island ready for dinner. In order to "flip" the island we would have to remove the existing pantry and I can't imagine life without a pantry. Initially, we sent a request to Ryan Homes asking if they would NOT build the pantry where it is on the plans and instead build it into the formal dining room, which we had no use for since we added in the Morning Room as our dining space. Here is a "BEFORE" picture of the formal dining space from two angles. The first is from the kitchen and the second is from the front door.
They got back to us about our idea saying they would not change kitchens, so we started taking matters into our own hands. I decided if we were doing this project on my own I would do what I actually wanted... a WALK IN PANTRY! One thing we were able to do while it was being built was move the light so when the wall for the walk in pantry was placed it would be centered in the front room. The day after we moved in the contractors came to add the wall into the formal dining space that would split the room allowing access to a 5 foot deep pantry from the kitchen and now make an 8 foot deep "sitting room" space which you can access from the front door.
We decided to split the kitchen/pantry project into a couple phases, so we will share more with you on that project later! But, this month we got started in the sitting room! It is the first thing you see when you come in the door so I thought it would be a great place to start. My plan for this room is to have a cozy place I go to do my "morning work" and a place where the girls can go if they need a cozy space. We are choosing not to paint for the first year, so these are not the final pictures, but this is the décor and design.
The doors behind the chairs and the faux fireplace were from a local vintage resale shop. I had them in our other house and didn't quite know where they would end up here, but once the wall was up I knew exactly where they needed to go. Hobby Lobby is one of my favorite places to hunt down cute décor. The floating shelves and "Just Pray" sign are Hobby Lobby finds. I sent out a sneak peek picture to my sisters and a couple close friends and everybody keeps asking about this rug from Boutique Rugs.
Since this room is supposed to be a peaceful place where I can have some quiet time, I wanted to add a lot of greenery. I am not known for a green thumb and quite honestly I am known to be the opposite but I find a lot of calm being surrounded by plants. I considered getting some fake options but it just didn't feel the same when I check out some options while I put together my ideas for this space. I wandered around Home Depot a few weeks ago looking for inspiration and stumbled upon a Ficus Benjamina. I instantly fell in love with it's braided trunk and cute little top but when I went back it was gone. After a quick search online I found Plant Vine which happened to have my little ficus trees at a very reasonable price. I also got some spider plants to add some draped greenery by the windows.
I am so in love with this space! It turned out better than I dreamed when I decided the left over space from the pantry wall would be a "sitting room". I love seeing this when I walk in the door and love it even more that I have a calm and peaceful space to spend time in the morning.
* I am in no way affiliated with any of the products/brands I recommend in this post.
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