Want to come on a house tour?

So this morning I was chatting to my sister-in-law on the phone and she made a request. Lots and lots of photos of our house, indoors and out. We moved in here a few months after her last visit to Canada, so she's never seen Pughs' News HQ! So straight away (well, okay, after a tidy-up!) I got out the camera and got down to work. I was going to send her these pictures, but then thought I'd turn it into a bit of a house tour for all of you, too. It's always fun to see where our blogging friends live, non? (you can click on each photo for more of a close-up look)

It's hard to get a photo of the house in its entirety, especially in the summer when the trees are all in full, leafy bloom. I tried, really I did...

There's the front door. You can't really tell, but there's a pathway that runs between the two sections of our front lawn, going from one driveway to the other, and taking you up the front steps.

Here it is from another angle.

And another. Alan has put up lots of trellises because we've got deliciously fragrant jasmine and clematis vines growing up the sides of the house. Can't wait for them to start blooming! That's the living room window.

Super cute doorman. (and how do you like our fab English-style postbox? Alan and Dylan made it!)

Inside the front door you head through the hall and into the kitchen. The stairs go up to the right. Living room is to the left.

1970s kitchen in all its glory. How about those dark brown countertops?! (the floor used to be the most hideous dark yellow lino, but we replaced it with quick & easy "tiles" from Wal-Mart) We have big plans for our kitchen some day. You know, when we have loads of extra money burning a hole in our pockets.

Here's the opposite wall, and our art gallery/fridge. The door you can see leads downstairs to the laundry room and the library.

Love our little kitchen table. The peonies are from our garden. Head past the stove and super-cool spice rack into the dining room.

Lots of space to sit and colour here! (the boys also love to spin the Lazy Susan around really fast and let cars go flying off it! oh dear...)

The sundeck doors lead outside into the side garden. It's a nice, bright room.

Come through into the living room. I hate this wooden wall. It makes the room much darker than it needs to be. I'd like to paint it creamy white to give the place more of a cottage-y feel, but the plan is to rip it out and replace it with a proper, plastered wall eventually. For now, will just have to live with it! The fireplace is great though. The woodstove keeps us nice and cosy all winter long. I like the big window out to the front garden as well. And I adore our hardwood floors.

The living room from another angle (this is at the bottom of the stairs). Do you love my new print? I do. Thank you, Mom!

View from the couch under the window. The stairs lead up to the bedrooms and bathroom.

And here's where I sit to do my blogging (and eat my lunch, as you can see...)

Hope you enjoyed your wander through the first floor of our little home! Tomorrow I'll show you the rest of the house, and maybe I'll take you for a tour of the garden, too. Right now, I'd better drink my tea before it gets any colder. Then the boys will be up from their nap and we're off to ride the trolley!

PS: Well, Wendy, what do you think? Is this what you had in mind?