Dining Room Conversion: Part One

Brent and I love to entertain at our house. We often have people over for dinners, bbqs, yard games, game nights and more. We had a need for a larger dining room, but didn't have the money to tear out walls. So one day I told Brent my plan and he thought I was a little crazy...

(Just for a reminder here are two pics of how the front room and dining room were set up)

My crazy plan...Convert the small-ish dining room into a sitting room/wine lounge. To do this, I moved the small loveseat from the front room under the wall of wine art. I also pulled in a small white coffee table, two side tables and two wonderful chairs I'd found a couple years ago at a flea market. I left the bar and hutch in the room.

I love the result! And since we've had the room arranged this way, people have already been sitting on the furniture. When those pieces were in the front room, they were NEVER used.

The room is cozy and comfortable now. It also feels more appropriate for the square footage in the room.









And it's just off the kitchen, so guest can sit in there and enjoy a glass of wine while I'm finishing up meal preparations.

 

Someday...in my dreams, I'd really love to make that window a set of french doors that open out onto a larger deck in the back yard. It would create really nice flow in and out of the house to the yard. Even better for hosting large gatherings.

For now, we'll enjoy this new lounging area.

And soon, I'll share what we did with our dining table, because I'm sure you're wondering where we're eating our meals now. :)

Karli

Powder Bath Reveal!

As promised, today I'm revealing our new main floor powder bath! I'm so excited to share the progression of this drab little bathroom.

 

It started like this. Tan, brown, builder-grade mirror and lighting. It also had a medicine cabinet on the small wall to the right of the sink. The floors were tan tile.

 

 

Some paint on the walls and cabinets, new cabinet hardware, a new mirror and towel rack, and the addition of some DIY paintings made the space look better.



 

 
We covered up the medicine cabinet hole with a painting.

 
And then, when it was time to get new floors on the main level, we just tore the entire thing out! It was liberating.

 

 

So, on to the big reveal after the new floors. Here was our inspiration post.

 

Love this new sign on the door that I found at an antique mall. People never knew which door was the bathroom. Now there's no question. :)

 

 

 

The hall where the bathroom lives looks so different now too!

 

 

 

When you open the door you're greeted with a brighter, clean looking room. I plan to change out the towel and a few other small items each season. For now, it's red for the recent Christmas season.

 

 

We need a bit of art to hang on the walls, but for now I'm loving the clean lines of the tall beadboard.

 

 

The vanity and sink are from IKEA. My dad helped me install it. I love how tall it is and how easy the sink is to clean. There's just something about a spotless white sink.

 

 

The vanity is awesome! The drawers are soft close, which I love. And the bottom one is tall enough to hold spray bottles, so all of our cleaning supplies live in here! I also love how it sits on little legs instead of on the floor. It looks like a piece of furniture now.

 

 

And that hole where the medicine cabinet was is now invisible. (Can I just point out that sink again?! Love that its all one piece!)

 

 

Here's another point of reference for where this bathroom lives in our house.

 

 

Just between the front door and kitchen. By the way, do you love that I painted all the trim bright white and the doors black?! I can't get over what a difference it makes in the house. It has a classy, timeless look. (And those new floors...are you kidding me?)

 

 

And another new piece that lives in that hall...

 

 

I found this at the antique mall too. It's a lovely pond with trees reflecting in the water. It makes me feel calm and serene. The black and white decor is really working in this part of the house.

 

Thanks for stopping by to see our latest makeover. Working on a home can be a slow, tedious process. But as we complete rooms and projects like this, it gives a huge sense of accomplishment. We did it!

 

 

 

All my best,

Karli

New Floors Finally Going In!

Two years of waiting and it's finally happening. Our main floor carpet and tile was torn out and we're getting our new "wood" floors. See the backstory here.


One week of time, lots of man hours, two bagster bags full of demo trash, thousands of staples and several sore muscles later...we had this.

 

Tearing out the carpet and the staples in the dining room and front room was a breeze compared to what we had ahead of us with the tile.

The layers went like this:

1. Ceramic Tile
2. Grout
3. Tan brick vinyl
4. Thin wood underlayment
5. Thousands of tiny staples
6. Tan vinyl
7. Glue
8. Thousands of tiny staples

SHOOT ME NOW!

 

Brent was not happy at this point

 

Pulling up the wood underlayment, exposing thousands of staples that we had to pull one by one

Thanks to my mom and dad for their hours of staple pulling and bathroom demo.

 

 

Porter was a huge "help"

At this point in the demo, we hosted Thanksgiving dinner. (I'm not kidding). Brent's sweet sister and her family joined us as we ate a wonderful dinner in the front room, with no furnishings and no flooring. We'll have fun memories of this Thanksgiving.


(Did I mention that we decided to tear out the powder bath too?!) We have a perfectly good cabinet and sink top if you're interested!

 

 

Empty powder bath as it stands now.

As I sit here this evening, I'm already marveling at how beautiful the new floor is looking. The installer is the nicest guy and he's doing great work.

I'm also really excited about what we decided to do in the powder bath!! 

Stay tuned for more progress pictures!
~Karli

Judith's New Old Green Table

Soon I will be sharing a new post about my most recent project, converting a shed into an "Artist Studio" for my friend Judith.  In the meantime, I had to jump the gun and share a picture of one special piece of furniture that will be residing in Judith's Art Shed.

Here is a picture of the before:

Judith's father had made this sweet little table.

The table had been residing outside for a little while.  I thought it was so precious and it was special to Judith, so of course we had to find a place for it in the Art Shed.  But it needed a new look for its new home.  Judith is anything but meek and mild, and she is definitely not afraid of color.  It did not surprise me that the color she decided on for the little table would be Sherwin Williams Luau Green.   It is not for the faint of heart.

After lightly sanding what was left of the old peeling paint, the table got two light coats of the fun green.  I then distressed the edges lightly with my sanding sponge.  After that I did a dry brush technique randomly with a brown/gold mixture of acrylic craft paint.  To finish it off, I applied two coats of Minwax Spray Polyurethane Varnish in the Satin Finish.


In this close-up, you can see the dry brush technique.

The little table gets a new life being a lively green.  It took on an entirely new personality, (no wallflower here).   It will go so much better with Judith's art.  I can hardly wait for you to see that!
 

Quite a difference, don't you think?

                                               

I like letting the old nails show. Just think.... her Dad hammered each one of those in.

This white porcelain knob was original to the little drawer.

 

The legs give it a shaker look.

                             

Her father would certainly not recognize it.

The next time you see this table it will be in its new home in Judith's Art Shed.

Until then,
Kandy