When we first purchased our home it was suppose to be a starter. Our neighborhood is filled with people who thought the same thing. Move in, stay a few years, then get a bigger home. But we, like them, love our neighborhood and decided to stay. It is centrally located to most anything you need and the neighbors are great! The homes are mostly center entrance colonials with your standard living room, dining room, family room off the kitchen and bedrooms upstairs. Over the years, there have definitely been times that we questioned our choice. We like to entertain and having more than ten people for dinner was definitely a challenge. In order to fit everyone we had to turn the table diagonally, corner to corner in the dining room. In doing so, we blocked off access to the kitchen for half our guests at the table. They would have to go all the way around to get there food then all the way back to their seats. We would always laugh at the situation and take it in stride. But on occasion, we would talk about having a larger space to entertain and what it would look like. Well, our dream of having a larger space to entertain has come true! We pinch ourselves everyday when we walk into the kitchen and dining room area to make sure it is really not just a dream!
This was our dining room before the addition/renovation. The opening leading into the kitchen was closed off and is now a wall in my office and the new powder room.
The dining room used to be to right as you walked in the house. We removed the hall closet (black door) to make the entry much bigger. The wall going up the stairs was opened up and a new railing was added.
This is the framing for the new closet.
It is unbelievable how much space was gained in the foyer by just moving the closet.
Here is the opened wall with the new railing and newel post on the staircase.
I loved my old dining room. It was chocked full of great memories spent with family and friends. Even if half of them were blocked from the kitchen!
This picture shows the framing for the new dining room. In the original plans the ceiling in the dining room was flat. My husband noticed the vaulted roof line during the construction and asked if we could have the ceiling follow that line. The framers said that it could be done and best of all, it would not cost any more money! Thanks to my husband, the half vaulted ceiling is a major feature of the new dining area.
The new dining room is so much bigger than our old one! We even have extra seating at the island so no one will be blocked from the kitchen in here!
The three windows keep the room filled with lots of light all day.
I was going to make roman blinds, but made drapes instead. I am so glad I did. It adds a softness to the room that the blinds could not have done.
I got this fabric on Etsy. The blues and greens work perfectly with the rest of the room!
We are so truly grateful for our new space. We are looking forward to making many great new memories with family and friends!
I want to thank everyone for helping me choose a lamp shade to go in our family room. On my Blog post” Color or No Color” I had two choices a Beige Paisley or a French Blue lamp shade. The winner was French Blue and here is a picture of them in the room!