Since last winter when we installed, stained and sealed oak hardwood floors, the dining room has been in a state of useable- unfinished. Technically the dining room renovation began in the Fall of 2015 when we removed the wood stove. Remember this? Everything about this corner just made me cringe! Though it's a process that is taking us the slow and steady route, I know we will be so grateful when it is all done. It's so easy to forget what "was" the original dining room, because we get used to each stage and forget a few steps before we arrived at each current state. Growing further removed from the original dining room- and I sure am grateful!
This is a photo after we had installed/ finished our hardwoods in January 2016.
In the Fall of 2016, we were in our "unfinished" usable state. And then on a warm day in October the mess began with demo- of the drywall and insulation. Due to a few factors, it was worth it for us to replace the drywall. We covered up the hole where the wood stove exited and saved ourselves repair of where the "rocks" were randomly stuck on the upper walls (for decoration?)
A few weeks later the Laird installed new insulation and drywall- and that made a huge difference in not only the brightness of the room, but the overall "more finished" appearance. We also installed a cool semi-flush chicken wire light fixture that fits our theme quite well. More details photos to come as the room comes together. I painted the pine panelling around the window with a stain block primer. Eventually we will be building in floor to ceiling bookcases on both sides of the large window, with a window seat- storage bench between.
Indoor projects in the month of January is becoming a tradition. We picked back up with steady work towards completion, and are seeing everything come together quite beautifully.
A couple weekends ago, we primed the new drywall. Primer made everything look AMAZING! We've never seen so much white in this corner (remember the awful dark wood stove?!). It makes the room a bit brighter, which helps with such short ceilings.
Always nice to have a little helper for painting! Last weekend we revisited "Board & Batten" installation. We loved how much it improved our stair well, with such little cost and work- we've planned to continue the B&B around the dining room when the time came. And that time came! Because our house is anything but level/ normal due the the age (built 1890 & lots of settling of the foundation), we had to measure & level every single board. This involved back and forth to the saw, to make things fit just right.
The Laird did an amazing job! I painted the upper wall in a light grey color. We still have to paint the B&B and the pine paneling around the large window. But this is where we're at right now. We will be adding a "picture shelf" to the top rail. There is still quite a bit left to do, but we are making progress that is encouraging. It sounds like it will be some time before we take on the task of the built in book cases & window seat. But for now, I am beyond encouraged to be realizing our finished dining room. It's been a very slow process, and I have to admit that each winter is has discouraged me to see our limited progress. But I have realized that you don't really remember the unfinished once it's done, and all the work, steps, time it took to get there- you simply just enjoy what it is. And it's nice to know that very soon we will be able to finally unpack all of our books, photos & "jungle room" artifacts and call this our dining room.
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