House Update/Dining Area

I get asked a lot about the remodeling process off our little “farmhouse”.  I hate I wasn’t able to keep up the blog along the way after we moved in, but life got in the way.  However, I am hoping to get updates posted over the next few months.

Before

To answer a few questions I get asked:

Yes, we are all moved in and loving the country life.

No, we are not completely done with the house.  We have barely touched the bathrooms, and I always have little projects I want done throughout the house.

Yes, we are still working on things.  We typically pick one or two projects a season to work on usually the outside during the spring/summer and the inside during the fall/winter.

Dining Area

I want to start with an update on one of my favorite areas in our house, the dining area.  This area took us almost an entire year to get like I wanted, but it was well worth the wait. Before we moved in, this area adjacent to the kitchen was big enough for a small breakfast table.

Before

First, the floor was removed which showed a leak by the back door.  After fixing the leak, we replaced the back door and framing around it.

Once the wall between the kitchen and living room was gone, it opened up a lot more room for a bigger table and hutch in this area.  I wanted a place to display my fine china and was excited to have enough room to do it.  I found a small hutch perfect for the spot being sold online.  (It just so happen that the man that made it lived down the road from us.)

After buying the hutch, I knew I needed a farmhouse style table.  We found a man that was able to make us a table, because we didn't have time to do it on our own.  However, I (being the picky one) wanted some fancier legs for the table and just so happen to find someone selling these legs on Facebook for dirt cheap. 

The man was able to build our table around the legs and make us a bench for one side.  We were able to use the chairs from our old breakfast table for the other sides.  (I will eventually replace these chairs if I ever find the perfect set for the table.)

The next step was a light fixture. I knew that a normal dining area light fixture would not work in the area, and I did not want a fixture that hung down low.  After looking at lots of stores and not finding anything that would work, I resulted in having one made.  I bought wire baskets, and my dad was able find a wood piece for the base.  He worked on putting it all together to create the perfect light fixture for the area.  He even added Edison bulbs to make it look older.  (The light fixture actually came almost a year after buying the house.  Before making this, we did not have a light fixture hung. We had taken the old one down during the demo time and never put anything else up.) 

Creation Time

Final Product

Edison Bulbs

Decorating was the final step.  I knew I had to incorporate some country style paintings on the walls.  Dad, being the handy artist that he is, was able to paint me four great paintings for the area.  They were just what the space needed. Then I found a light-up "L" for the top of the hutch at Big Lots.

The only thing left for me to do is add a few lights to the hutch, and this area will be completed.

Before

After

Elizabeth