Getting Dining Room ready for renovations

Here is the Dining room which adjoins the kitchen:

I started the day after Christmas, packing up my dishes to store safely in the basement while the work is going on.
The large bureaux that I use as a buffet will no longer be in here. I will use it in the guest room/ (Another transformation, soon to come)
I will keep the table, China closet and the small server in here. The server will go where I currently have the bureaux/ buffet, because that window above the server will become a French door. Which will step out to the pool area and the grill.

 The floor will be replaced with the same as we use in the kitchen.

Yippie.....The cabinets are to be delivered on tuesday. The contractor we hired advised us to wait till the cabinets actually arrived before removing the old cabinets, because we will want to make sure they are the right color, and style.
Although it is not commonplace for a mistake to be made, the fact that the cabinets take 5 weeks to make could certainly cause us some major issues if they were wrong and we had no kitchen when they arrived!!

So that is the first note to make if you ever do a major change like this.

• Wait for delivery
• Check that they are correct and not damaged
• Then dismantle your kitchen

So we had to make room in the garage and in the basement for the coming cabinetry because ... it is a lot of cabinets.
Now that the space has been made I am moving on to finish packing up my cherished dining room dishes and depression glass, milk glass and antique pitchers.
 Yep I am a bit of a collector, but I like to use my collections!

The blue and white dishes in the background  were made by Tiffany and company, given to me by my stepmom. The salt and pepper in the onion pattern was a free gift years ago from Watkins company. Other items added along through the years only if they really spoke to me! The blue and white pitcher on the left, acquired years ago, at antique shop, while killing time waiting for my nephews' wedding in upstate New York.
I always liked those blue and white Dining / Kitchen looks in magazines. I think these will look so pretty with my new white cabinets.
The opening you see in the pic below leads to the living room,

Where currently my husband has squeezed in his office desk, and I am working on moving that disaster to another area of the house. ( He is not an easy one to move ..:(().

 It's best if it seems to be his idea!...

 Any ideas on convincing him are more than welcome!!! :))

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So I will be putting up another French Door to separate the noise from that Living/Office/ Mess.

So... Next week it will begin...And this is where we are today!!

The table has safely been taken to the basement..boxes have been labeled, the packing is almost finished.

I found some great stuff I had almost forgotten I had. Now I am seriously hoping to be able to use my ruby depression and pink depression glass when Valentines Day comes around!!

It is so pretty, you can see traces of amber, in the middle and around the edges, when you hold it up to the light!

Some say the work will never be done by then, It is only 1 month away!... I can hope can't I?
I can think positive, but not actually EXPECT!.... Anyone else think it might work out? Does anyone have a story of a 1 month renovation?

A few years back,when I renovated the Cottage kitchen down the shore, it took 3 months!! But then we didn't live there!
 I promise I will also post about that renovation later this year.
That was a very, very dark and nasty kitchen and it is so  lovely now!

Below is one more inspiration photo of the last cabinet that I want , that will end the run as you go into the Dining room by the door...I wanted it angled like this to soften the approach to the door.
When this goes in doesn't it look like a great place to store some of my blue and white dishes?

OK, I have to get back to my packing!  Posting this over at Funky Junk Interiors Come join in!
Thanks for stopping by!

Let the Kitchen Renovation Begin

In the next few weeks I will be renovating my kitchen and dining room. I am so excited about it I can hardly breathe. We procrastinated on this for 2 years (Knowing the disruption it would cause).
This is our primary residence, not the beach cottage. It is long overdue. Every major appliances has been failing, and there is not nearly enough cabinets.
The kitchen seems small and cramped so I am completley opening it up to the dining room, so I can run one long wall of cabinets down the entire back wall.
We are changing windows and doors to achieve the open- look that I desire.

Here is a 360 of what we have now going counter clockwise.
One thing I will miss is my kitchen table, it is the first thing I see when I enter the room.

The large window and the door will have to go to make room for a long line of cabinetry.
I will put in a double window above a sink and eliminate the back door. ( putting a new French door elsewhere.... you'll see.)

Where this small pantry is here we will be extending the wall and putting in more cabinets.


To the left of all this is the work area. the stove, sink, dishwasher and refrig. are all on their last legs.
And the cabinets, floating from the ceiling, there is a small space between them and the counter, so it's just not opened up enough to the dining room and, ......

Do you see that Dining room window in the back on the right?... That will become a new French door.

As you can see the cabinets just don't hold enough, there is not that many. We usually always wind up putting some stuff on the microwave because we cant fit it!!

There is about 15 cabinets here, and with the changes I am making I will have, 29 cabinets.... that is twice as much!

I actually love the black sink and might keep it. It is like granite and, I haven't found any I like better yet, I will just make it an undermount which can be done with this particular style. 

This fridge doesn't owe us a thing, and has been leaking so I will get one with a larger capacity.

All the appliances will be switched to Stainless, and my cabinets will be white. I love the carrera marble but not the maintenence, or expense so I am looking at some granites that have that look.

Below are some pictures from the idea book I have created. Showing the looks I am going for.

I would like a hearth like stove area similar to this but with the sides completely open.

I adore the pot filler, the corbels, and the design on the backsplash. I just need room for my elbows.

I love the platter and pottery on top.

More magazine love:

I love the large pane glass window over the sink.

I want a nice island in the middle to eat at because we are giving up our kitchen table.

The overall look I am going for when viewing from the dining area is below: So this is my inspiration.

Except my oven area will be where their refrigerator is.

 Note the interesting chandelier in this photo. It looks like it is made from twigs!!

Below is the view from the dining room now.... Those cabinets really chop up the view! I hope my vision turns out like the inspiration photo! 

That whole blank wall to the left will be my stove area. 

And that light will have to go!! Time for a pretty chandy or 2!

So I will be posting about the events to come in the next few weeks, or months, however long this takes.

Wish me luck and please let me know if you have any great ideas or suggestions!

Thanks for stopping by! 














I'm joining in the fun at Gina's Transformation Thursdays