The next project I took on was the dining room or should I say what was the den and a wasted space used as a hallway to the living room. About the year 2000 I decided to begin giving this space some needed identity. As you can see from the photo below it was divided by a wall separating a small den and what I would call a very wide hallway because it could not be used as a room. The two spaces combined are 12 X18 and make a nice sized room. I thought about making a large sitting room but ultimately decided on a dining room, although to this day it really is not used a whole lot. The family usually eats in the kitchen at the table or the island and it seems like the dining room is saved for special occasions. I would love to open up the kitchen to the dining room however being a center stair colonial that is not possible. I grew up in this house and I remember the dividing wall being put up to make a small bedroom for my ailing grandpa. I know this was not a load bearing wall due to that fact thus I was able to remove it. Note the dark green carpet, white paneling and dark wood banister. The french door that you see in at the far end of the room leads to a screened in porch which we still use today. You can even see my wedding photo on the wall.
Here you can see the wall coming down and some graffiti on the back of the sheetrock. After further review my oldest sister is responsible for this, nice artwork though. I actually do this whenever I remodel anything, I don't do artwork but I do leave current newspapers and things in the walls. I will also write my name on things so when someone remodels again they will be able to see some sort of history of the house and the occupants. 
Probably the biggest change to the space was that I added a pocket door leading to the kitchen. There is a doorway from the kitchen to the dining room near the bottom of the stairs, you can see this french door in my last kitchen post. Since the cooking area of the kitchen is toward the back of the house it would have been inconvenient to use that access as the only way to get to the dining room. The addition of the pocket doorway to the rear of the dining room allows a pass through directly from the cooking area to the dining room. The space between the rooms was previously a closet but now I made it a little pantry area with storage for wine and glasses as well as the coffee pot and toaster. It works well. This was a load bearing wall so once the opening was cut I did need to put a header over that opening to support the weight. The pocket door kit which includes the track and metal studs was purchased at Lowe's as well as the solid pine six panel door. You can also see that I removed the existing plaster ceiling which enabled me to put in all new electrical wiring for lights and plugs. 
Here is a shot of the existing doorway between the kitchen and dining room.
This picture shows the new sheetrock up and primed with the pocket door in place. Link below
As you can see the stairs were a very dark wood and they actually had orange shag carpet on the treads, real 70's. I wound up replacing the railing and sanding down the treads for a much nicer look. White balusters and white risers with natural wood finish on the treads and handrail, your typical colonial appearance. Again I lived at Lowe's for most of these projects so that is where all the material came from. The balusters actually came painted white which was nice because they are a pain in the but to paint. The wood is finished with a clear penetrating stain, no polyurethane in this house. You can see the finished product at the end. I was going to finish detailing the dining room in one post but decided to split it into two. The flooring is next and there is a lot to talk about. For now here is a during construction picture, finished photos of the room to come. The green is the paint on the walls after I removed the paneling. NICE COLOR.
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| DINING ROOM LOOKING OUT TO THE FOYER |
