Dining Room Remodel Part 1

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

Pocket Door Kit

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.

Wood Baluster

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.

DINING ROOM LOOKING OUT TO THE FOYER



Kitchen Makeover #2

Transform My Home


My kitchen makeover the second time around had a little, well maybe a lot more thought put into it. (Be sure to check out Kitchen Makover #1 first).  It also helps to have a few more dollars on hand when tackling a kitchen remodel. I spruced up the kitchen when we did our addition in 2007 which I will post on in the future. One major item or items is the appliances, gone is the gold 24 inch wall oven and all the white finishes on the fridge and dishwasher. We are now up to date with all new Jenn-Air stainless steel appliances including a french door fridge, dishwasher, cooktop and 30 inch wall oven/microwave. I tore out the old 24 inch cabinet and built a new one to house the larger oven which is conventional and convection, as is the microwave. Essentially we have double ovens as the microwave can be used as a convection bake oven. I purchased these at S.K. Lavery in West Hartford, I know what you are thinking, $$$$$. Not so, they were actually cheaper there than at Lowe's with free delivery and removal of the old ones. The service has been great as I have had a couple minor problems but I am overall very pleased with the Jenn-Air products. Below is a link to the store.

S.K.Lavery Appliance

This is a shot of the cooktop with four burners and a fifth warming burner. You can also see the wood beadboard backsplash is gone and replaced by a 3X6 subway tiles. It is a nuetral color and has a tumbled appearance with some color variations. I purchased this from Cortina Tile in Plainville. They have a large selection of all kinds of tile and the two women who run the place are super friendly and helpful.


Here you can get a better look at the backsplash and also the new countertop. Gone is the old ceramic tile and wood edge in favor of this high end laminate. I know it is not granite but it looks like it at a fraction of the cost. I did some research and there is info coming out on the hazards of granite with the off gassing causing some health concerns, plus I didn't have the money. One of my best friends who I grew up with fabricates and installs custom laminate counter tops in Simsbury so we did a little barter deal thus the price was right. If you are ever thinking of replacing your countertops check him out, the link is below. He is a super nice guy and has an awesome factory and showroom in an old mill building.

This is close up shot of the countertop which picks up nicely the other colors in the kitchen. It really does look a lot like granite but it is considered a high end laminate so it costs a bit more than your standard color choices. We are totally happy with the appearance and the durability so far.

Scott's Custom Countertops

Replacing countertops is one of the fastest and cheapest things you can do in your kitchen to make a dramatic improvement.

At the same time I replaced the old white enamel cast iron sink with a new stone sink. It is actually a composite material made up of 80% stone. They come in all different shapes and sizes as well as colors, I went with the cafe brown. What I found appealing is they resist scratching and chipping, they are heat resistant and don't stain. After four years it still looks new!! I also replaced the faucet with a new Price-Pfister model from Lowe's. I can't say enough about the faucet and the company as it came with a lifetime warranty. I had a couple issues and needed some parts so I called them up, no questions asked the parts were on the way.

Blanco Sinks

Kitchen Faucets

I also took the opportunity to change the cabinet hardware which I bought from Lowe's as a stock item. All the door and cabinet hardware in the house are now black. I also replaced the ceiling fixture with a hanging pendant over the island and over the table, you guessed it, black. These look cool at night with a clear glass bulb as the metal is punched tin so the light pokes through the holes. These were purchased from Irvine's Tinware. I have a link on the right side of the blog in my favorite websites.

I also removed the ceramic tile from the island and replaced it with a two inch thick wood top which I made in my workshop. It is actually three pieces joined and biscuited together with several coats of a waterproof sealer. At the time of this makeover the color scheme went from blue to black which is in keeping with the rest of the house which you will see in future posts.

Enjoy some completed photos which I hope will inspire and give you ideas for your projects. If you have any questions about any products feel free to ask in the comment section.

FRECH DOOR ADDED

PANTRY STORAGE

PANTRY WORK STATION



KITCHEN BEFORE MAKEOVER #2(same island just new top and paint)



KITCHEN BEFORE MAKEOVER #1(same cabinets just painted white and added decorative routed bead)

Kitchen Makeover #1

Transform My Home

I am going to be focusing on a kitchen project which I tackled at my house early on, about 1998 or so. The biggest challenge was having the funds to do it right, unfortunately I had to cut a few corners to save money. Down the road in 2007 I was able to fix the corners that were cut which I will detail in the next post. I will call this kitchen makeover part 1.

The kitchen was remodeled in 1968 by my parents so we are dealing with thirty year old materials. I would say the trend was dark wood and gold appliances at the time. You can see the dark wood cabinets, the gold oven, although the fridge had been replaced at some point. In the photo I had already ripped down the dark wood tiles that were glued to the plaster ceiling and put up new sheetrock.

Along with dark wood tiles on the ceiling there was also the same dark wood on the walls in the form of panelling, again the trend of the times. This was all ripped out and the plaster walls covered with sheetrock. While all the walls were open this was the perfect time to run new electrical wires for the space. During the demo I uncovered the chimney which had an opening capped that once housed a small wood burning stove in the kitchen.

You can see here a few of the shortcuts I had to take. The first one was the cabinets, although I would have preferred to replace them there was really nothing wrong with them and they were of a good quality. The old ones were dark wood and had smooth solid doors. I took my router and carved a bead in all the doors to add a bit of detail and then painted them white. The bead detail was easy, the painting not so much. First you need to thoroughly clean every surface then lightly sand and wipe clean. You must use an OIL BASE PRIMER to cover the dark wood and two coats of your finish color. I used a hi-gloss white for ease of cleaning. I must say they came out looking pretty good. The other corner you can see is I painted the oven door white with an enamel appliance paint. It was a lot cheaper than a new oven which worked fine at the time. You can also see the porcelain tile going down in this picture as well. For the backsplash I used a beadboard sealed with a penetrating sealer, corner cut number three.
Along with the dark wood ceiling, cabinets and walls, all the doors were hollow and you guessed it dark wood. I replaced these with solid wood six panel pine doors and new hardware.

The finished project photos are below. Once again this was the first makeover at a time when my wife and I didn't have much of an idea as to what our taste would be. Since this time we have gone country, really country, primitive country you would say. The changes you will see in the next post reflect that taste. The book listed at the top of the post is one that I have and recommend. It gives the basic information you need to get started with a kitchen makeover project.