dining room final reveal

 I am so happy to say this...the dining room makeover is complete...oh my I'm lying I still have to finish the crazy amazing crown moulding but that is for the spring.
For now here is my new dining room...

 Nightime shot right after we moved the furniture and wine fridge in, it was fun to just sit back and enjoy all my hard work.

It's time to plan a dinner to christen this room, what do I make???

We really need to get some wine and soon no one wants an empty wine fridge, I drink Pinot Grigio and Sweet sparkling wine just in case you are wondering or want to donate.

 I put in a wood register I finished just like the floors, I need a whole lot more like this, it makes such a huge difference over the stark white plastic ones.

Here is the before, this is how it looked right before we moved in, plus some cheap carpet.

 Right after we moved in this room was our staging/storage area for months.

 This all has come a long way from when I dry fit our fridge...I am sure some people wondered how this all was going to turn out.

It was sad to see this pine floor go under a coat or two of stain but it was the right thing to do, it's so nice to see how one room flows into another seamlessly...I love my dark stained floors.

Thanks for joining me during this long journey...I am very glad it is over and I am happy so happy with how it turned out, even better than I had even dreamt it would, it was a whole lot of work and I want to say a thank you to all who followed on instagram for all my daily updates and encouraged me ever step of the way, it made the journey so much more enjoyable.

One more thing I want to mention, big congratulations to Mel of  Broadview Heights blog who won the Scentsicles giveaway...


Thanks for stopping by, cheers for now...Chris

Dining room built ins...are complete

I am so happy to say that the built in project and dining room project as far as the permanent changes are all complete...well there are a few minor paint touch ups but that is it...and I will admit I love it...it feels like Christmas morning and I couldn't be more thrilled.

The floors are all stained Kona and top coated three times...now we wait three dayd for the full cure to move furnture back in to the room. 

 Although I have to wait to move the table and chairs in I didn't have to wait to put my pretty things on the shelves...I thought I would have a lot of shopping to do to fill the shelves turns out I had more than enough that has been always hidden away that I can finally display and enjoy.

 I am going to have to buy a lot of wine for the wine fridge though...can I please put it in already, I am dying to see it in place.

I am trying to decide if the room can handle a 60" round , until I decide I will put our 48" table and four chairs in on Wednesday 3:00pm  

Let's just go back 7 weeks to the sad state this room was in...I am so happy to get my life back...this poor house needs a deep clean thanks to this renovation...gotta grab a new furnace filter...don't forget to change those after a big messy project.
I can't believe I get to enjoy this room never mind that I created it too....sometimes I amaze myself...

from sketch to reality

 It all started with a little sketch a full wall of cabinets with two tall open shelving units.
After a lot of hours and days and weeks of plugging away I finally have my completed built-ins.
I think that they turned out even better than I had hoped for.

 The corner window and bulkhead proved a little challenging but I think it turned out great.
I took a lot longer than I had thought but when I stand back ad look at it all done, well except for the marble I have yet to get it was all worth all the hard work and long hours and money spent...I figure easily this built-in would cost $3000 plus to have done and I'm not sure what it cost me exactly but let's just say it was a fraction of that cost.

 I am so looking forward to getting the floor stained finally. I will first screw down any areas that aren't as flush as they should be, then I will make a mixture of saw dust and glue and fill an gaps before I do the final sanding.

 I especially love how these shaker doors turned out and I am so glad I went with the contemporary brass hardware.

 Close up of the stained wood backs and trim detail.

I am really excited to see the wine cooler in place full of wine and with the lights a glow....I am really looking forward to having our first dinner in this room...very soon.

See you soon...

5 weeks of dining room improvements

I can't believe I have been slowly plugging away at this dining room project for 5 weeks when last year it took me 2 weeks to complete a coffered ceiling and flooring install in my family room , spraining my ankles this summer has really changed how quickly I move...safety first.

 How can installing doors and knobs be the hardest part of a project like this....but it always is...turns out I was given not quite the right screws for the knobs, well that caused a lot of frustration...making a simple jig for the knobs prooved harder than it seemed resulting in the first door having the wrong holes being drilled so that mean a repair...and finding the correct screws to replace the ones that had been broken in my attempts to install the knobs resulted in a very long search for the correct screws...european hardware!!!! So I am relieved the doors are in and the knobs are on and centered...now I can move on to the floor.

 I am loving all this new storage.

Hopefully I will get to the uppers very soon because I can't wait to see how it looks. I am getting excited to get this room put back together, I think the ceiling will have to wait till after the new year...I need to focus on Christmas.

Plugging away at the dining room makeover...DIY DOORS

I thought I should probably do a little update on my dining room project as things really took a leap in the right direction yesterday...DOORS

 Slowly but surly I am still working away at the dining room, I am not letting it take over my life so it is going slowly but I am OK with that , there is no rush.
I had to dry fit the solid tops I made last week just to see how they would look in place, they look just as I had hoped, victory.

 So excited to see the wine cooler in place hopefully very soon...perhaps in a week or two if I'm honest, this family keeps me busy.

 Things were really looking up now that I was able to dry fit some of the doors. I had considered having custom doors made but I figured I would just go ahead and build my own like I did for the laundry room sink cabinet.... Just simple shaker doors, this was going to save me about $260 at least ...that's a lot of $$ to put towards oh the marble I want for the middle section. Shaker doors are kind of pricey to have made and mitered corners are even more expensive.

I made this door 2 years ago and it is holding up very well, so I figured it was worth trying again, this time I used pocket holes and that kept things simple and it worked well so I'm sticking with that, simple and cost effective.

I swear it looks as though my Ryobi tools are product placement but I swear they are just always around...you are welcome Ryobi...feel free to send me any Ryobi products to repay me....wink wink.

What a difference a couple of weeks makes.

I decided to use this sureply which is a flooring underlayment if I am correct....the side rails of the door frame are actually pine flooring I ripped down to 2.5 " , the groove perfectly fit this material so it was fine by me...all of the built-in will be painted so it will be fine. So far I think these doors have cost me about $30...well that's not bad at all is it?

Of course I was 2 small doors short of flooring so I will be off to the lumber yard this morning to finish this door part of the project.

Next I have to do a lot of sanding then priming and I should decide on harware becasue my origional idea isn't going to work after all...I would love a contemporary brass knob but they seem hard to find around here.

I just have to show you this beautiful tree in my yard, it's one of the only trees around still with its leaves and this orange is so stunning in person it is spectacular.

I hope you are enjoying this fall...I think some snow is in the near future which makes me sad... oh well that's my issue...thanks for stopping by.

Built-ins are coming along , slowly but ...

 I am now at the one week mark with the wall of built-ins I am working on. Here are a few progress photos just for fun.

 There is one thing I just love and it's symmetry , these built ins are very appealing to me.I can't wait to tackle our master bedroom built-ins now, I am so inspired.

Here is how I left things yesterday, the shelves were all cut and positioned and the baseboards were re-installed. I primed and sanded them out of the room to save on mess and dust. Today the crown moulding will get installed and the shelves and desk top will all be installed , then moving onto the beadboard for the open shelving. I must get out to Marbel to order the custom doors for the bases. Painting is due to begin Wednesday.
There you have it , progress is good and steady and everyone is happy so far.
Off I go to start another busy day...have a good one.

Finishing touches

Installing the door and drawer front completes my daughter Sophie's bedroom built-ins. 

 I have also finished up on my other daughter Mason's bathroom where I added a frame with storage to the vanity mirror and drawers and foot detail to her vanity.

 before brown, no drawers or foot detail

 after three drawers and simple foot detail , adding those drawers has made a huge difference in the clutter on the counter...

Going to call these projects completed...

Day three of built-ins

 Things are moving along quite well with the built-ins in my daughters room.

Moving onto day 4 of probably 10 days since there are drawers and lots of painting to do...today I will finish the trimming and crown moulding, then adding the supports for drawer slides , building drawers installing drawers and making or ordering drawer fronts....this will be keeping me busy for some time.