Our tiny blue house has a tiny kitchen and no space for eating and while we're pretty much coffee table diners we thought it might be important to have space for guests. TV trays are not as classy in reality as we had hoped (although very effective!).
The dining room had two built-ins, a corner cabinet with glass doors that was installed in the 1950's (signed and dated "What a long job") and another built-in cabinet that was built into the space around the chimney. We removed both, pulled down the drop ceilings, fixed the 1950's drywall, and painted... a lot. We also tightened the space around the chimney, reinstalling piping agains the old chimney stack, and rebuilt the space around, making it significantly smaller as a means of expanding the floor space as much as possible.
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| Back of Corner Cabinet "What a long job" |
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| Corner Cabinet and Repaired Ceiling |
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| Chimney Cabinet Removed |
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| Photo of Inside of Cabinet "Box" |
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| After - Chimney Cabinet Removed and "Box" Resized |
In keeping with the period of the house we wanted the space to feel bright and formal and so we set to work installing a chair rail (at a more appropriate height - the old one was nearly three inches higher than most chair backs) and began searching for the perfect light fixture, classic and elegant but not too chunky (we were dealing with one of the smallest dining spaces EVER). I had my heart set on the dripping crystal chandeliers of the early 20th century, the ones with intricate brass moldings (not the glass body types that became popular mid century). I had looked at some beautiful recreations, all beyond our budget. After three months of searching we finally found it. A 1902 brass and crystal chandelier from Spain... and it was perfect. AND I'm taking it with me when we move! Wouldn't you?
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