The Dining Room

I have to start this post with a quick house update - we were able to do another tour of the house today, and I am very happy (and relieved) to report that the current owners have done an amazing job of clearing out their junk!  It's not all gone, but I'd say about eighty percent of it is gone...and, the stuff that is still there is the bigger stuff, so maybe they're just waiting for a chance to borrow/rent a larger trailer or something to transport it all?  After seeing it today, mostly empty, it seems that much more real!

OK, now back to the house tour...the next room I'm going to show you is another large room at the front of the house (when standing at the front door looking into the house, this room is on the right).  The thought is that this may have been a second living room type area; but, we are going to change that - we are going to make this room our dining room.  It's pretty big for a dining room, but, it makes the most sense.

I have discovered that I don't have great pictures of this room...I took a lot of pictures of the small details in here, like the baseboard and window trim, but didn't really get anything to give you an idea of the overall layout/shape.  This is the best I have...

Ignore the desk...remember, the previous owners were storing stuff here.  I wish I had taken my camera today, I could have taken some new pictures that would show the house, not the owners stuff.

I also took a lot of pictures of the main 'feature' of this room, the fireplace!

As you can see, the mantle is...elaborate!  I have a picture just like this on my phone, and when I show people, they all ask if we're going to leave this as it is.  I don't really have an answer though, I just can't decide...I mean, it's beautiful - all the intricate woodworking - but, not sure it's our style?  Take a closer look and let me know what you think...

There is a big change planned for this room...

Now, look past the random wire hanging there...and, if you're seeing the plastic on the ceiling, ignore that too.  As you can see, this is right beside the fireplace; and, to the left of those suitcases is the french doors leading into the room.  This is a horrible picture, but I'm showing you this because that wall is going to change - we're going to create a doorway or opening of some sort there - and, it will lead into the new kitchen. 

So, the next room on the tour will be the future kitchen.  I've also been busy looking at pictures of kitchens to get some ideas, so I think I'll include some of those too - it might be interesting to have 'before', 'maybe' and 'after' pictures :)

Note: We were at the house today with a co-worker of Curt's who is going to do the work on the boiler and fireplaces for us.  One of the conditions we included in the purchase was that we could have three more visits to the house before it closes; this has been very helpful because it has allowed Curt to go in and take measurements and then to arrange trades to come in to do estimates.  We get the house in two weeks, and have one visit left...we've saved that for when my Mom and Aunt come to visit next weekend!