I would describe myself as a nester. I would also tell you that like alot of people, change is challenging. However, you would never know these things about me by looking at my house and the evolution of my style over time. I am constantly changing things around.
I never know when or why the inspiration to change something will hit me. I had just such a moment in my dining room when I realized one small change would change the entire dynamic of my dining-living room space.
Once I have the idea of what I want to do, the next step is the floor plan. Here is the current floor plan, to scale:
Dining Room Current Floor Plan
You can see from this lay out, the space is very small (narrow) so the options are limited. The new floor plan will open up the space visually as well as practically, by improving traffic flow and allowing more space for the living room furniture by kicking it (slightly) into the plane of the dining room. Here is the proposed new floor plan:
Dining Room Proposed Floor Plan
Here is the “to do” list:
- Build window seat
- Swag lamp over to new dining area
- Move antique cabinet to where the bench is
- Find a new home for the bench
- Make window seat cushions
- Remove leaf from dining table
- Store two of the four dining room chairs
Cost wise, this is a very economical re do that will have major impact. The materials for the window seat should be $200, give or take. Beyond that, since I already have the fabric, I only need some foam for the bench cushions which I would estimate to be appr. $50.
The result will be featured in next week’s blog article.
As always, thank you for stopping by!
xoxo,
Cindy
This will be removed and the bench (not pictured) will be removed and replaced with the antique cabinet shown in the picture below.
This area will be the new window seat/dining area and this cabinet will remain in the dining room, but moved to another place.
This won’t change, but will now become part of the window seat area for the dining table.
I enjoy your posts for all your intuitive design ideas, Cynthia! Working with smaller spaces always present challenges, but, as you demonstrate, these are easily dealt with with a lot of thought, a little time, and some easy effort! The proposed changes make sense and should look terrific!
It will sound a little crazy to a lot of folks who are always wanting for more space, buy I long for a smaller place at times. I just find their coziness and challenges more fun than trying to fill larger spaces in ways that don’t always end up looking/feeling quite as balanced or comfortable.
Lastly, it’s talented people like you that help inspire those of us who are less-visionary by dreaming up tasteful, inexpensive and easily accomplished ways to make an impact within the home.
Keep up the good work, Lady! And don’t forget the after pics, please!
why thank you, kiddo! I hear what you are saying. If I won the lottery, I still wouldn’t live in a big house. I just like the cozy feel of smaller spaces; it’s much more intimate. Thanks for being such a supportive follower…you don’t know what that means to me. Until next week…with the “after” pics!:)