Today I’m taking a break from all the decision paralysis and instead bringing you an update on the beach house; the dining room and eat-in kitchen reveal. This space has been in its current state for a while but we have a long way to go with décor and accessories. The construction is done, and it’s usable, but we have a long way to go with making it just right.
The original cottage is 20 x 20 feet and the first floor was broken up into a large front room, a small kitchen and a small dining area. We opened up the tiny kitchen into the front room to make the spaces feel larger and relocated the steps from the middle of the cottage to the front corner. This made all the difference.
If you remember the kitchen reveal from last year, we opted for a peninsula with bar stools on the living room side and this is where we eat most often. This tiny kitchen has a lot of usable counter space and surprisingly feels pretty spacious given the actual footprint.
The other side of the kitchen is what we call the dining room though it’s not really a separate room. We put the frig on this side and relocated the antique hutch from the original kitchen to this side to serve as our pantry.
The retro inspired frig isn’t a SMEG, in fact, it was pretty inexpensive. I really fought against red, and for a while considered trying to paint it. Once we had it in place, everyone around me talked me into working with the color as-is. Red is one of my least favorite colors, but between the rug in the kitchen and other accents, it feels more intentional. While I would never want this in my house where I’d see it every day, it’s growing on me a little.
The original plan was to do an l-shaped built-in bench with a round table in the corner but what looks good on paper doesn’t always translate to real life. For a while, we had a round pedestal table with four chairs crammed into this space. The reality was that with four people around the table, there was absolutely no room to get around. It just wasn’t working.
This past summer, B’s dad bought this little drop leaf table at a public sale for $2. One of the top panels had a large crack but it was a clean break so B was sure it could be fixed. He was right and we moved her in right away. What a difference! I’m hoping to refinish the table at some point this spring or summer but it works for now. This is a great spot to drink coffee in the mornings or for working on our laptops. The best part is that when we do have guests, we can open one or both leaves and have a full sized dining table!
The old hutch that we salvaged from the original kitchen is my favorite part of the space. It was in such bad shape but I was able to repair it, add some additional bracing, give it a fresh coat of paint and suddenly it had a new life.
The doors were all missing from the piece and both drawers were damaged beyond repair. Baskets from Target replaced the drawers and B made the doors for the top part including a little groove detail that plays off details on the original piece. I made simple curtains for the base to hide what is stored inside. The open area houses our microwave which keeps it from cluttering up the counters and a bit more out of sight.
B also framed in the top to make it look a little more built-in. I have to say, I never thought this hutch would look this good considering how it looked originally. I’m so glad we were able to save it because this is truly one of the only things that were original to the house.
The vintage metal bar cart was a gift from B’s parents. We’d like to move this to the porch and do a nicer bar cart in here eventually. Until we are sure what direction we want to go with the décor, we are holding off on buying anything else so this works for now.
This little dining space isn’t much but the work is done and now we can focus on living with it until we know what direction we want to take the décor.
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