I wanted to show you the complete before and after and give you the list of work that has gone into this room evolution.
Before way back in 2003
Let's see where do I begin , the carpet , we had this broadloom , lack of any wall mouldings, and really thin casings , we had an eating area , see the round pine table , now our coffee table painted blue , the coffee table that was there made by my husband , loved it but it didn't look good on the wood floors we later installed it blended away , wood on wood , blah contrast is a good thing .
And now the after , first I applied the wainscotting , then two years later we put in the dark antiqued wood floors , I built up the mantel last Christmas, cut down the kitchen table and painted it to make a spacious coffee table , filled the walls with accessories and painted the mirror black , added a beam and beadboard ceiling, built a huge kitchen island instead of an eating area , that about covers it , I took my time and did a little at a time , this is a great example of an evolution of a room , don't be put off if you can pull off all the improvements you want for a space take them one step at a time, move in day should not be the day of completion its just the beginning.*note those kids now are 7 and 10 , it takes time just like raising kids.