French Vintage Dining Room – Before and After

Have a look at my before and after French vintage dining room makeover.

I bet you didn’t know there was a corner fireplace in this room. And did you know that it was once a family room?

Because the main floor of this house is quite long and narrow and small on space, I didn’t need a living room and a family room so I got rid of the room altogether, expanded the kitchen and made the previous family room into the dining room.

For us to make the room work as a dining room with my French Vintage flair, the fireplace had to be removed.

My French Vintage dining room that was once a family room.

By removing the corner fireplace, it allowed more room for a dining table and it opened up the whole space.

This renovated room connects the kitchen to the hallway, a door to the basement and to the back deck.

It seemed odd to me that there was a TV on one wall with a couch on the other wall and the middle of the room was a busy traffic zone.

Here is the door to the basement and to the right of it is the hallway to the powder room, mudroom and foyer.

This wall was so small it just fit a love seat.

So this was one of the walls that I wanted gone during renovation but a partial one had to stay because of the sewer line.

Here are a few renovation photos. Nothing like fresh drywall…aaahhhh.

Bye bye corner fireplace!

You can see in this shot that the room really isn’t that big. I did a lot of measuring to make sure I found the perfect size dining table and I also made sure that it stayed closer to that far wall so as not to impede on all the traffic zones. The French chandelier was hung more to the far wall side too.

As you can see I replaced the sliding glass doors with new French doors leading out to the backyard.

To me, nothing is more relaxing then having the doors swung open in the dining room to dine sort-of al fresco.

And now here are the after photos.

These are just the basics in this dining room but the items I’ve chosen are things I absolutely love and keep in line with my French Vintage style.

The cabinet/bookshelf came with the house and there is just enough room to keep it tucked on that wall.

I wanted this room to be more sparse but once I put the cabinet in there to hold all my decor stuff, I kept it there and love how it looks.

Here is a view down the hall with new doors, bannisters and light fixtures.

And here is a shot from the dining room to the kitchen. Everything to the right of the beam was the part of the wall that was removed and where that couch once sat.

You can read about my big kitchen renovation here. Even though two load-bearing walls were removed and a beam installed in their place, that post on the kitchen island still needed to stay because the floor joists changed direction at the kitchen (don’t ask me why!).

Everything in this room is neutral like the rest of my house so when flowers are brought in like these fresh tulips, they just can’t help but pop and to be need photographed.

Here is one last before and after shot:

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What do you think? Isn’t that a big difference?

Don’t be afraid to change rooms that aren’t meant to be what they were made for. Change things up to what works best for your family and your lifestyle.

Sources:

• Wall color – Simply White OC-117 by Benjamin Moore (Regal matte)
• Hardwood (manufactured wood) throughout – Dansk Hardwood Monterey Wire Brushed Weathered Saddle (Oak)
• Dining table – Renaissance Home (found a similar table at Wayfair)
• Dining chairs – Renaissance Home (see below)
• Chandelier – Aidan Gray 6 light candle chandelier (similar ones here)
• Bar cart – Soft Surroundings, no longer sold (check out similar gold bar carts here)
• Mora clock – Restoration Hardware outlet
• Gold mirror – antique from France
• Champagne bucket – antique
• Bookshelf – came with house

similar table and chairs below

Click in Case You Missed:

Kitchen Renovation

French Vintage Living Room

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