cottage renovation...dining space

Looking at the progress we made in these photos is very rewarding.  The original dining area was poky and saturated with yellow pine.  But the window looks out into the garden and little orchard and is flooded with north light all day, it had potential.

The biggest change is from opening out the wall between the living room and kitchen.  It feels so lovely and open and we can turn the table around making more space for people to sit down.  My favourite change is the bench seat built by the clever Mr B.  I have always wanted a window seat and this one is the perfect place to sit and rest during the day, or enjoy a cup of coffee.

This is what it looked like before...

And these pics are once the wall between the living and kitchen was taken down.

I made the cute cowhide cushions, ran out of fabric so still need to finish the third one, and they are perfect to soften the wooden back.  I loved seeing all the family cuddle up here during the day.  We had our second dinner party and managed to squeeze in nine people, we could never have managed more than five before.

The final change was painting everything white.  It was incredible to see the change this made. The space looked bigger again, white certainly tricks the eye.    It all looks amazing with the burlap lamp shade from Honeybee Homewares, and a few pieces of greenery from the garden.

I am looking forward to doing a little less diy, and a little more relaxing on that window seat this year.