The dining room and family room are on my list of things to nail this summer. These rooms have mostly been untouched since we moved in and it’s finally time to tear into them.
The two rooms are open to one another, separated by a step down in the family room and possibly a rail (if we decide to keep it). These are some of the most used spaces in the house but the last to be acknowledged because the situation wasn’t horrific enough to be an immediate need. The dining room has had wood floors (partially) installed, a new light installed and I’ve done the tiniest bit of painting (the trim on the 2 doorways). Other than that, we moved in and haven’t changed a thing.
The main decisions to make revolve around the walls. I’m going to save that rant for next time, but it’s an issue of wallpaper staying or going and what to replace it with if it goes. I do know this: many walls and the ceiling will be painted white.
Then there’s this rail that separates the 2 spaces. Cute enough. Would I pick it? Probably not. What I really want is a crazy divider. 
Then there’s the weird pass through space in the wall. The previous owners had covered it with a large china cabinet. I don’t quite get its passthrough usefulness since you’d have to pass over the desk in the kitchen and it would be an equidistant walk to the dining room, which seems like a way better option. Then again, I’m no hostess, what do I know? I love the peekaboo backyard view and the light with it open so we removed the bifold doors on the desk side and I plan to put in some funky woodwork to make it more like a decorative “screen” than a “hole in the wall.”
This light was my one splurge when we moved in. I knew I wanted a Nelson saucer light so I just bought one new from Modernica. I usually don’t do stuff like that, drop a couple hundred on a light. It’s one of the first times I bought reproduction vintage and I feel like a total loser about it but an instantly gratified one. We have had this Heywood Wakefield dining room furniture for a while and it fits in here good enough, though I wish there was room to extend the table more. This set was a North Carolina Craigslist major score. Check out the unfinished floors!
And the curtains. Original to the house. Love them, but are they going to look ridiculous when I paint everything white??? Maybe! I’m going to frame out the rods of both rooms in a wooden box.
My kids and I did this painting and I love it here. It makes the room. 
Ok, so the plan going forward is something like this:
Remove carpetInstall hardwood (mostly done)Swap out old light for saucer lightPaint door trim- Finish flooring
- Install baseboards
- Remove wallpaper
- Paint ceilings and walls
- Hang new wallpaper?
- Frame out pass through
- Put some fancy wood work in the pass thru (see above)
- Re-install the railing (or make a custom divider?)
- Make a wood box for the curtains
- Paint all the pocket doors
SUBURBAN * POP 