The "front room"

We've gone back and forth on what to do with this room.  It's been "the front room", "the music room", "the dining room" (that we never dined in, just stored the never-used dining set), and "the sitting room".  We finally settled on calling it "the front room" until we actually decided what to do with it. 

We do a lot of entertaining.  We LOVE to have families over for dinner and host Thanksgiving, Christmas, and other Holiday events.  We even had Handyman's family reunion at our house last August!  We love being with friends and family!  And we have lots of both. :-)  So we finally decided on making it a "formal dining" room, but not so heavy on the "formal" aspect of it.  We have a mish-mash of antiques and heirlooms from his family and from mine, so I'm working on bringing all of those together in this one room.  The only problem with making it a dining room is that it's totally cut off from the kitchen and family dining.  The kitchen is directly on the other side of the wall.  The plan is to open up that shared wall and thereby opening up all the spaces and improving the flow. 

Here are the "before" pics:



The kitchen backs these 2 walls that you see.



And here's our running list:

·         Front Room TO DO:

o   Frame windows

o   Window treatments

§  Shades from Grandma L’s drapes

§  Purple sheers tied back with strands of Grandma S’s jumbo pearls

o   Window bench pad from drapes

o   New dining table

o   Hang trio of silver platters

o   Do something with the crystal  candle holders

o   Grandma D’s lamps

§  Antique pewter in place of brass?

§  Bead trim for lamp shades?

o   Make chandelier

o   Find/make some chairs and benches

o   Laminate flooring

o   Columns/cabinets and beam

o   Open wall to kitchen

§  Pass-through cabinets

o   Refinish Grandma S’s Buffet

o   Hang Grandma D’s paintings

o   Grandma L’s Italian vase

·         Front Room DONE:

o   Repair and paint walls

I'm sure I'll add a whole lot more to this list before I'm done.  I'm actually very, very excited to do this room.  My favorite color is purple.......and I have all boys. :-( Not a frown on the all boys, a frown on never being able to have a purple-themed room.  Some of the antiques/heirlooms we have are......PURPLE!  I finally get to have my girly room!  Happy dance goin' on over here!

Do you have something you've always wanted to do with a room, but you've not been able to?  Please share!