BEFORE:

Notice the wainscot on the lower wall section. It was in poor repair in places and was too informal for the dining room we had imagined. The reach-thru to the kitchen was a source of much consternation. We really didn't want to remove it, but it interfered with placement of wall sconces and anticipated furnishings. Eventually we decided to close it off in the formal dining room, but kept it open on the kitchen side.

Here is the original wall with a door to what became the library. The door jamb was about 18 inches wide and set at an angle. The lower section of the cabinet had doors that were plywood. We closed off both the door and the cabinet on the dining room side and used the space to make built in bookshelves in the library. We also removed the hot water radiator when we installed under the floor radiant heat. That's Marti sitting in the library wondering "what are we going to do with this?"

DURING:

The view from the kitchen doorway. For a month or so you could stand in the kitchen and look thru the dining room wall into the library and out the front of the house. Knocking down plaster is one of the dirtiest, dustiest jobs ever. Notice the snow shovel! We used that to haul out the debris.

Hard to believe this is the same wall! Notice the thermostat hanging from the wall and the lack of a heat register in the corner. That was the only thermostat in the house and the radiant floor heat wasn't yet functional. It was always calling for heat which kept the upstairs at about 85 while the dining room was a "comfy" 55-60. Nearly froze to death during the day and cooked at night.

AFTER:

Same corner at our first Christmas Inn tour. What a difference a year makes! Look closely at the pinstripe on the ceiling and you can see how Stacy wove it under and over (next photo shows it a bit closer).There are around 80 different individual pieces of art paper on this ceiling alone. What an artist!

Marti found a great deal on an antique "Gasolier" chandelier that would be just perfect! David thought it was too much money, but Marti finally wore him down, "It's going to be the crowning glory of this room!!" So the purchase was made! When it arrived we found that the gas part of it had not been electrified and the wiring of the electric part was sketchy. We ended up paying twice the purchase price to rewire it.... and then, of course, we needed to replace the rather plain shades with exquisite opalescent ones. What a deal! But it does look fantastic and is period perfect. When electricity first became accessible, it was terribly unreliable so the Victorians used a dual system. Shades pointing down are the original electric ones and gas was routed to the shades pointing up. The ornate valve handle is at the bottom of the gas arms. Whew, our 41 year marriage survived a close one!