REFRESH Dining Room

By Amber Bouthot

This month’s Reader DIY project comes from Rich and Rebecca Karcher. They’ve lived in their home for about 5 years and haven’t known quite what to do with their front room.

“It may have been intended as a dining room or an office, but we mainly stored mismatched furniture in it,” Rebecca explains. “I realized I had no place to host friends for dinner, so I dreamed of creating a space for that.”

What was your inspiration for the project?

As with many people who spent more time at home the past nearly three years, we started looking at how to make the space more usable. In the days when we shouldn’t have visitors (due to the pandemic), I daydreamed about having friends over for a nice dinner. Our house, built in 2000, doesn’t have a lot of architectural “character,” but I thought we could maybe add a little.

In the front room is one wall with no doorway and no window: nothing but a blank wall. I envisioned trying to add board and batten to that wall to add some dimension and a little interest. I showed Rich a few photos, and he found a couple of online videos. We did the math to figure out how to lay out the wood strips in an even pattern, about 5’ high. We chose just the “right” white paint and then used a dark navy (“Volcanic Ash”) for the upper part of the wall; a paint color we used on built in bookcases in another room of the house to try to give some consistency. We put a light bluishgray (“North Star”) on the rest of the walls. We switched out wooden blinds for white painted wood blinds to pick up on the white wall.

I was determined to add a large round dining table (found it on Wayfair) and comfortable leather chairs. Rich assembled a multiple-prism flush mount light fixture, and we are awaiting delivery of a French country style buffet. Eventually we’ll tear out the carpet and put in luxury vinyl plank flooring, but even while it’s still in progress we’re enjoying hosting dinners.

How long did it take from start to finish?

We started in early November and worked on it on the weekends. We finished just prior to Thanksgiving (approx 32 hours).

Was it easier or harder than you anticipated?

Easier, but Rich used a laser level and a nail gun, which helped immensely.

What was the total cost of the project

$50 wood, $20 caulking, $130 for paint, $10 for outlet and switch covers, $100 for blinds, $260 for light fixture.

What did you like best about the undertaking?

The best part is the sense of accomplishment and the happiness that it looks so close to how we envisioned!

What was the most challenging aspect?

Hanging the individual prisms on a light fixture that came without instructions! a