The dining room at the coastal cottage is likely to be the first room completed. You caught a glimpse of the space the other day when I shared the trim. We are getting so close in here, and minus adding the base trim when the floors are done, this room will be almost finished.
The dining area is opposite the kitchen tucked in behind the wall where the stairs to the second floor are. It’s a small space that didn’t need a whole lot of work besides finishing. The only major change we made was shifting the cabinet from the kitchen to this space to use for additional storage and as a way to preserve just about the only thing that remained from what the cottage must have looked like originally.
I gave the cabinet a bit of a revamp a couple months ago and we now have it in it’s new home.
B and I found the round pedestal table at a flea market earlier this year and we’ve been so anxious to get it moved in. The space is still a bit of a mess but you get the picture, plus this is real life my friends. Renovations aren’t pretty until they are done.

For the time being, we’ll be using my set of white metal chairs. They are out of the shop / studio but with me not meeting with clients in person anymore they have been stacked up in a corner for a long time and they are too cute to not use. My only issue with them here at the beach house is that they blend into the walls. I either need to add some pillows and a rug or I need to paint the chairs.
What do you think? I’m on the fence.
Long term, we plan to add an “L” shaped bench along the wall under the window and then out toward the opening to the living area. This will not only add additional seating but much needed storage for this tiny cottage.
We’ve decided to hold off on building the bench until some of the other projects are out of the way. For now, the table and four chairs will work just fine and we don’t plan to host any guests until the cottage is complete anyway. It’s just us and the boys.
For now, here is what still needs done in the dining room:
- Touch up paint on the cabinet
- Paint bead board on back of cabinet
- Add molding to the top of the cabinet
- Make and add curtains to bottom
- Add brace under basket drawers
- Prime and paint window
- Touch up trim around window
- Touch up paint at ceiling in corner
- Add refrigerator
- Accessorize
- Paint floors
- Add baseboard trim
- …down the road, add built-in “L” shaped bench in corner
I’ll give you a full resource list and details when the space is finished. I’ve been getting a lot of questions about paint colors lately so I’ll do better about making sure I’m sharing all the details.
Have questions about what we’ve done so far or want more info? Leave a comment below and let me know.
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