Here's the original dining room which is located in the left front section of the home as you enter from the front door.  We are definitely keeping the nice plantation shutters. Do we need a dining room??

Here's another view of the original dining room.  Notice the half wall and the large framed mirror which backs up to the kitchen wall.

 No, we do not need a dining room.  We are building a small dining / breakfast nook area in the rear corner of the home adjacent to the kitchen.  The dining room is being converted into an office.  The half wall  is gone, replaced by a full wall with a pocket door and a transom window above the door. The framed

mirror is also gone. 

This picture shows the original 2nd bath.  The bathroom was very narrow and you entered the room from an odd angle in the hallway. 

 Here the back wall of the 2nd bath has been removed.  We expanded the original space by moving the cold air return, which initially was located in a space directly behind the toilet. 

This is a picture of the newly framed and expanded 2nd bath. The tub is a standard size, yet it is equipped with 6 whirlpool jets so it functions as a small (saves a lot of hot water) spa tub.  Notice the space saving pocket door again.

When considering the space (lack of) that our home offered, we decided that an office would fit our lifestyle better than a formal dining room.   This was really an easy choice.  I would prefer to host a meal in our open kitchen/living area with our quaint Italian dishes rather than dig out our gold rimmed china.

This space works perfectly as a nice office setting.   After having the mirrors pulled, we also removed the half wall from the entry and added a full wall with a transom window and pocket door.  The mirrored wall will now have built in cherry cabinets and lateral file drawers

The cabinets will be the same style and cherry wood as the kitchen and bathrooms.   In a small home, you do not want to mix too many different products and styles.   Carroll Cope, our designer, taught me that point and it may be the most important thing I have learned so far.

When we bought our first home a bazillion years ago, I wanted to decorate each room with a different color and theme.   If we could have afforded new carpet at the time, every room would have had a different color.  The kitchen had periwinkle blue cabinets and red tile countertops that the previous owner had selected.   It was way beyond our budget and imagination to find a solution for that room.  I spent my time and dollars decorating the bedrooms.  I wish I had kept pictures to compare my tastes from when I was 21 to now almost forty years later.

The second bath was gutted with space added.  We got very creative redesigning this space.  It now has a spa bath and a linen closet.  Stay tuned, next week we'll talk about the Great Room, Den, and Guest Bedroom. 

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