A 1920s craftsman bungalow is the “original” open concept design in home building in which the living room opens to the dining room. Sometimes the change to the dining room was marked with cased opening, columns, bookcases on either opening, or a pocket door. A previous owner walled off the dining room (see picture with wall opened to studs) so this will be opened once again.
Similar to the living room built in cabinets, the dining room was also painted and tiled (see picture with white cabinets and black slate tile). The windows were covered with plywood. The middle drawers were missing.
We removed the tile, stripped the paint, sanded to original wood, stained it with Early American stain color, 3 coats of poly and La Mesan Tom G, a local furniture maker and wood craftsman made a new set of drawers. The hardware was also painted so many hours were spent removing paint and buffing the brass to return the shine (see picture with wood restored). We wanted to break up the wood on wood look and had left over Batchelder tile so used it for a backsplash to the middle countertop and thought it would help tie into the living room well. The dining room will be the area the deli cheese cases will be located.
