A few years ago, we decided that the dining room needed to be remodeled.  We want it to be an Arts & Crafts XANADU.  Paneled walls, a proper A&C chandelier, and A&C furniture.  Such a project couldn't be done overnight...doing the work myself, it would take a long time and a lot of effort to achieve our goals.

The first thing I did was to start replacing furniture.  In 2008, I built this Roycroft magazine stand out of black walnut.  Walnut was chosen because our one piece of good dining room furniture, a ~1930s Art Deco sideboard, is made of walnut.

In 2009, I built a window bench/built-in storage cabinet under our bay windows.  The idea was to make it a piece of built-in furniture, so the bits you see will be made of gumwood (like our trim) and stained to make it look like it's been there since the house was new.

I also built a freestanding walnut corner cabinet out of walnut and pine.

With the furniture done, it was time to do the room itself.

This is what the dining room initially looked like. Some natural gumwood, but the crown molding was painted.

First order of business was to strip the crown molding, make repairs as necessary, and refinish it. Luckily, all I needed to do was put some shellac on the crown, and it matched the rest of the woodwork...the original stain was still intact under the paint.

Next thing was to repair/paint the ceiling and upper part of the walls. Trust me, the yellow isn't as obnoxious in real life as it appears here. :)

I started the paneling next...MDF base with gumwood veneer on top.

Here's the trim with the gumwood veneer applied, as well as the solid gumwood plate rail and corbels. Can you tell it was a little before Christmas when this was done?

Panels going in....baltic birch plywood in a somewhat contrasting color to the gumwood.

And here's the final product (the table and chairs were replaced with a quartersawn white oak A&C dining set later). The ceiling was also patched up a bit and painted, and a new 3-light Craftsman-style fixture replaced the ugly brass chandelier. We're quite pleased with how it turned out!