Begonia Dining Nook

[TNLAKEPANDA]

If you have a Begonia you probably never really use that front dining nook to eat in. We found it to be wasted space.... So we ordered matching cabinets and installed a desk work area. It turned out really nice and now that nook area has a real purpose. We looked at some nice desk wall units but decided that the built-in custom look was worth a little more money. By using matching cabinets it really expands the kitchen. Costs can vary depending on your cabinets and the counter top you use. We did not try to match our granite but went with a black granite that would compliment our existing since it has a lot of black in it. Total cost installed was about $3500. We got quotes as high as $5600 but kept researching and shopping.

[Happinow]

Nicely done.

[Marlo]

Very nice and a great idea especially if you're not going to be using a dining nook.

[Villager Audio Video]

Looks great! We did the same thing in our Begonia.

[TNLAKEPANDA]

Looks great! We did the same thing in our Begonia.

That looks great with the acent color paint. When we get back in the Fall we will have to do some paintig to get some color in the house.

[Eve2278]

If you have a Begonia you probably never really use that front dining nook to eat in. We found it to be wasted space.... So we ordered matching cabinets and installed a desk work area. It turned out really nice and now that nook area has a real purpose. We looked at some nice desk wall units but decided that the built-in custom look was worth a little more money. By using matching cabinets it really expands the kitchen. Costs can vary depending on your cabinets and the counter top you use. We did not try to match our granite but went with a black granite that would compliment our existing since it has a lot of black in it. Total cost installed was about $3500. We got quotes as high as $5600 but kept researching and shopping.

Do you mind us asking where the cabinets came from and who did the install, was it done by one company? That is beautiful job! What a great idea. I'm looking to make a closet into an office shelving area.

[Marlo]

I also wondered how you found which cabinets you had. Did you go through the home warranty dept to figure out the style and color of the original cabinets??

[EnglishJW]

If you have a Begonia you probably never really use that front dining nook to eat in. We found it to be wasted space.... So we ordered matching cabinets and installed a desk work area. It turned out really nice and now that nook area has a real purpose. We looked at some nice desk wall units but decided that the built-in custom look was worth a little more money. By using matching cabinets it really expands the kitchen. Costs can vary depending on your cabinets and the counter top you use. We did not try to match our granite but went with a black granite that would compliment our existing since it has a lot of black in it. Total cost installed was about $3500. We got quotes as high as $5600 but kept researching and shopping.

Thanks for the great idea.

[indianavette]

Very nice

[mgman]

We did the same thing but converted it into a bar. Bought a small modern bar online and had it shipped to the house. Timberwood Properties did the work and matched everything to the original, even the counter tops. Added a two section wine cooler, some mirrors and it was ready to party.

[TNLAKEPANDA]

We did the same thing but converted it into a bar. Bought a small modern bar online and had it shipped to the house. Timberwood Properties did the work and matched everything to the original, even the counter tops. Added a two section wine cooler, some mirrors and it was ready to party.

That looks great. Could not enlarge the photos for some reason but it looks like it was original. We thought about doing a bar area but decided that a desk and storage would be more useful. I wish we had the 2' stretched Begonia but we don't so space is a little tight. Since it is our Winter residence it works out OK.

[Culvers2Villages]

Oh my goodness... you guys are awesome!!! Thanks for the idea... I have often said... we have 3 places to eat in this house... and it's all just wasted!!!

[sgiamp1]

Looks great! We did the same thing in our Begonia.

We want to put cabinets and a desk in our nook and would love to see what others have done. The pictures on this thread are beautiful but we'd like to see what ideas others have.

Thanks in advance for posting yours.

[chiefrose]

We also had no need for a third dining area so we had a "back bar" built in the area where the dining room would be located. There are wine racks in one of the lower cabinets. Since the picture we also had a mirror installed.

[George Bieniaszek]

Love all the pics and ideas. We love the Begonia. The only thing we don't think would work is the garage space, specifically, the golf cart bay. We will downsize to 2 cars and we currently have 2 golf carts. Looking for ideas or experience how anyone with a Begonia handles garaging 2 cars and 2 golf carts.

Thanks

[Villager Audio Video]

Not sure how you'll get that done. We stretched out garage 4' wide and 4' deep and I couldn't get 2 golf carts and 2 cars in it.

Might want to look at Gardinia's with 3 car garages.

[George Bieniaszek]

Not sure how you'll get that done. We stretched out garage 4' wide and 4' deep and I couldn't get 2 golf carts and 2 cars in it.

Might want to look at Gardinia's with 3 car garages.

Thanks for the input. We are realizing that a Begonia may not be the ideal choice for us. We have a new Camry and an older Corvette and thinking that the Gardenia may be the better fit for us.

Appreciate your input. Thanks

[RetiredInTV]

We use our dining area as a library. The table set in the breakfast nook area is enough.

[YouNeverKnow]

That looks great. Could not enlarge the photos for some reason but it looks like it was original. We thought about doing a bar area but decided that a desk and storage would be more useful. I wish we had the 2' stretched Begonia but we don't so space is a little tight. Since it is our Winter residence it works out OK.
We put a desk in our kitchen nook area in our Begonia. We also replaced the light in that area with a ceiling fan which is great when working in the kitchen.

[FoPAA]

We also have a desk, not a built-in, in the nook of our Gardenia - we never ate there anyway.

[dotti105]

Great ideas! And some beautiful photos. Very creative people in The Villages!!

We too have decided to re-purpose that area. We are building a pantry. We are closing in the arch entry to the nook and making a niche there for displaying seasonal decor etc. from the foyer side.

The pantry will be 6 'x 7'. We bought a custom door from Lowe's with "Rain glass" to obscure the interior but it will still be light due to the window being in the pantry.

We are actually copying the pantry in one of our daughter's homes. It can hold a multitude of things. (nice to have extra storage in the AC). We plan to put our file cabinet and printer in there too, since we do most of our "office work" wirelessly.

We talked to Warranty services and through them the drywall sub who did our house was happy to hang the drywall after hubby does the framing. They are charging $60 a sheet, to hang, tape and finish the drywall including materials. We thought that was a great deal!

I'll post photos when it is done. We have the "Sunflower", which is the frame/vinyl version of the Begonia. We stretched on 3 sides (all that was allowed on our lot) and added an extra 2 ft to the laundry room, master, and master (hers) closet, not just the garage. We also added a second slider so that we have 21 ft of glass on our lanai for the view. We love everything about the home but could not find a use for the nook. I think the pantry will be a great addition.

We will keep you posted.

And keep those photos coming!!!

[llapoint101]

Has anyone added an office space to the Whispering Willow model? What have you done with the den and dining room? I'm looking for ideas. Thanks!!!

[EnglishJW]

Has anyone added an office space to the Whispering Willow model? What have you done with the den and dining room? I'm looking for ideas. Thanks!!!

You might want to start a new thread where your request will be more obvious.

[TNLAKEPANDA]

Love all the pics and ideas. We love the Begonia. The only thing we don't think would work is the garage space, specifically, the golf cart bay. We will downsize to 2 cars and we currently have 2 golf carts. Looking for ideas or experience how anyone with a Begonia handles garaging 2 cars and 2 golf carts.

Thanks


If you figure that one out let me know please. Garage space is very tight unless you have a normal car and a Mini

[TNLAKEPANDA]

Great ideas! And some beautiful photos. Very creative people in The Villages!!

We too have decided to re-purpose that area. We are building a pantry. We are closing in the arch entry to the nook and making a niche there for displaying seasonal decor etc. from the foyer side.

The pantry will be 6 'x 7'. We bought a custom door from Lowe's with "Rain glass" to obscure the interior but it will still be light due to the window being in the pantry.

We are actually copying the pantry in one of our daughter's homes. It can hold a multitude of things. (nice to have extra storage in the AC). We plan to put our file cabinet and printer in there too, since we do most of our "office work" wirelessly.

We talked to Warranty services and through them the drywall sub who did our house was happy to hang the drywall after hubby does the framing. They are charging $60 a sheet, to hang, tape and finish the drywall including materials. We thought that was a great deal!

I'll post photos when it is done. We have the "Sunflower", which is the frame/vinyl version of the Begonia. We stretched on 3 sides (all that was allowed on our lot) and added an extra 2 ft to the laundry room, master, and master (hers) closet, not just the garage. We also added a second slider so that we have 21 ft of glass on our lanai for the view. We love everything about the home but could not find a use for the nook. I think the pantry will be a great addition.

We will keep you posted.

And keep those photos coming!!!

Anxious to see some photos. We thought about that but thought it would make the Kitchen seem smaller and much darker so we nixed that idea. We also considered a wall of Pantry closets which would have been less expensive than the office work space but kitchen storage for us is not a big problem being snowbirds.

[dotti105]

If you figure that one out let me know please. Garage space is very tight unless you have a normal car and a Mini

If you are able to stretch the garage width wise x 4 ft and depth wise x 4 ft you may be able to park one golf cart in the GC garage and one golf cart across the double bay in front the 2 cars.

Of course if you have large (long) vehicles that may not work. But we ave found that there is plenty of room in the front of the double bay in front of our Prius.

We have downsized to one car and 2 golf carts. Therefore we find we have lots of extra room.

Good luck finding the right home for you! With all inventory sales now, you might end up looking for a lot on which you can expand the existing home.

[Villages Kahuna]

That looks nice, and very useful.

But what came to mind as I recalled the Begonia "nook" was how nice and useful it would be if base cabinets were installed all around the three-sided nook, with a desk knee-opening right in the middle. The light coming thru the windows wouldn't be too great for viewing the computer monitor screen, but the view sitting there paying the bills and opening mail would be fantastic. If one didn't go overboard with the countertop material, it might be doable at a reasonable cost. I had a smaller unit with three base cabinets and a two-walled custom made desktop installed in the laundry room of a Lantana by Bailey. We use it all the time.

[TNLAKEPANDA]

That looks nice, and very useful.

But what came to mind as I recalled the Begonia "nook" was how nice and useful it would be if base cabinets were installed all around the three-sided nook, with a desk knee-opening right in the middle. The light coming thru the windows wouldn't be too great for viewing the computer monitor screen, but the view sitting there paying the bills and opening mail would be fantastic. If one didn't go overboard with the countertop material, it might be doable at a reasonable cost. I had a smaller unit with three base cabinets and a two-walled custom made desktop installed in the laundry room of a Lantana by Bailey. We use it all the time.

For the Begonia the best use is on the front wall. You can really only use one wall and have it look right. The front wall does it best. Cost for matching cabinets upper and lower and a nice granite top is about $3600 installed.

[CFrance]

We did not need a computer area for our Begonia nook, because we use our den as a den and both have our own personal laptops. (We don't share well!) We had, for 3K, custom cabinets & drawers built in to match our kitchen cabinets, on the front wall. Precision Cabinets did it, and it is a perfect match. There are two long cabinets top to bottom on either side, two regular ones on top between the top long cabs, three drawers on the bottom between the bottom long cabs, and a coffee station in the middle for our coffee maker, espresso machine, and toaster. It's all one piece. Our granite guy made a little counter for the coffee station that matches our counter tops, for $100. We took the chandelier down and installed a pot light instead. There is still room for a small round dinette table, although not needed.

The reason we did this custom is because the cab. manufacturer could not give us drawers in the depth we wanted, and his price was $3200 without the electrical work. Precision's price included all the electrical work, which included an outlet in the coffee station and a plug on top of the cabs with switch on the side wall, so we could put string lighting up there to match the rest of the kitchen.

I was amazed at, given the size of the Begonia kitchen, how little storage space there was. I'm also amazed at how quickly I filled up this new wall unit. For instance, it's nice to have a place to store 25 lbs of dog food out of sight, plus turkey roasters, pressure cooker, Cuisinart, baking sheets, etc. Some of these things I only use a few times a year, but I love to cook and hated to have them stored out in the garage.

[Wandatime]

We did not need a computer area for our Begonia nook, because we use our den as a den and both have our own personal laptops. (We don't share well!) We had, for 3K, custom cabinets & drawers built in to match our kitchen cabinets, on the front wall. Precision Cabinets did it, and it is a perfect match. There are two long cabinets top to bottom on either side, two regular ones on top between the top long cabs, three drawers on the bottom between the bottom long cabs, and a coffee station in the middle for our coffee maker, espresso machine, and toaster. It's all one piece. Our granite guy made a little counter for the coffee station that matches our counter tops, for $100. We took the chandelier down and installed a pot light instead. There is still room for a small round dinette table, although not needed.

The reason we did this custom is because the cab. manufacturer could not give us drawers in the depth we wanted, and his price was $3200 without the electrical work. Precision's price included all the electrical work, which included an outlet in the coffee station and a plug on top of the cabs with switch on the side wall, so we could put string lighting up there to match the rest of the kitchen.

I was amazed at, given the size of the Begonia kitchen, how little storage space there was. I'm also amazed at how quickly I filled up this new wall unit. For instance, it's nice to have a place to store 25 lbs of dog food out of sight, plus turkey roasters, pressure cooker, Cuisinart, baking sheets, etc. Some of these things I only use a few times a year, but I love to cook and hated to have them stored out in the garage.

I'd love to see a picture of what you did, if you can don't mind.

[villagetinker]

We had Style in Tile of Wildwood, Dan at 610-496-7320 tile the wall in front of the breakfast area. Fantastic job. See the attached photos. He also did a similar project at one of the neighbors in a slightly different pattern.

[CFrance]

I'd love to see a picture of what you did, if you can don't mind.
I'm looking... I had the picture up before; trying to find it.

[CFrance]

I'd love to see a picture of what you did, if you can don't mind.
Wandatime, here is a pic of the cabinet we had built.

[Wandatime]

Wandatime, here is a pic of the cabinet we had built.

Thank you so much; that is beautiful. Now I am torn between desk or coffee bar!

[TNLAKEPANDA]

Thank you so much; that is beautiful. Now I am torn between desk or coffee bar!


Whatever you will use the most is the best idea. Any way you look at it you are getting more storage space out of an area that you would probably never use as a dining space. You could even build a very large walk-in pantry for less money then cabinets!

[maddie101]

For those who added desks, bars and more, who did you use for built ins?
I see Busby for closets. Does he do this kind of work too?

[dotti105]

Our pantry is coming along well. The drywall is finished, painted and baseboard in place and painted. Currently we are working on the shelves, cutting and painting those. The door will be painted last. But at least this gives an idea of how it will look.

We closed in the arched nook entry from the foyer and made a "niche" for seasonal decor etc. Right now I am winging it. But I think we will like the space.

we don't feel that it closed down the kitchen much visually, maybe because we used white cabinets. But the high ceiling and the false transom really seem to add character.

It is a huge 7'X8' space so we will also use this space for the file cabinet, printer, shredder and other misc office clutter. Nice to have it hidden!

What do you think??

[elizabeth52]

Great job! It looks really nice!

[CFrance]

Looks great, Dotti! Very creative.

[pbkmaine]

Lovely to see all the creative ideas in this thread.

[dotti105]

The nook serves many well in it's intended purpose.

But gosh, look at all the creative and beautiful uses for this space!! One of the subs who worked on our punch list said he had seen a beautiful built in bar in this area and also a built in booth type breakfast table. It's so nice to be able to personalize this great space to fit our individual tastes!!

[charlie_marie]

I have a Lily floor plan. Can anyone recommend a company who can do built in cabinets in our laundry room . I am desperate for extra storage space and maybe they can hide the ugly sink in there .

[CFrance]

I have a Lily floor plan. Can anyone recommend a company who can do built in cabinets in our laundry room . I am desperate for extra storage space and maybe they can hide the ugly sink in there .
Check out this thread. https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/contractors-services-91/can-anyone-recommend-custom-cabinet-maker-small-project-85536/