This is exactly what you think it is....a big 'ol hole in the floor between the kitchen and dining room.  If you remember, this is where I originally was going to put a pantry with a red screen door. I still love the thought of that, but now it's going to be the spot for my old time buttery. I canNOT find a picture of a buttery to lift off the internet to show you so, as stated in an earlier post, you have to actually click on this link to see for yourself the buttery I (sort of) want. Plus, this is a beautiful blog, so check it out while you're there!

http://www.behindmyreddoor.com/2011/03/kitchen-bathroom-and-life-changes.html

Southern yellow pine flooring will be going down in the dining room.  Hopefully it will look something like this....

....minus the shine. We're not really looking for flooring with this much shine.

This is probably more like what I have in mind.  I like a darker floor; however, they say (the internet!) it is better to just put tung oil on yellow pine and let it age naturally. Jim is going to experiment with one of the boards though, and stain it with different stains to see how the wood accepts the stain and what shade will work. We'll see.