Okay. I've done it. I've gathered all the photos I have of our living room. The photo journal takes you from the day we tore the ceiling down to today. Today we still have to hang our beloved photos, maps, art, and whatnots. I'm going to make roman shades in a black and white ticking, but I need to have a little more time on my hands before I tackle that. We've been covering the windows at night with table cloths because Bruiser will howl at our reflections. He's a good, little guard dog. Also we're going to get a braided rug for the center of the room, and some sort of perfect vintage, cottage-style coffee table that's not too country. :) Minor details.
We are LOVING our new space, a space B.daddy and I designed completely and totally to our own tastes. (And the kids' taste according to Li'l Bit who is basically dictating my entire post for me.) ;) So, enough talk. You have a ton of photos to scroll through!
Ladybug is showing off for before pictures.
B.daddy tore down the entire ceiling--I couldn't. I filled those black trash bags and kinda' felt like Baby on Dirty Dancing. "I carried a watermelon."
Always getting new battle scars.
Above--Powder Post Beetle damage that B.daddy had to figure out how to fix. This one was a stumper, but you'll see....he did an awesome job!
Finishing the Room Off! I finally had something I could do to help.
I painted the radiator. Perfect example of male and female collaboration. He wanted iron black, I wanted off white. His would have been too strong, mine too feminine. The soft, copper tone we chose together fits the room perfectly!
My adorable daughter keeping me company. She was the only child allowed within ten feet of the room while I was painting. The other two still have no clue the damage they can cause.
We replaced the window trim to match the original trim throughout the house. Let me tell ya! It is one thousand times easier to paint trim on saw horses than on the wall. I was so thankful for that.
So here the painting is ALLLLL done, and I realized we just could not leave the floor as it was until refinishing in the future. So we prepared to paint it, too, and now that we've painted it we may never refinish it. We love the feel of a painted floor.
Believe it or not, this is the "clean" floor. Mopped it three times, but stuff kept coming up. I'm so glad we've painted it and I can actually keep it clean. Below, my precious puppy watching me work.
The floor is all done! We did 3 coats, plus 1/2 of one for the spot that kept bleeding red. Then we put a heater and fan on it for a week.
And here you have it! Below is what it looks like today. The finishing touches will be added in time, and I'm sure I'll show them off, too.
This vent is too cool. If you've ever read "Understood Betsy" or something from that era, maybe you've heard about them. They put the vents in to allow the heat from the fireplace below into the room upstairs. So when we rip up the girls' carpet we'll find a beautiful iron grate. Finding this kind of thing is exactly why we bought an old house and started stripping it to its bones. Below is the beam B.daddy had to add to support the main beam. I think he chose a very aesthetically pleasing way to remedy a very unpleasing problem. So proud of him.
Finishing details:
Roman shades in black ticking~
A bright, braided rug for the center of the room~
And these awesome sconces from The Period House for extra warmth and charm.
If you've made it this far you are either my mother or a very good friend. :) We've loved (and sometimes hated) this project, and it has been so much fun to share it with everyone who actually cares to know. :) I'll let you know what room we decide to work on next!
