Saturday, September 10, 2016

A Week's Work

Thank you so much for all your comments and advice.  This past week I started work on making the bathroom and the kitchen a bit more worn looking and the bathroom ceiling something like an old house in New Orleans would have.

I touched up the area above the tub so it looks as if the home owner made some attempts at repairs.  You can see there isn't as much brown over the tub in the later pictures.




And I did the same thing with the trim and wallpaper on the back wall.


It's not as noticeable but I also used a craft knife on the wallpaper to give the illusion of it being applied in regular strips, and the moisture making the seams pop up a bit.


It's a little thing but I notice that it's there.

I painted the kitchen ceiling with a shimmery white over a flat taupe  and then added a nice watermark from an overflowing bathroom tub.





I used coffee... some brown paint added the coffee and then sprinkled cinnamon on it (all while the house was upside down), to give the illusion of a tin ceiling that's rusted slightly. 

I think it looks pretty good so far. 

I also made shades for the bedroom windows and I'm pleased with how they look so far.  I'll use a little emery board on them and some coffee to make them look a little worn down.


They're pale but I didn't want anything that would be too glaringly ugly against the window frame and drapes.

I managed to get the final piece of wainscoting in place.  Finally the front room is complete.  Just need some pictures on the wall next to the stairs.



And you all know I've been totally stressing over the curtains for the bathroom.  I had an idea of what I wanted but everything I found was so blindingly white that it looked wrong against the paneling and window trim.   But I finally found some lace that wasn't a perfect white.  It came with pearls attached to it but I was able to cut those off without wrecking the lace. 


Nothing that covers the window but something to keep it from looking too bare.

Then I took Morgen's advice and pulled out all the furnishings and put everything in place to see how things would fit and if they looked all right. 

So here are a bunch of pictures.  Let me know what you guys think. 


I'm not entirely sure that this bed works.  It matches the dresser but it's a little large for the space.


Here's the bolter bed I was thinking of using instead.



I think this works a bit better.  I might find a little chair and make a table to go by the window.  And obviously I'll have to do something with the bedding.


I think the kitchen layout is pretty good.  A galley kitchen type of layout.  I'll have counters on the either side of the silver stove.  Originally I'd planned to put a little set of coat hooks and a shoe mat against the wall next to the fridge but it wouldn't really show this way.  I still might, if only because I'll know that they're there.




Keli suggested the couch would look better against the window and I think she's right, even though it hides the heat register (again). 



Here it is the other way.  It looks darker this way for some reason. 



Obviously the toilet and sink are not the ones I'll be using.  The tub is but again (obviously) not finished.


Here's the first idea for the balcony.  I'll make a little table to go next to the chair.  Maybe another small chair on the opposite side.  But I don't want it to look crowded.


This isn't bad, but it's almost too white and it looks a bit crowded. 


Here's the steps I'm using for the entry.  I'm going to make a little flowerbed next to it...it looks a bit blank to me.

I'm irritated with myself though... I bought these adorable cat pillows from Brae and now I can't find them.  I could kick myself.   Maybe they'll turn up.  In the meantime I'm working on a little shelf for under the bathroom window where I can keep some towels and bath supplies.

The other projects will be the kitchen counters so I have some place to add my granite paper when it arrives and the bathroom fixtures. 

So? Opinions? Comments? Great thoughts?



13 comments:

  1. Crazy cats always up to no good! :[ Maybe put out some tuna?

    All the aging looks fabu! Bravo! :D

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    1. LOL yeah, troublemaking felines! That'll lure 'em out. I'm sure they'll show up in about four months.

      Thanks so much for all your help. My husband thought I was nuts asking for coffee. (It's not my beverage of choice.)

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  2. Lots of thoughts...but I tried a recipe for a blueberry bourbon smoothie a friend sent me so pardon any rambling or typos, or failing too correct my phone's inaccurate corrections. It spells the word to with two Os every darn time and it makes me crazy.

    Goid job on the kitchen ceiling, it was a great idea to add the cinnamon for a bit of rust. I like the kitchen layout, too.

    I was going to say I didn't think the bed was too big for the room, but I adore the boiler bed, I like the layout you showed with two dressers, it makes the room look spacious.

    Good job on the bedroom shades, those windows look so much better now. I like the bathroom window too, and am glad you found a solution you like.

    I do prefer the couch under the window, it makes the room look larger and not chopped in half, but I laughed out loud at it hiding the register again. Perhaps no one is meant to see that one. You do have them in other rooms. You could always move it (again) to behind the dining room chair.

    Speaking of chairs, I noticed you have the same 1:1 chair in your workroom that I have around my dining room table.

    The bathroom layout doesn't work for me, I don't like the toilet in front of the doors, it looks cramped and unrealistic. I think you will find the chrysbon ones smaller, and will be able to fit both the sink and toilet next to each other, across from the tub.

    Nice touch too the wallpaper in the bathroom, looks the wallpaper the Previous owners hung in my bathroom. I've relied the seams a couple of times, but they keep curling. It doesn't help that I live a few hundred feet from Lake Michigan, so it's always humid anyway, even without shower steam.

    The bathroom ceiling looks perfect, nice touch continuing it on to the moulding.

    Provided the mail arrives when It is supposed to, you should have seating for your porch today. :O

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    1. Well you got my husband laughing (and sighing wistfully) over the blueberry bourbon smoothie.

      I'm with you, I think I prefer the bolter bed. I'll work on the bedding. I agree with you about the set up with the two dressers though I really want a chair and a table with a lamp somewhere in there. Maybe on the wall with the small dresser.

      That heat register on the front wall is destined to be hidden. I swear! I want to make a very small table (large enough to hide a battery pack) to go in between the two upholstered chairs. Just for some extra light.

      You caught me! My work room is our dining room. We don't have a big enough house for a workroom so I do everything on the dining room table. We never use it and it's this stupidly large room with a lot of wasted space.

      No, I don't like the bathroom with those fixtures either. The kit I have will fit a lot better in the space and the toilet would be closer to the sink.

      I'm jealous that you're close to the lake but the humidity down here is making us crazy so I don't even want to think about what you're dealing with.

      What did you do? I feel so awful, I don't really make anything that I can send you!

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  3. Hi Sheila, I would have to agree with Keli about moving the toilet from where you currently show it. There not enough room for a person to sit on it without their knees hitting the opposit wall. If it can't fit next to the sink as Keli suggested then I would consider switching their positions since standing at the sink take up less room visually as well as physically.
    One other thought. Have you considered moving the sofa to your other solid wall and placing the table and chairs at the window?
    I mention this for a number of reasons. 1) it is nice to be able to people watch or to be able to look outside when having a meal 2) it would make it easier to see your heat register because of the daintiness of your table and chairs 3) the full length of your drapes would remain visible too and by switching to the opposite wall it would give your sofa more balance with the rest of the room and allow more space for your arm chairs not to mention easier access to your staircase.
    Anyway, those are just my thoughts.
    Meanwhile, your aging of the bathroom ceiling and the watermark on the kitchen ceiling is such a CLEVER idea and you have accomplished both tasks, Splendidly! Well done!!! :D

    elizabeth

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    1. Oh yes... Thankfully the kit toilet is smaller... And it will be closer to the sink... I'm going to build it and make sure that everything fits properly before doing the final placements.

      I have not thought of that. I may have to take the furniture back out and play around with that layout. It might work a lot better for flow through the front room.

      I suppose I'm so used to the 'dining room/area' being close to the kitchen that I never thought of reversing the layout.

      Thank you thank you! I'm so excited with how everything is coming together. I've started to mess with the attic too, so it has the waterstains as well.

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    2. Hi again Sheila
      Just wanted to add this for your consideration, since you are going to continue playing with the furniture arrangements anyway -try this out too...
      You said that in your Real Life you don't use your own dining room for dining and I would think that this is probably true for a lot of people today. So along that line of thought -
      If I were living in this house, I would more than likely eat sitting on the sofa or in the chairs. I would have the lovely black table close to the sofa acting as a both a coffee and dining table. I would move the chest out from under the stairs and place it at the window, with enough space between it and your arm chairs so the drawers could be opened. The chest would serve double duty as a buffet storage as well as display.
      Anyway, try it out and see if it works. I find that I get used to doing things the same way all the time but just fooling around with the furniture can allow you to discover other options you didn't know were there.
      Have fun playing around with it regardless of whether any of it works or not! :D

      e

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    3. Oh yes...I'm going to have fun playing around with it. Right now I'm having a good time reading about your summer vacation!

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  4. What did I do? You'll find out. No reciprocation is necessary, just enjoy...much like I am enjoying this smoothie.

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    1. Hmmm... Now I can't wait for the mailman... Which will probably be Monday or Tuesday the way our mail works.

      LOL... having a laid back day with the blueberry bourbon smoothie?

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  5. Good work on the water stains! They look fantastic. This little place is really coming together.

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    1. Thanks! I'm really excited about all the aging and how its turning out.

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