the total truth is that some days i regret this decision. and other days i do not. some days i love our contractor and other days i do not. we were totally unprepared (and COMPLETELY naive) for the amount of work, both physically and emotionally a project like this would take. but in the end (and we are at the end, peeps – moving within the week!), i’m excited to say that it’s been wholly worth it, every step of the way. and all my angst is turning into pure giddy.
remember those walls we unearthed at the beginning of the project? here’s the update on one of the the rooms where we decided to save those walls with all those layers of old wallpaper found beneath layers and layers of paint. i love this room so much, i can barely take it!
here was the room before:
and here it is today:
crazy, right? as john scraped the walls, he intentionally and randomly scraped down to the original layer of green paint (the house was built in 1911) while leaving layers of wallpaper showing through here and there. the effect is magical, looks like a map, and i’m so glad we took this risk! we decided to keep the chair rail molding and paint below it so that it looks like the entire “look” was done intentionally. he then lightly sanded the wallpaper down a bit and then sealed the entire thing so it’s safe.
i was thinking that this bedroom would be my favorite room in the whole house, but then this happened up in the attic:
how it looked when we bought the place:
during renovations to make it a master suite (new walls, slightly raised ceiling, new insulation, wiring, adding a bathroom, skylights, etc):
and here it was earlier this week, almost done. i can hardly freakin believe how much i love this space:
the fir floors were already there. we just sanded them (they were painted green when we bought the house) and varnished them. we added built-ins for storage and bookshelves. at the far end is the bath. it’s an open master suite/bath (love!). adding a bathroom up here was tricky but so glad we did it.
(that’s the shower behind the glass door – there’s even a small skylight in the shower)
this is a view from the bath looking out into the bedroom space. shower on the left. toilet on the right, behind that door. and a sweet little built-in for toiletries and stuff. still working on adding sinks, mirrors, lighting, but you get the idea 🙂
so there you have it. that’s what we’ve been up to around here. it’s been a very full, crazy, 12 weeks of this renovation. if you’re interested, more photos over here. we are moving in a few days! i’ve promised john and my contractor that i would stay away from the house this week so that i can be surprised at the “finished” result this weekend (i haven’t seen the kitchen yet and it’s being installed now!). i think i might cry my eyes out when i see it with fresh eyes and finished. it’s been such a journey….in so many unexpected but very good (in the end) ways.
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