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Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Not So Wordless Wednesday This Old House

Before I get into this, I wanted to thank everyone who posted on the comments yesterday. I am overwhelmed at the kindness and support that was offered. So many of you took the time to not only read such a long post but to comment about your own experiences offering so much wisdom and insight on such a delicate topic. Because of all your wonderful support, I feel much more equipped and empowered to accept having my stepdaughter with us for those 6 days. Thank you all again for sharing and yes, I will be posting about it when I get back. Thank You, Thank You.

Now getting on to the "Not So Wordless Wednesday"

In December, I showed both the kitchen and open dining area in our old house that was built in 1891 and then remodeled by us for 8 months before we moved in.

Today is a trip around the family room.  This room is located on the back side of the fireplace that was photographed in the dining room post.

Let me start by saying this is not a huge family room.  It measures roughly 18' x 19' with 10 foot ceilings.  Part of that 19' is made up of a 4' sunroom that was added to the home during the 1930's as a place for those suffering from TB to take advantage of the sun. This sunroom was two stories high, however, we removed the four-foot addition on the second floor as it ruined the look of that side of the home by cutting through the original roof line.

Getting back to the family room pictured here, it's hard to imagine that when we bought the house, this 18' x 19' space housed:

1 bedroom
4 closets
1 hallway
1 full bath with tub
1 separate half bath with laundry and
3 ceilings

We tore everything out to the bare bones and had to replace the floor since there had been a combination of old hardwoods and linoleum going in both directions.  Here is the finished room.




This is the view standing beside the fireplace on the kitchen side.  That little pink cottage in the corner has been a big hit with our 3 1/2 year old.  She just received it for Christmas and spends hours playing in it.

Not sure it is that obvious in the photo but behind that red sofa is the desk with computer where I just happen to be typing this post! And that window behind the little pink cottage is where I tried like hell to get a picture of the Olympic Torch going by the front of the house.




Here is the view looking into the family room if you are standing on the other side of the fireplace.




This is the view when looking from the back corner of the family room towards the kitchen.  My husband picked out these antique schoolroom light fixtures. My choice was pot lights. The dropped part of the ceiling that has been painted the same red as the kitchen houses plumbing and ductwork from a ventilation system. We had some of the antique tin ceiling left over from the kitchen so it was used to cap off the bottom of this dropped section.



And this last photo shows the view if you are in the corner of the family room looking towards the dining room side of the fireplace. The large dark grey square beside the cabinet (which is there temporarily) is a water feature that we use to humidify the house and above it is a glass window that is in the main floor half bath since it does not have natural light. That's probably the next room I'll photograph.

And that concludes our little trip around this once studio apartment that has been converted into our much used family room. Is it just me or are there orbs all over the place?!
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61 comments:

Anonymous said...

I like the way you used the ceiling pieces to cap off the dropped parts. Lovely home. Thanks for the tour.

Anonymous said...

..it all looks great...i bet you feel very accomplished for the new year...Hope all goes well on your trip..maybe you will be pleasanntly surprised...my daughter is there now..they went to the north shore of OAHU yesterday to check out the 13 foot waves..dont know if she surfed or not..but she told me she is going to sky dive..I am horrified about that..

Lee said...

I love the white tin on the ceiling that separates the room. You have done such a great job with this house!

Lissaloo said...

I love the colors! And the light fixtures, you wanna come do my house now? :)

JennyMac said...

the ceiling is GORGEOUS!

Bravo to you and all the work you have done.

Joanne said...

Very very charming, I'm sure the room gets much enjoyable use! Love the detail on the dropped ceiling area, like the tin ceilings of long ago. Our children had a fold-up playhouse and loved it too, it was portable and they used it outside too. Lots of fun memories.

Happy New Year to you, best wishes!

Aunt Juicebox said...

Oh, very nice! I love the tiles. I've been wanting to put them up in our home, because I HATE HATE HATE the stupid popcorn crap they put up in here. I don't really want to spend hours scraping it all off, so I was thinking tiles would cover it. Knowing my luck, I'll have to scrape anyway. lol

Mama-Face said...

Beautiful. And it is shocking how much could be crammed into small spaces years ago...were people tiny back in the day?

Love the windows. The one over the bathroom is ingenious. My favorite part--all the things devoted to your daughter!!
:)

The Mommyologist said...

It looks great! I love hearing about the history of your house.

Buckeroomama said...

I like the airy feel of the room.

...and yes, now that you mentioned it, I see orbs everywhere! :)

Connie K said...

Your home is beautiful Deb, And i love the colors too red is my fav :) Great job girl !

yonca said...

You have a beautiful home. Love the rug :)

Samantha said...

You have such a beautiful home! And yes, I spotted a lot of orbs...

Stacey J. Warner said...

wow, love the fireplace. you did wonderful work with the house!

much love

Amy said...

it looks amazing. I do like the lights he picked out.

Have a safe trip. I am glad you are ready and I know you will be just fine..

June said...

I absolutely love the tin ceilings!
What a cozy looking family room. It's hard to imagine what it looked like before.

VandyJ said...

Love the openness while maintaining the historic feel of the house. You have made it very homey. Just lovely.

Danielle said...

What an accomplishment!! Looks great. Also TEACH ME MORE ABOUT CLEAN EATING... for sure!!!

xoxo
Danielle

Unknown said...

I love the rich, warm colors. And (I'm guessing) the media center under the t.v. I am so ready to get rid of the bulky all-in-one entertainment center we have! Oh and yes, I see orbs. It is a pretty old house so you may have ghosts! LOL!

CalgaryDaddy said...

Have I told you how much I love your house? I think so....!

Shane

Organic Motherhood with Cool Whip said...

Beautiful! What a gorgeous home you have. organicmotherhoodwithcoolwhip.com

Anonymous said...

that area rug is gorgeous!

My Aimless Infatuation said...

Beautiful and so much character. Now I have a visual of you posting. BTW,did I miss something? What's this about clean eating? I would like to hear more.Hope you have an amazing vacation.

Anonymous said...

I love the ceilings!!! Your house is beautiful but Im sure you already know this!!! Before we moved to Las Vegas theres old houses like these in a part of California called Claremont that we were looking at! I just love them!

ethelmaepotter! said...

I really like so many things about this room - all the light, (yes, I remember the story about the Olympic torch!) the tin tiles, the color. And I love the rug (how big is it?) and the bricked arch over the wood stove. I also think it's so clever the way you used two different sizes of tiles, and delineated the hearth tiles by that narrow strip wood. And the red leather sofa - I have actually never seen a leather sofa I like, but this one, I do! It's definitely masculine, as all leather pieces are, but it has those gorgeous feminine curves, too.
Do you by any chance have before pictures you would share with us?
And yes, there are quite a few orbs!

Shannon K. said...

I can't believa all the work you've put into the house. I bet it's even more beautiful in person!

Nezzy (Cow Patty Surprise) said...

I'm lovin' the use of the tin tiles. Your home is just beautiful. Thanks so much for sharing it with you. I would love to see the before pics!

Have a very blessed day!!!

Danielle said...

I love it. It feels really open.
You think you have spirits around???

Elizabeth said...

Very nice! I love old house, but hubby said they were to much work. Want to come decorate for me, LOL. Not the house I am in now but the one we hope (God's will) to start building in the not to near future. We redid the manufactured on the property so it was livable until we build the new, bigger, with real walls home connected to his 25x64 garage. It was the garage tht sold us on this property, not the house and as promised, he made it a nice home until the new one is built. Looking forward to bigger rooms, more space, I love space, the whole works.

You guys did a great job!

Helene said...

Your home is absolutely lovely...it looks so cozy and comfy!! We've lived in our house for 7 years and it's still in the process of becoming "our home" rather than just a house. Yours looks like a HOME!

I missed yesterday's post but I just went back and read it and I really feel for you. I guess all you can do is just try to continue accepting her. She's still young too...very immature. I'll bet in another 5 years she'll realize how mean she's being.

And you know what...even though she's treating you rudely, as if you're the problem....SHE is the problem, not you. These are her issues...you just happen to be getting the brunt of it because you're an easy target as her dad's wife. Sounds like the girl could benefit from some therapy! I do hope your vacation goes well and is completely stress-free!

Shelley said...

Yes, they look like orbs to me!

P.s. Your house is adorable!

Shelley

Unknown said...

orbs, orbs, everywhere! i'm sure they're good spirits, watching over you.

what a beautiful home! and it's so clean...how do you do that?! i am constantly running around after my three year old picking things up here and there...

Life Laugh Latte said...

Doesn't it just lift your spirits to re-create a space? My daughter got new bedding from Grandma for Christmas. We spent a day clearing out her clutter, re-organizing, and making her room new. I can hardly get her out of it now! Holly

KristinFilut said...

How much fun to have been able to do that! And what a great idea, creating a water feature for humdity purposes!

Laynee said...

Absolutely beautiful. I love the colors and the antique tin ceiling. I love love love the fireplace! There were orbs on the pics. It could just be dust that was too close to the lens or it could be.....dun dun dun dun....Ghosts!! Lol You have a lovely home.

Maureen@IslandRoar said...

I love the light fixtures and the antique tin! A lovely cozy room.

Sarafree said...

The whole room looks so warm and cozy. I especially like the white ceiling decorations, contrast well with the red. Is that just a canvas play house?

Sarafree said...

Or maybe I mean a tent-like playhouse?

Kate said...

I've only just read your post about your step-daughter - wish I'd read it earlier. You have so many comments it's daunting - I guess you'll never read this anyhow. Sounds a tough situation. I have an 11 year old step-son who is with us every other weekend and half of the holidays and I find it bloody impossible for so many reasons. Good luck anyhow. Lovely house by the way.

SurferWife said...

Love all the reds in the family room! It's beautiful..

kathryn said...

You and I seem to frequent a lot of the same blogs, so I thought I'd drop by and say hello.

I'm sorry I didn't call first....but you obviously were expecting company, 'cause everything's so NEAT. How can everything be so NEAT? I'll be you don't allow soccer in the house...do you? I think that's where I've gone wrong...

Lovely, lovely rooms!

Tammy said...

It's beautiful! I have always dreampt of living in an older home. They have so much character. Looks like you did a great job with the renovations...I want to see your kitchen now...(I could see it around one of the corners). :)

Annie Z said...

You have such a beautiful home. The colours are so warm and inviting. I'm hopeless at choosing wall colours! You have done a great job.

Dual Mom said...

It's absolutely gorgeous. Wow, what alot of work. I love how bright the room is.

The Mind of a Mom said...

I love the carpet! When you are done with your place you can come here and start re-decorating mine :o)
After vacation of course!

Theta Mom said...

Look at you! Love the rug!

Respectfully Yours said...

Wow, what an amazing room. I love it! Great job.

Anonymous said...

You have a very beautiful home Deb.

Melissa said...

OMG...I am so jealous. I love those lights! I love the colors, and is that a fireplace or a wood burning stove. Either way I love it and I'm jealous so please move out and let me movie into it...for free of course!

The Four Week Vegan said...

Another beautiful room. i was admiring the light fixtures and so glad you mentioned them. I think they really work in that space.

gayle said...

I love love your house!!! You are so lucky that your renovations didn't take as long as mine...we are going on years now..my husband is doing the work in his spare time..Almost done with the down and then I want to do the up but he says no...I just want to do a little bit..Your rug is almost like mine...I remember you commenting on mine...I guess we have about the same taste! Once again I love your home!!

Liz Mays said...

I really like your choice of lights. Your home is absolutely lovely!

Heather said...

I really like the openess of the whole area. I do believe you are living in my dream home!

The light fixtures are quite different, not sure if I would have picked those, but they still look nice.

I can only dream about a renovation like that. I'm stuck with my tiny little budget and limited imagination.

Dreamfarm Girl said...

I love what you've done with the place! Very tastefully decorated. Warm and soothing and comfortable, yet still elegant.

AiringMyLaundry said...

Your home looks fabulous!

I love that rug.

Unknown said...

I can't wait to see the rest of the house. How did the humidifier work? That was pretty interesting to see that built in to the design. Also, the bathroom window above it...can you see feet moving around from that view?

I'm anticipating hearing about the fireplace. I know that there is a story to it. I'm just waiting...patiently...very patiently...is the fencing around the fireplace built in?

I so love your house. I can't wait to see it in person!!! (I'm hoping that that happens one of these days.)

Kimberly said...

Love it!

I think I have the exact same carpet. I like the white tin ceiling. We have copper one in the kitchen. The hanging lamps are so lovely. You have done a lovely job.

adrienzgirl said...

I really love the open feel you have in your home. And the ceiling is fabulous!

NYCGAL said...

Gorgeous Deb!

Corrie Howe said...

I love the brass/gold gate around the fireplace and the intricately designed piece on the ceiling.

Anita said...

Very nice! You've combined warmth, nostagia, sophistication, child-friendliness, and comfort to make an attractive familly room.
I enlarged to see the details...too many to comment on, but I enjoyed the tour!