Starting On The Master Bedroom...Again

So when we first purchased the house we had a different sucky contractor who tore our house apart with wild abandon and then kind of did nothing but waste our money.  The master/bath was the first thing that was started.  Once he was fired we kind of moved our focus to the kitchen addition since it really was the biggest thing we were doing to the house.  Now that the kitchen is in deathstar mode (operational but not finished) and we have a toilet and a place to hang out we've shifted our focus back to the master (and the laundry room and my daughter's bathroom and the porch.  Maybe focused is not the appropriate word).  

So as a little reminder, our master started off as a smallish room

Yes the lighting is bad.  What can I say, photography is not my forte.  Then we knocked down the wall between this and the room to the left of it.

This half will actually be our bedroom and the other half the sitting area.  We'll have pocket doors in between in case one of us wants to watch television.  This is our compromise.  I hate to fall asleep with the tv on, my husband loves it.

So here's what the rooms look like today.

This is the master bedroom now and that is going to be my closet.  

This is the closet in my last house.  So now we have a bigger house, yet my closet has shrunk.  Oh well.

And this is the sitting area.  The room has shrunk a bit from the original so that we could enlarge the bathroom which was miniscule.  

So, can you say Kaboom!  You really have to see it in person to appreciate what a nightmare it is.  We're doing baseboards and trim work in the room now.  That and paint will make a huge difference.  Now I just need to figure out how to stuff all my clothes which I don't fit, shoes, and purses into that closet.  I have a feeling The Goodwill is going to love me.

The TV (Eyesore) Placement Solution

Well all is now right with the world.  We've taken the tv off the wall, which was in itself a huge improvement, and moved it to the left wall.  The room isn't nearly finished and the furniture probably isn't staying and it's not neat, but it is what it is.   Actually it doesn't look too bad in the pictures because I hid all the toys and crap on the other side of the room that you can't see.

This is the view from the couch.  You can see where the apparatus was and how high the tv was placed.  No bueno.  Ignore the stickers that we have yet to take off of the new windows.

And here's how it looks with the tv on the left wall.  The piece of furniture we have it on is a bench we had in another room, but it works for now.  The chair and nesting tables used to be in our bedroom and may return at some point.  We have a sectional that we separated so one part is facing the fireplace and the other is on the right wall facing the tv.  That takes care of the two focal points.   Eventually I'll get my husband to take that thing off the fireplace wall and we'll put up a mirror or a piece of art.  Anything would be better really.  So, not perfect, but a hell of a lot better.  At least we won't be suffering from neck injuries while trying to view the tv;)

A Week Off And I Missed My Blogiversary

I've been MIA lately since my in-laws were in town.  I decided to take a little break from all things that plug in and just enjoy the weather and the company.  That and I was obsessively reading The Hunger Games series.  Anyone out there read it?  I finally succumbed as I needed something to occupy me while I was waiting for my car to get fixed.  I have to say that overall I really enjoyed it.  There were parts that lagged, but that didn't stop me from giving everyone I know the Heisman until I finished it.

So since then I've been trying to catch up on my favorite blog reads.  I also realized that I missed my blogiversary.  I can't believe I've been doing this a year and still don't have a finished room...exasperated sigh.  I have to say though that despite my being a sucky blogger, I've really enjoyed becoming a part of this whole other world that I didn't know existed until last year.  "Meeting" new people and reading about their amazing talents had been so much fun for me.  I think I've learned a thing or two along the way which is  a huge bonus.  

Anyway, before I get too mushy, things are moving along in the house. The upstairs laundry room and bathroom have walls which is a plus.  And this arrived last week.

This is the vanity that's going in my daughter's bathroom.  Lucky girl right?  We got it for a great price so I'm pretty happy.  The tile work is starting this week.  I have a feeling it won't be done until next week though since some things need to be prepped first.  

Lots of work starting this week which is music to my ears.  The dining room floor has been refinished and they're starting on the formal living room this week.  Our master bedroom is getting some carpentry work done, and the outside porch is going to be worked on.  All these things = getting us very close to moving out of the mouse palace and into the house.  It really can't come soon enough.  Three people and a cat cannot live together for an extended period of time in a small room without wanting to kill each other at least once a day.  Actually we've done quite well together, but enough is enough.  I'm hoping for some really good progress to report in the next few days.

Oh, and I figured out the tv placement, but left my camera in my car and am way too lazy to go get it so it will have to wait for another day.  Thanks for all the input.  It really does help/validate my concerns.

The TV (Eyesore) Placement Dilemma

We have a little, let's just say, discussion going on about where the television should go in the family room.  The room isn't big.  It's about 15' X 15' give or take.  Not a lot of options for furniture and such, so originally we decided to put the TV over the fireplace.  This can be a really nice look when it's done right.

traditional family room design by san francisco kitchen and bath Julie Williams Design

traditional family room design by toronto interior designer c3d design

Let's just say that this is not what ours is looking like.  My husband bought this apparatus to hang it on the wall and paid someone to help him put the TV up.  The problem is, it looks ridiculous.  It's making the fireplace mantle, which is already on the small size, look lilliputian.  And it's hung a little too high so I feel like I'm straining my neck looking up at it.  It's like being in the movie theater in the very front row...not comfortable.  Our other option is to  put the TV on a stand on the wall to the left of the fireplace, kind of like they did in this picture.

traditional dining room design by philadelphia interior designer Shoshana Gosselin

Here's the room again (from a while back).   That's the wall I'm thinking of putting the TV on.  

 I'm not even going to show you what it looks like right now.  Picture a sectional that is 10 times too big for the room (our temporary solution until we can buy a new more size appropriate sofa) and a ridiculously oversize TV.  It's like a giant's furniture in a hobbit's room.

I would love this set up, but not going to happen.

eclectic living room design by new york James Wagman Architect, LLC

So what are your thoughts on TV placement?  Above a fireplace, off to the side on the same wall, different wall altogether?  Some people think it's sacrilege to put it above a fireplace.  I personally don't mind it, but it's looking really awful in our room:(  

The Dining Room Gets Some Attention

First off, thanks to everyone for their concern, humor, and advice concerning our broom hullabaloo.  We've decided that it's way too big of a coincidence that so many people on the internet were sharing similar instances of their brooms standing up for ours to be anything different.  My husband must have forgotten that the broom was in the room and he must have went to move it and thought he leaned it against something and then left, not realizing that the broom was standing up.  That's our story and we're sticking to it.  I've since been in the house without any weird feelings and I think I'm over it.  I'll let you know if anything else happens, but I really don't think it will (thank God!).  

I've been feeling a bit under the weather and haven't felt up to posting anything lately, but there has been some minor progress.  The dining room is finally getting a little love.  This room has been used for everything but dining.  It started out as our storage room, then it was home to all things carpentry and now we're finally starting to clean it up a bit.  Here's where it started.  I can't believe this is the only picture I have of the dining room when we bought the house, but it's the only one I could find.

Here's its current state...still before shots.  The only thing that's been done so far is some plaster repairs.

Looking into formal living room

Looking into kitchen.  That door used to be a window.

Looking into butler's pantry across hall

Here's some living room inspiration pics for the room.

Source: thebookofsecrets.tumblr.com via Tiffany on Pinterest

Source: bonesteeltrouthall.com via Tiffany on Pinterest

Source: madebygirl.blogspot.com via Tiffany on Pinterest

I'd like to do something similar to these rooms.  We have the chair rail and I'd like to do some picture molding underneath it.  Ideally I want to do grasscloth above the chair rail, but we're probably going to paint everything for now until we can save up for it. 

We bought a ceiling medallion and a new chandelier which is a huge improvement from the one that came with the house.  It wasn't original and we just weren't feeling it.  The one we bought is an antique and a little more appropriate for the room.  It also goes well with the living room chandelier that came with the house.  That one we're keeping.  

As for dining, we bought a dining room table at a thrift store that needed a little work.  We don't have chairs yet though.  I've been looking at thrift stores and Craigslist, but haven't found anything yet.  I really don't want to buy them new.  Chairs can be so expensive!  

Here' the fabric that I want for the room.  

via Designer Fabrics Online

The fabric looks kind of purple in this picture, but it's a gray background.  I think it will go well with the painting that will be going over the fireplace.  Here it is in our last house.

It's kind of hard to see, but that's the best picture I have of it.  

For now we're painting everything BM White Dove and we're having the floors refinished this week which will be a huge improvement. I guess I'd better keep looking for chairs!

Paranormal Activity?

I'm hesitantly writing this post.  Let me give you the back story first.  When we first looked at the house it was at the estate sale.  An elderly woman had died and her son and daughter were running the estate sale.  When we went inside I told the lady that I thought the house was beautiful.  She said, "thanks, the house is haunted".  Um, ok.  We just thought she was nuts.  Later though when we were negotiating for the house I asked her what she meant by "haunted".  She said that she had been up in the third floor room where there is a pool table and the door had opened and closed.  Ok, rationally, this could be either from a draft or an improperly hung door.  We decided that this wasn't a case of a haunting...which we don't believe in anyway.  That's important to understand.  We are very scientific, rational people who don't believe in much.  

So let's cut to this weekend.  Here's how the conversation went.

Husband:  I have something to tell you, but if you don't want to hear it just stop me"

Me:  What?

Husband:  I saw something in the house today and I took a picture of it.

Me:  Does it show up in the picture?  (I've seen too many vampire films)

Husband:  Yes.

Me:  Ok, well is it something you can rationalize?

Husband: I've tried and I really can't.

 My husband was moving boxes from the second floor up to the third floor to make room since we are starting to work on the second floor.  On Saturday he moved a few boxes to the attic and the third floor bedroom with the pool table.  On Sunday morning he went back to get another box to move up to the third floor room.  When he went to the room, this is what he saw.

I'm glad he took pictures because this would be a little hard to believe.  He said that he thought that if he moved around it surely the floor boards would move and it would fall.  But it didn't.  He moved the broom and went on with his work.  

Now, someone just told us that the planets were lined up recently and something about  the gravitational pull is allowing brooms to stand up.  The thing is though that my husband is not really sure that the broom was even in the room on Saturday.  And, even if it was, he didn't prop it up.  People who have done this "experiment" have been putting the broom upright and letting go.  This broom was not propped up.  Is it possible that this is a gravitational thing because of the planets?  Hey, I'm not ruling it out.  In fact I prefer this explanation.  We're still a bit freaked out, but we have to continue on.  If something else happens though we're going to have to rethink a few things.

What do you think?  

You Could Eat Off Of My Newly Refinished Floors

Yes, they're that clean and shiny and awesome.  Let me have this moment for just a sec.  This has been (and continues to be) the longest and most difficult project we've ever taken on, so the little things like clean floors makes me want to cry from sheer joy.  Our floor guys did an AMAZING job of trying to match the original wood and inlay in the other rooms.

This last picture is of the kitchen.  This is the space where we're going to work in a farm table/bench.  Yes, it's still on the to-do list.  What can I say?   We haven't gotten much (or any) of the diy stuff done.  

While I'm at it, here are some pictures of the kitchen.  It still needs some tweaks, but this is the best and cleanest that it's been since, well, ever really.

My husband started putting the island light up but for some reason there's no power to it so it's kind of half way installed.  

So, you know what this means?  Dun, dun, dun....I have to go back to finish the stencil.  I can't promise that I'll get to it this weekend.  The powder room is so small I almost get claustrophobic trying to work in there with my ladder and paint.  Anyone want to come and finish it for me?  No, I didn't think so.  It's all me.