Finishing off the Ground Floor Tour

With just a couple more weeks before we move into and start renovating the upstairs apartment of our house, I thought it was about time I finished off the ground floor tour.  Just like the kitchen, I wouldn't call any of these spaces 'done', but they have come a long way from when we first bought the house 2 years ago.

So...in case you missed them, you can see the kitchen here and the Living and Dining rooms here.  Now onto the bedroom, bathroom, and vestibule.

Here is how the bedroom looked when we purchased the house (all furniture belongs to the previous owner).

The previous owner actually apologized to us for this colour before handing over the keys.  Oh well, that was an easy fix.  We had ambitions to replace that acoustic tile ceiling with drywall...but that never happened...hopefully someday!  Anyways, here's how the bedroom looks now, or rather how it looked before we rented the downstairs apartment out last month...

If you're wondering why this room lacks the high ceilings and beautiful detailing of the rest of the house, it's because it was an addition added on at some point (though it's still very old).  Still, it's amazing what a little paint can do.  Oh, and that dresser was a great find at an estate sale.  It's a 1960's made in Canada piece that Tessa sanded down, stained Walnut, and switched out the original hardware with something a little more modern.

The biggest project in this room was adding built-in closet space.  For a solution, we looked no further than...Ikea:

Using hardware from Ikea's Kvartal line, we made six sliding fabric panels - much less expensive and less permanent than building in a wall with doors.  Ikea sells pre-made panels for this system...but we weren't too crazy about any of them, so we sewed these up using a few yards of fabric...still bought from Ikea.

Beyond paint, we didn't do too much to the bathroom.  The previous owners had installed the shower not long before we purchased the house and thankfully their taste in shower doors was much better than their taste in paint...here's the before (left) and after (right):

And here are a few more views.  You just can't beat the character found in these old houses - like that beautiful stained glass window over the bathtub.

Having a bathroom this large on the ground floor of a Victorian house is rare and was definitely one of the features that sold us on the place.  This space would have originally been a hallway leading from the front door to the kitchen...I think this bathroom is a much better use of space.  Speaking of the front door, that brings us to the last space on the ground floor...the front vestibule.  This is the best before shot I have:

In this space, all we have done so far is paint and hang a new light fixture.

I wish I could say that we bought that light fixture while travelling in Morocco and that we met the artisan who made it and he was a really cool guy...but that would be lying.  We've never been to Morocco...we bought it at Home Sense...and it was on sale...only $50 I think!

So, there you have it - the rest of the ground floor.  We've been itching to tackle some projects upstairs in the fall and have been making lots of plans...stay tuned!

Oh, and here are the colours we used in these rooms:

Bedroom:  Benjamin Moore, Boothbay Gray, HC-165

Bathroom: Benjamin Moore, Gray, 2121-10 (really!  they couldn't come up with a better name?)

Vestibule: ICI, Shakespeare

Living and Dining Room...Before

I absolutely love the living and dining room in our house.  The rooms have perfect proportions - each is a perfect square with 10' ceilings.  At some point the wall between the two rooms was removed and replaced by a large archway.  While I enjoy the openness and flexibility of this change, I cringe to think of what might have happened to the original pocket doors that I'm almost certain would have inhabited the wall. 

Regardless, these rooms have excellent bones - beautiful plaster crown mouldings, 10" baseboards, original hardwood (that needs refinishing...), and those ceiling medallions.  I won't lie, I've spent a good deal of time lying on the floor just staring at them....imagining the hands that made them...studying their intricate detail...and watching shadows play across them.  Yes indeed...with such lovely bones, this room hasn't needed any extensive renos...though we have made quite a few changes. 

The pictures below show the rooms in their pre-Kyle and Tessa state.  The furnishings and decor belong to the previous owner. 



The Dining Room - mmmm flesh coloured walls and ceiling.  It reminds me of that scene in Garden State...except um, for nudists I guess?  Sorry about that visual everyone...moving on...

 



A detail of Dining Room plaster medallion and light fixture.  The previous owner made sure we were aware that this light fixture (and the one in the living room) is a period appropriate antique.  That may be true...but surely those blue shades are not.  Regardless of 'authenticity', we're not slavish historicists and frankly, the room deserves better.

  

The Living Room - unfortunately the fireplace was rebuilt at some point...and without the detail that is typical in a late 19th century Victorian...we've gone back and forth on whether or not to paint the brick. 



Living Room - look how cleverly the previous owner concealed the awkwardly placed thermostat...can you spot it?



 

Living Room medallion, archway with corbels, Dining Room beyond.



 



I wish we had a better shot of the bay window, but this at least shows some of the great details of the window trim



Just today we installed what I like to call, la pièce de résistance in the Living Room. You'll have to wait and see what it is...but trust me...it's spectacular. Though the rooms (and entire house) are a continual work in progress, for now I'd say that the Living Room and Dining Room are 'done'. Over the next little while, I'll share the details, DIY projects, repurposed/recycled finds, and new objects that have helped make these rooms our own.

-kyle