BIG Project - Winding Down

Well, I think we're in the home stretch for completing the BIG project. It appears it was much more fun to pull all the stuff out of the rooms and stack it everywhere!

It seems like only yesterday that we began by filling the dining room with stuff...

spilling closet contents into the living room and all about the furniture....

and then bringing in more boxes and "stuff" into the library!

We also had furniture lining the hallway and everywhere was just a general "mess" as stuff was scattered about the whole house. I know this is not at all how Miss Janice likes to live, but it seems a hugh mess must be created so that creativity can abound! HA!

This last week has also been about adding finishing touches to the furniture that will be returned to the room. Miss Janice purchased this white dresser to hold her linens. This dresser will replace the huge wardrobe she had in her room before we began.

The new dresser is not very big, so it won't take up the whole wall like the old piece did. It's just the right size to hang her tablecloths, hold her table linens and the extra sheets for the bedroom.

The girls gave it a good coat of paint - the same paint we used in the bedroom.

Once it was dry I added some small detail to each of the drawers. I used a very light blue color to paint the design and the knobs. I wanted the look to be very subtle.

I love this color blue. It's a "secret" paint recipe used by one of the local antique stores here in town. My daughter was able to obtain the "ingredients" after she purchased several items in this color from the store. This is the color we painted her dresser in a previous post.

I'll have to take a better picture for you to see the full effect. I added some more details along the blank edge at the bottom of the mirror and across the bottom of the dresser.

Saturday the guys were able to get the mantle fully "installed." I love the details on this new mantle and am soooo glad Miss Janice spotted it at a garage sale a couple of weeks ago.

The same wax we used to highlight the headboard was used to accent certain areas on the mantle. I didn't want to wax the whole mantle...just bring out the small details.

The board between the two colors was finally nailed up on Saturday. Mike needed a pencil, so Ashley made sure to give him the over sized one...for this over size job!

The guys also finished the hearth where the mantle will rest. Peter had an idea in his "head" of how he wanted to place the mantle, and wanted to be able to use Miss Janice's antique bricks. He "dry" stacked the bricks (placing silicon glue between them to hold them in place) and created his vision for the final placement of the mantle. He really wanted it to look and feel "real" and not just rest on the floor. We haven't made any final decisions about what we want to do with the back (perhaps some old tiles), but for now...it has a home and is affixed to the wall.

There is still a lot to bring into the room and put away...but we are well on our way to finishing.

Yesterday Ashley and I worked in the bathroom area finishing up some things (like cleaning the tub) hanging pictures, and touching up the last of the nail holes on the floor moldings added after the sink came in.

We brought back Miss Janice's collection of flower pictures she loves. She searches out floral paintings by Pierre-Joseph Redoute who was the official court painter for Queen Marie Antoinette.

We got a lot of them hung...but not all!

The tub was cleaned (the guys stored the toilet in the tub while they did the floor...nasty!) It was also full of sawdust and dirt from the floor project. Miss Janice purchased this new curved rod for her brand new shower curtain. I need to be sure and post a picture of the molding the guys put around the bottom of the tub. It really finishes off this area!

The vanity is finally in place and the plumber got the sinks hooked up (going from a single sink to a double.) The guys got the new faucets installed on Saturday and hung the new light fixture. At the beginning of the project Miss Janice purchased these two antique mirrors from a local antique store going out of business. They were just enough alike...but different...to make the area interesting. She also has one of her favorite floral prints in a frame that was similar to the mirrors.

I placed a screen made from two old shutters in front of the window to give Miss Janice some added privacy. Miss Janice can also display her favorite linens and handkerchiefs...just one more layer of privacy!

We moved her vanity from the bedroom into the closet area of the bathroom. She didn't use this area as a real closet...it was just a place for junk to gather and hide. Now that she's purged so much "old" stuff...Miss Janice has room to move her vanity into this nook. We hung her mis-matched white shelves in the closet to give her extra storage. Our "future" plan is to paint her jewelry box white.

These are not the greatest pictures of the area...but there is still so much stuff on the floors and around everything that needs to be put away. Thresholds need to be made and nailed in place.

Miss Janice's task list this week is to move her stuff back downstairs into the bedroom and bathroom. She's already made her bed up and is sleeping downstairs, and now that the tub is cleaned out, she can use the new bathroom area. There is still a dresser upstairs that needs to come down for clothes storage, but one step at a time.

Slowly Miss Janice is gaining access to her other rooms and they are returning to normal. There were many boxes that had been stacked in her bedroom since her father's death last fall...and we made it through ALL those boxes on Saturday. It was not an easy task...but we stayed focused and all the boxes were emptied. Books have been unpacked and placed on shelves, many family items are now displayed, and old photos and papers have found a new home. I can see the burden of "clutter" is lifting from Miss Janice and there is light at the end of the tunnel! I know this will take a few more "concentrated" days of focused work...but her BIG open house is on the horizon and she is looking forward to putting her feet up, watching HGTV and doing NOTHING! (Aren't we all?)

Till next time,

debi