Ah, the memories of Bluebells. The kids were little, I had wonderful neighbors, we were discovering the joys of central Ohio, and rehabbing a sweet little place in town.
I have blogged the exterior changes and the brightening of the sunroom. So, I figured I'd keep going from back to front and show you what happened to the room that had been added in the 1950s. This room spanned the back of the house, was one story, had a linoleum floor, aluminum jalousie windows and real, thick pine paneling that was lovingly stained and assembled by the original owners. During the rehab, we found mementos Mr. Bell had left behind. A church program left in the wall, a newspaper, things that marked the date and times in which the addition had been built. I found a place to put them all back during the reno, and added our own, perhaps to be found again someday.
On move-in day, prior to the arrival of the PB& J's from our realtor "Kuyper", I busied myself taking photos of the starting point. The room at the back of the house opened from the living room (Huz is standing in front of that opening, likely speaking to Eldest) and another door from the kitchen- later photo. The door Hannah (the dog) is going through leads to the sun room. The cutie with the pacifier stuck in her mouth is Middlest. She is inspecting the sills for bugs and dirt. Successfully.
Note in this room, an area rug of sorts, indoor/outdoor type that covers linoleum. The put up ceiling will need to go. The aluminum windows are great for brightness but a failure at energy efficiency...and beauty.
Before
This picture is from the other direction. Standing in the living room opening looking back at the other side of the room. You can see the expansive wood stove in the corner, bricks stacked behind it for safety? The keeper in this room is the real pine paneling. I will sand it and paint it, giving wonderful texture to the walls without the overwhelming "pineyness".
From the door to the sunroom, looking back to the kitchen, you can see there is a "window"- presumably the original to the kitchen. Now it has a mirror in the back and shelving. Middlest is wandering into the tiny kitchen.
For perspective on that wall, here is the "window" on the other side. It is over the stove and has pegboard attached to the wall. You can see the kitchen is teeny, and feels closed in. The original cabinets are terrific. The floor is not.
Upon moving into the space, I made the changes necessary to keep me sane (that butterfly wallpaper had to go!) but otherwise waited to see how the house "lived" and what it needed to make it really wonderful.
There was a half bath downstairs, and a full bath upstairs with the two bedrooms.
What it really needed for modern living was a master suite, and a guest room, a more open kitchen, a brighter indoor space, office space and a good flow for entertaining. Tall order.
My best space to work with was this pine-paneled big room. So, with my Dad, some graph paper, and sharp pencils, we started sketching. The kitchen was opened up to the room by removing part of the wall, and adding a laminated beam (it was a load bearing wall, so needed some special consideration) The dining room was placed there, with the door to the sunroom just beyond. A wall was erected through the center of the big room, with the half of the wall closest to the sunroom notched out for a mudroom bench and storage hooks for jackets, purses etc. and the other half housed the master bath, opened to the bedroom on the other side of the wall. The bedroom opened up from the living room, and then opened up on the other side to the patio in the back. Aw, heck. I'll just draw it for you.
Original room layout:
After
See? Now, we have a dining room, mudroom, and master suite instead. It is now insulated, has wood floors, a drywall ceiling instead of dropped tiles, and changed the whole house.
Oh, pictures? Okay!
This is a view of the dining area, looking into the newly opened kitchen wall. This is where the window with the mirror behind it had been in the original room. You can see the pine paneling is now white and bright. The china cabinet built-in was designed around the doors. They were in a neighbor's basement, and she was tossing them out. I gleefully snatched them up! The built in storage below is concealed by a curtain. The era of the house lends itself to charming features like this. It incorporates a fabric, adding softness, color and is easy to create, clean and replace. The chandelier is the least expensive one I could find at Ikea that I loved, and then put shades on the lights to soften the black cast iron simpleness of the light fixture.
You can kind of see into the kitchen where all the cabinetry that was not original to the house has been taken out, making the room bigger, and then to use the space open shelves have been added, and an island for counter work space.
This is the mudroom area. When the framers were framing up the walls, I realized- mid framing- I wanted windows in the wall. Even if they don't open to outside, they open up a wall space and give it interest. So, while they took a lunch break, I loaded kidlets in the car and jetted around the neighborhood. Wouldn't you know, I spotted a van with window glass on it a few blocks from the school. I knocked with a "yoo-hoo anyone home" and found them pulling out windows in the second story of the house. I loaded the windows in the van, and zoomed back home so the framers could frame them up to the correct dimensions.
I covered the bench cushion in the same fabric as the china cabinet lower curtain for continuity, but added other fabrics into the pillows. I even attempted a monogram pillow with my sewing machine that says "bluebells". I did it with the zigzag stitch and not lowering the foot pedal. Not perfect, but respectable. Storage under the bench for hats, gloves and such. The soft lambskin was toted back from New Zealand by my traveling incarnation.
From the living room, with the french doors open to the master suite, and the patio and back yard beyond.
I have to point out the ceiling fan here. I am not a great fan of the ceiling fan, but we do not use air conditioning, and the fan was a pleasant way to help cool the bedroom in the summer months. The french doors here are new, but wood divided light, and old glass knobs were used, so you'd never know. The wood floors are new, because there was sub floor under the lino that was not "refinishable". Jute remains my favorite choice for large area rugs. It's naturalness and fibers are like having woven rushes. Plus it's relatively affordable!
Once inside the bedroom, to the right is the ensuite bath, with another one of the pirated windows in that wall. Again, it is a super small space, and the window opens the space up and it doesn't feel like a hole-in-the-wall.
The bathroom sink was a salvage find, and my neighbor and I tackled building the cabinet one Saturday. Again, the legs and open design to the sink cabinet makes the space feel larger.
You can see how small the room is, but the maximum sized tub was added anyway. I put in a shower for resale value, but never used the shower head. I'm a tub girl. I had fun with the tile, even though it was same-old-same-old 4" squares, I added interest and texture by putting in a border and then setting the tile in diagonals on top. The bathrooms all got beadboard, because it's timeless. And this bathroom got a fairly deep shelf for display and storage. Under the window is a little vintage bench for non-toilet seating and for a stack of plush towels.
Ta-da! Ground floor master. 2 bedrooms, 1.5 baths become 3 bedrooms 2.5 baths.... but I'm not done. I want 4 bedrooms. And that office...
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