The Parlour & Living Room

Here is the Living room and Parlour. As you can see, the previous owner liked the color blue. It was everywhere, from the walls to the fire place to the carpet. These two rooms are big, but the printed wallpaper is too busy and the carpet just needs to go.
First things first: Rip up all the carpeting and padding (whoever it was that laid down the carpet really didn't try to preserve the hardwood because in most places it was just glued to the original floor).


Dave rented a drum sander and went to town.  At first, it was really scary because it looked like we were destroying the floor. But, the man at the rental place said it would get worse before it got better. So, he just kept sanding.  It made such a mess! 
 What a difference! This 110-year-old floor brought back to life was amazing. Dave did a great job and was very proud of his work.





The floor is ready for stain!


~ A Lil' History~ We know that the man who built this house owned the first and only lumber mill in this area. When we had a historian come to give us the story, he said this was true by the quality of materials used in the house. The beams are three times the size of standard beams and each room of the house has a different pattern in the hardwood floor.  It was as if he was really showing off his passion.






Here is a picture of our living room now. The floor is done and we tore down the old wallpaper and painted.  The room now depicts a Victorian home, from the 100 year old singer sewing machine to the floor to ceiling draperies.  We still have cornice boards in the works for the windows.


As a side note, Victorians were famous for having an abundance of plants displayed in their homes. However, I owe my botanist gene to my mom.  Her love of houseplants inspired my green thumb.











This is a close up of the finished front room. I love the way the light comes in the windows!





































































































































1 comment:

Connie said...

Shannon it looks great so far! I got goose bumps when I read "our story" very well told. I look forward to see and reading about the restorations. When we go to Missouri to help burn the praries we can do some antiquing.
Love You... So proud.