By this point in the rehab process we were less about triage, and more about focusing on one project at a time. We still worked crazy amounts of hours on the house, but we were more goal driven, and during the time period featured here, the goal was a room for the kid. Not that we minded having her in our room – in fact we loved it – and we probably wouldn’t have done it any other way. She was a great sleeper, and since she was used to the hustle and bustle and noise around her, we didn’t even have to be really quiet. We turned on lights, we worked on the computer, we talked and hung out. The kid could sleep through anything.
But still, it was time for everyone to have a little more elbow room. We got the windows installed on the third floor (insulated windows, oh my!) and set about finishing out the space up there. We installed the stair to the third floor which was modeled after the lower one. We then moved on to the nursery where we trimmed and trimmed and trimmed and trimmed. The rooms have so little drywall up there – most of it is trim of some type or another. The same millwork shop that made our bedroom wardrobes fabricated four more sets of built-ins for the top floor. If you remember from before, the furnace that feeds the third and second floors is housed on the third floor and the ductwork actually runs along the east wall of the house, and then drops down into the joist bay below the floor to feed the second floor. We did this to avoid soffits on the second floor, and we planned on hiding this ductwork in built-in cabinets on the third. So we measured and drew and laid out a series of wardrobes, built-in dressers and window seats to cover it all up. We added cubbies in the bathroom to house bath supplies and we even added a small niche with shelves into the extra deep west wall on the stair side. It is now home to E’s ever changing art gallery. I painted for what seemed like months and months again – endless coats of white, and then finally the palest of blue shades in stripes in the nursery and some color in the form of a mural along the front wall ledge. Her ceiling is a pale blue beadboard with the white beam covers, and the dark cherry floors really set it all off.
I love everything about her room – we tried to make it a pretty neutral space, and let the objects that she loves – her best toys and ridiculous amount of books be the color and the interest in the room. If you watch the changing background in the pictures we take of her in the room, you can see how that front ledge is used and changes and grows with her. One morning she was laying in bed staring at her ceiling when I came in and she said “Mom, I have the most interesting ceiling in the world.” I’m glad she noticed.
She also has a great view from that dormer window. She can see the top of the Arch downtown, and the top-two thirds of the fireworks shows that go on at the fourth and during the Friday and Saturday night concerts by the river. When you lay on her bed it looks like you are up in the tree tops and it’s particularly beautiful with all the yellow leaves right now.
After we finished her room we moved onto the bathroom, laying tile and installing salvaged fixtures from our house…coming soon after this slide show are the pictures of the reglazing and then some further finish work throughout the house. But it was nice to stop all that for awhile and really focus on her room. She was a great roommate for awhile, but that room…well…it’s just the best room in the house. Grab a cup of coffee some morning, have a seat in the rocking chair, listen to her chat and putter around the room and I challenge you to find a more peaceful and wonderful place.
HI! Found your blog through YHL. Wondering if you bought replacement two over two windows for your house, or if they are original? If you bought them, which company are they from? Thanks!