Central foyer? - part II

Something to say about professionally installed high quality Bradbury and Bradbury wallpaper: "It's bloody hard to remove", says Brian. We estimate that this wallpaper had been applied 15 or 20 years ago, but showed no signs of wear and tear - nor did it start unpeeling at the edges. Darn it!

Anyway, what you see are 130-year-old walls. Most people will see damaged, discoloured walls, I see something that triggers my imagination and it brings me back in time. At this point these walls belong to all the previous owners. Now it's time to take possession and claim them as our own with a fresh coat of paint.

Powder room

My new cyber-friend Laura's favourite colour is yellow and I think it would be perfect to brighten up this area, the powder room and the the hallways. I took this yellow from the highlights of the lemons on the wall paper in our dining room and parlour, and it happens to be the same colour of highlights on the pears I painted on my buffet.

All three bedrooms were painted using paint from Home Hardware. I was very pleased with the coverage and the accuracy of the chosen colours. This time, I decided to try out their Natura eco paint. Looking forward to see how it measures up.

Central Foyer?

This post and the following three will be about the work in progress of, for lack of a better description, the central foyer. This area of the house is located at the end of the hallway, just before the kitchen. But it also leads to the dining room, the library and the powder room located under the staircase. Including the hallway door, it has five doors connecting to it. The wallpaper has to go. It's not offensive, but because that area is so small and filled with the moldings of all these doors, simplicity on the walls would be better. The steam cleaning machine was initially bought for health reasons, but it turned out to be an invaluable tool for removing wall paper.

The pretty suspended light, like most of the lighting in the house, was here when we moved in. By the molded frosted glass, I estimate circa 1940, but I can be wrong.

To me, looking at images of wall paper being stripped is like watching... someone stripping wall paper, but I hear that some house restorer enthusiast find the process really interesting. Perhaps it's the comforting feeling in seeing that they are not alone in doing this rather very unpleasant job. Then again, Brian has been doing this rather unpleasant job so I wouldn't know first hand. My enthusiasm lies more in the painting process; now that's like a three ring circus...

Eastlake Princess Bedroom

The first room we repainted after we moved in was the bedroom our daughter would choose to sleep in. It has a bright south-west exposure, two windows, lovely view of the nature trail bridge and when the trees are defoliated, we can see the River Thames. The girl instinctively knew which room was the best. I found in the classifieds this antique Eastlake bedroom set and knew right away she would love it. Very shabby chic, it fits right into the vintage of our country house. At the risk of being chastised by antique furniture purists, I think Eastlake furniture looks better painted. The marble lamp with the love birds used to belong to my grandparents on my mother's side. The spectacular chandelier was already in the house when we took possession and most probably is an antique as well. Since we finished this room, our tween has added a million girly girl nicknacks and whatnots, making it truly her own.

A custom made mattress had to be especially made for this antique bed. It's a little narrower than a double bed and a little shorter as well.

 The vanity with chest of drawers and bookcase.

 Small chest of drawers with cabinet, originally used for washing up. A big pitcher and bowl would have been resting on the top. Note the towel bares on each sides.

 Stunning antique glass chandelier.

 Antique marble night light, family heirloom.

The ornate cast iron heating vent. The air flow can be controlled by a small leaver at the base.