Inspiration: The Master Bedroom

The master bedroom has been by far our largest undertaking. When we began, it was covered in horrendous fake wood paneling and industrial carpet. The hallway is painted panel so we considered that as an option, but we were  incredibly curious about what might be lurking under there. After a tiring day working outside, we no longer possessed the sense to take it easy with the bedroom walls. We ripped down the first panel to discover a parfait of style through the decades. Directly under the paneling was a faded wallpaper, beneath that was painted sheet rock, and on the very bottom was plaster.

It was clear to us that a lot had changed since the house was built in 1918. Of course styles went in and out, and with each decade came a new layer. It felt wrong adding yet another layer to this beautiful house, like the rooms had been growing smaller over time with each added layer and we owed it to her to strip it all away.  We knew it would be a large project- probably the largest immediate project in the house- but we had a perfectly livable spare room where we could sleep in the meantime. If we were going to get this done, we had to do it when the room was empty.

Jacob claimed this project as his own. He spent a few weekends ripping down the panel, stripping bits of wallpaper, filling the holes with spackle, and sorting out some problem areas. This is where we stand today:

We pulled up a corner of the carpet to discover dark, wide wooden boards underneath. The plan is to rip up the carpet and refinish these floors once we take care of the walls. Another issue I have with the bedroom is the closet. Everybody thinks I am ridiculous, but I insist that it is the closet that is ridiculous. When the staircase was built, it must not have been tall enough, so when they built the closet, they gave it a slanted floor. I have a serious problem with that! It looks awful, and makes no sense at all. I would like to some day turn the closet into built-in drawers and build a new closet in another part of the room.