Old Boards

When we decided to take the middle bedroom upstairs and make it a master bath, it sounded easy enough. It was anything but easy. It was the hardest, yet most rewarding, part of this farmhouse renovation.

Once again, it was the old boards that stole my heart.

When we started to renovate the bedroom and turn it into the master bath, one of the first things to go was the wallpaper and sheetrock. Underneath it we found the most beautiful wood planks. Do you see those on the wall? And on the ceiling? Pure awesomeness.

Here you can see them on the other wall. This is the wall that was to become our sink vanity wall.

There was NO WAY I was covering those up gorgeous, historic wood planks with new sheetrock. Instead, we simply painted them.

I love the way this looks now. However. However. However. It is mighty cold in the toilet room. The wind blows right in between those boards. Clear Caulk is our best friend.

We also found this. An old can lid patching a hole. How cool is that? This is one of the reasons I’ve always liked old houses; the corncobs stuffed in the dining room ceiling and a tin can lid nailed to the floor upstairs.

We also needed a bit more ceiling height, these upstairs bedrooms ceilings were a bit low. So, we added a trey ceiling in the bath. That extra room allowed me to pick out a larger light fixture. Yayness.

There was one thing I knew. I wanted a white pedastal tub. Everything else was negotiable, but not the white pedastal tub. This bedroom is in the upstairs level of the old farmhouse, above the dining room. That meant that a cast iron tub wouldn’t work. There was no way a huge, heavy tub could go in the room above the dining room table. Luckily, I found one that was made of a special, heavier-than-normal acrylic.

For quite sometime, I wanted to put the tub in front of the fireplace. I’m glad we put it in front of the window. I love it there.

Ah, but I definitely need some window coverings. Out of this window, we can see the local Baptist Church.

You can see to the left of the tub where we cut the back of a closet to open it up to the room behind the closet.

A fireplace, straight-on view while the project was “in process.” The entrance to the bathroom is now to the right of the fireplace; that’s where we cut the closet open to the adjoining bedroom.

And, no. I still haven’t gotten up the courage to white-wash that brick chimney.

Here’s the way you enter the room, through what was the closet. The buffet is one my husband and I picked up at a flea market when we first married. It was stored away in the garage when Scooter, one of the marvelous carpenters on the job, helped us figure out a way to turn it into our sink cabinet. Divine, isn’t it? He cut off the legs and popped it right in there. I’m looking for the right mirror now.

To the left of the sink cabinet is the toilet room, to the right is the walk-in shower.

We covered the doorway into the new master bath with a large armoire we’ve had forever. We didn’t want a door into the master bathroom from the hallway.

See that brick? That was behind the sheetrock, inside the closet that we made a walkway to the master bathroom.

Here’s the entrance into the master bath now.

One of the adjoining bedrooms became our master sitting room and closet room. We built the wall to the left and created two closets.

The light fixture is original to the house. And I kept the wallpaper in this area.

We ripped up the carpet in this room and the master bathroom and put down engineered wood floors. I think they look fabulous.

That opening at the end of the room was a window. We cut the house there as well and made it the opening into the addition, the new master bedroom.

Looking into the new master from the old blue bedroom that became the sitting room.

And it’s done! The master bedroom addition, which sits above the Keeping Room.

Until next time, Friends, savor the flavor of life!

Lots of love, The City Farmgirl, Rebekah

ps in other news, I’ve renamed my horse yet again. From Snow Flake to Blizzard (when we went wild) to Snow Dancer…kisses to this sweet fuzzy nose….do you see that fur on his head, between his eyes? where there is a little swirl? my daughter says that is where his unicorn horn comes out when we’re not looking….