This Old House

This is my current project.. our front hallway has been in shambles for about 6 years now and I couldn't stand it any longer. I started stripping off the wallpaper- there are five layers. It's like an archeological dig through time. There was a fifties geometric print, followed by a red toile, then a green toile, then a 70's horror show with finally an 80's vinyl damask.

Unfortunately the interior walls of my house are this horrible stuff that the contractors called "beaver board". It was put up sometime in the fifties after the house suffered a fire. The outside walls are mostly plaster which is befitting the 1849 structure. The beaver board is a fibrous mess and comes apart if you try to get too close. I was able to strip off a couple of layers to a painted wallpaper and that will have to be good enough or the wall starts coming off too- a nightmare really.

My plan is to paint the walls. I can't commit to wallpaper. By the time I am finished wallpapering rooms, I'm sick of the pattern. I am having a hard time even committing to a color scheme. My daughter wants something bolder than the neutrals in the rest of the house. Maybe I'll be daring with color and hopefully won't regret it later.

These stairs are a mess. Looks like a job for the spackle queen!

More later... hope to be able to show off the after pictures and the big reveal just like on HGTV!

Views from my Studio

Here is the work apron I finished this weekend. I made it from some vintage pieces and the bottom of an orange dress I bought at the rummage "bag" sale just for the beaded buttons. The only thing is I wish my waistline was still like this dress form which was mine during college. Well.. maybe someday again if I can lay off the cookies!

This is a shot of one wall of my studio with a small (very small) sampling of fabric that I keep in view for inspiration. Above is my version of pirate's treasure... an old suitcase filled with vintage trims, ribbons, laces and millinery flowers. It's like gold!