Existing Layout - by Holly

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Better? or worse? - by Holly

Today we removed all the carpet (and pad) from the downstairs. We knew it would be a straightforward process but were surprised by how quick it went. Luckily I had purchased masks for us ahead of time... that place is N-A-S-T-Y! Anyways, pretty much all of the wood floors are missing/not salvageable. Here are some before and after pics...

Entry:

Front Parlor:

Dining Room:

And some other after pics:

Colin started taking down the cabinets and we decided to investigate what we think would have been the butler's pantry. The dark wood on the outside is original framing (the lighter was later added in order to attach drywall).

And here is a picture of approximately the same space but from the other side and on a perpendicular wall. It was interesting to find the original wood (dark) had been painted a light green (but why did it stop?). We don't know what would have been there... it should make more sense once the walls are down:

Restored Opening - by Holly

Originally the front parlor was open to the dining room (evidence from trim) and I was sooo anxious to restore it that I already got started. Wow that felt good. ;)

I also discovered what I assume are all the fireboxes and chimneys (6 total) original to the house:

It's kinda hard to see well in this pic but there's brick all the way up to the ceiling. I hope to incorporate these exposed brick features into the design.


Also, I needed a night out yesterday, so, where did I go? Home Depot. Nothing says "girl's night" to me like a home improvement store! I was surprised to find this tile at Home Depot of all places (I'm in love with it):

And finally, here is a short video of the first official demo work which was complete with our first surprise at what's behind the wall. I started laughing because the hammer felt ridiculously close to my face:

Documentation & Such - by Holly

I recently met with Sara to get the house documented and measured for preservation/tax credit/design purposes. Heather along with a new intern were also there and it still took a solid hour to get through everything. We'll be getting the existing floorplan in a couple weeks and hopefully start the design process in a month-ish but for now we are good to start demo!

Also interesting, things that I never thought people would say about "my house"

"I measured from the dead bird."

"We need to close the door so we don't have to stand where the poop is."