MyORC--THE ENTRY

When I step back in time and take a look at the

before photos

I am surprised at the reaction I have

did I not know I was in a pile of self created rubble

in a place that could have been just fine to have stayed the way it was?

this was the dining room

smallish but it could have been pretty cute

the dining room window before we created the new entry--

the house had plenty of character without all the change

~~but~~

seriously thank the Lord that we chose to move those stairs

because here we discovered a hot mess of carbon monoxide slowly leaking into the house

had it not been for the size of this attic space

folks could have been in real danger

things have to look worse before they get better

lots of curious town folks driving by and this photo was taken in late January

brrrrr!!!!!

seriously am I running the vacuum here?

where is my coat?

man oh man!

this happy face was just before a reality set in that I had not considered

~~that reality was this~~

I don't always get what I want

and

thank you very much family of five children for helping me be 

used.to.that.

even though in the beginning I wasn't keen on the idea of moving the entry and the stairs

I did kind of warm up to the idea

see how much room there is up there?

my vision was a very very tall pitch in the entry with a fantastic chandelier!

and the curvy sidewalk was my other carrot

but one day I walked in and the ceiling, although tray,

was much lower than what I expected

and

DONE!

whaaaaatttt???

This early February day I was distracted from my annoyance about the ceiling height 

by the arrival of a real live door

that could open and shut and keep out the winter chill

~~Inspiration~~

We had traveled to Atlanta for a bank seminar and stayed in a beyond beautiful

1920 luxury hotel that had so many elements of what we were trying to create at 822

~~We~~

• Did I mention we moved the stairs?
• Created an entry out of the old dining room and by doing so shifted the entire home to a more symmetrical look inside and out
• Took advantage of all the open space to re-wire/re-vent/re-heat/re-cool/re-insulate
• Created a few art niches while the walls were open
• Laid a marble floor
• Added some very wonderful mahogany doors and stairs
• Purchased my favorite chandelier of all time...from eBay!

~~Biggest Challenge~~

This one little space had

A.L.O.T. 

going on

while I wouldn't say this was our biggest challenge... 

I would say that it was the most unforgettable thing that happened during the entire reno

Our good friend Frank

got to go to the 

Texas State Penitentiary

so as you can imagine all our flooring and its 30 year warranty

well...guess that means I don't have to use the required and expensive products on it

~~Favorite Thing~~

I love that this is not my dining room!

Are you ready for today?

while the ceiling is not as dramatic as I had hoped

it is dramatic

I love the mahogany stairs but I still want to carpet them

but then again...remember I don't always get what I want

all the corners are round making wallpaper a difficult choice

so I painted a mural on all 4 walls...very very subtle 

Frank did a really good job...it is beyond me why a person would have a million dollar carpet business serving 3 states and still deal drugs.  I have truly never been more shocked in my life!  

 I really really liked him

oh there...I did get something I wanted it

Frank was going to come back and replace this one little teeny tiny tile that isn't quite the right color

ok...maybe in 10 to 12

whew...got that part done!

it's best when you are able to come to terms with things

I am not

a 4.0 kind of girl

but I do have lots of imagination floating around 3.89ish

AND

I...we...know how to work our hineys off

in a reno like this one has been ?

that's kind of stellar