Keep it simple!

Here is some more of the ongoing renovation!  When I restored the house 22 years ago the bedroom ceiling was the same height as the hall ceiling - 6'2".  Yes - I said 6'2".  For the hall and eventual bathroom that height was fine.  

But why were the ceilings so short?  

1. People, for the most part, were shorter back then (remember built in 1909)? 

2. The upstairs area was not a public area.  When you went upstairs - you went to go to bed.

3. There was also the expense of making the ceilings another 2 feet taller - and this house was  definitely built with economy in mind.

However I definitely wanted the bedroom ceiling taller.  To do this all of the plaster was busted off the lath, then all the lath was removed - carefully - most of it was salvaged so that other areas in the house could be patched with it later.  The ceiling joists were taken out one by one, sent out the window and cut to about a third of their length.  Then they were brought back upstairs and re-attached as collar ties.  So now I had a hipped ceiling in my bedroom!  With this brought some design issues - both 'good' and "hmmm, what do I do with that"?  The good was that I 'trapped' two of the attic windows into the room.  The "hmmm" part was where the drywall was going to intersect on the interior of the house at the attic area above the hallway.

A stack of quilts were formerly  in this cubby.  These items were originally in the front cubby - now occupied by cool guy stuff.  This area is smaller than the front cubby - so I think my collection might need to be edited.

So where did all this stuff come from?  Most of the goodies in this photo are from my childhood.  Two bears, Soup Bone and Brown Gravy  - made by my Grandma Trulinos, my miniature Blue Willow tea set,  A composition doll, Marie - my Mother's only doll  - a gift to her at age 13.  Also up there Sunshine, my puppy dog from when I was baby, a miniature Bell Telephone music box - from when my Grandmother Nolin worked at the phone company and some dresser jars from when my Mom had first taken up housekeeping. 

Cool guy stuff!  A few of Bob's favorite books, some vintage tools, and a toy truck from his childhood. 

Bob had collected a few tools up to the time when we were married.  After that I helped him :)    One of the places that I found some neat old tools for Bob was on Carroll Street - Cannon Hill Place at the Old Granary in Frederick, MD.   


Regarding the ceiling - there were of course some restraints  - plumbing and heating vents had to be considered.  I ended up creating a cubby or shelf just above the original ceiling level - and I still like the way it looks!  

  This is part of my 'reduce and pass on' theory to lessen my 'collection' load at home.  Stack of quilts that once occupied the cubby.  Look for these soon in my Missing Heirloom shop on Etsy.  http://www.etsy.com/shop/MissingHeirloom

This stack of quilts came mostly from when I was buying and selling antiques to put myself through grad school.  There are a few that are gems - and a few that are cutter quilts.

The quilts I'm keeping.  Ratio is pretty good - about 3 to 1! 

 A sweet coverlet with a pretty hand stitched edge,  a very worn in the middle - but good on the edges Cathedral Window quilt, A Flower Basket quilt made by Great Grandma Fanny.


Stay posted - more progress coming your way!