Moving On to the Master

Work began yesterday on the master bedroom- the boxy, soaring-ceilinged (that's an actual word) room that juts out from the southeast corner of the house. I was so excited to see ladders and work lights and sanders and the shop vac beginning to litter the floor. Progress! Got to love real progress!

Here's what we're working with: badly abused original wood floors. Once covered with carpet, they're bare again now, meaning there are hundreds of nail holes, stains and uneven places. 

But it only begins with the floor. Moving up the wall, the trim is missing in places and in need of care in others. Two windows require new glass; one is cracked, the other was cut in half to accommodate an air conditioner at some point. Either I find an old, wavy-paned window to replace it with, or we're going to have to get our carpentry tools out and build a new one. We'll get there.
 

There are four doors in this room: one to the bathroom, another to a closet, one opening to the crooked hall, and the last to the glassed-in sun porch. The closet is tiny. Teeny tiny. As in, three feet wide and a few feet deep tiny. But since the closet shares a wall with the half bath, my plan is to knock out the closet wall, join the two spaces, and make it into a full master bath. A small (but serviceable) master bath. Then we'll frame in a large closet on the full wall to the left of the bathroom door- that's the door in the left of the photo above- and have it all: large master, large closet, and a full, private bath.

All we'll winners need then is a chicken dinner. Ha. Ahem. Okay...
 

After some holes are patched in the wall and we caulk the place until it resembles an iced cake, painting will begin. I want to do a very creamy, soft gray in this room. I want to, but we still have gallons of the other paint left and to save money, maybe we'll stick with that in here, too. For now. Or maybe I'll sneak on down to Sherwin-Williams and see if I can find a deal on what I really want. Let's be real: it will all depend on whether I'm feeling thrifty or hormonal the day before the painting begins. (Lord, help me, I pray.)

For such a bright, open, good-sized bedroom space for an old home- it's about 20' x 18'- it's perfect for tucking a small reading/sitting area in by a window, I think. I'm excited about that. I love homes... and gardens... with lots of small sitting spaces for reading or quiet chats. This old place has those nooks everywhere. Makes my heart happy.

As for furnishings, I'm a little spare in that department. I still feel pain- real, actual pain- when I think of the pieces I sold off after Freeman House. I could kick myself for it. I have kicked myself for it. So many times. But all I can do now is begin again. It's time to hit up some antique stores and roadside sales and Salvation Army and see what we can drag home and spruce up and love....

This evening, sanding and patching continues. It will be so much fun to see how the space evolves. I'll show you every step of the way, I promise!

What would you envision for a master space like this? Please, feel free to share. -Brin
----------

(Oh! And don't forget that we're talking over on Facebook, too. Head over, like the page, share it with a friend or two, and let me know what you'd do if this space were yours to make over!)