Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Guest House: Ceiling & Floors

In this post, I'm going to provide a little bit of the detail behind the changes to the ceiling and floors.

Here are the ceiling and floors before we started last spring. When we bought the property six years ago, the floors were covered with burnt orange carpet, and the walls were varnished pine planks. We had previously picked up the carpet and painted the walls and ceiling back in 2006. 


Here is Mike is holding up a 2 x 4 so that I can get an idea of what my idea would look like! 

This is Mike talking out the details of the ceiling with the contractor we hired to help with the carpentry. We used 4 x 8 panels of wainscot paneling and at every eight foot seam, put a 2 x 4 to simulate an exposed rafter. We added an additional 2 x4 between so that the simulated rafters are every four feet. 

I believe my brother was to arrive in less than two weeks when this photo was taken. 
I couldn't figure out why this photo looked so strange but then realized that Mike took it, so it's from a TALL perspective. It made me wonder how different everything looks to him. 

Mike took this as well. You can see that we started the beams at the wall and then went every four feet from there, to the other wall. 

Here's the end run of the beams, which ends at the wall. 

I have to say that when I walked in at this point, I had a little panic attack. It felt very busy and claustrophobic, and I started to question my entire plan! This was also three days before my brother and his family were to arrive for their July vacation.


But the white paint made everything blend and the finished project much less busy, adding just the right architectural detail to the white palette. 


A little later in the summer, Mike rented a floor sander and sanded down the floors before painting them. He's very thorough in his projects and although I argued that just a light sanding would be fine, he disagreed. And he was right. It took a little longer but the paint adhered as it should and will last a long time. 


Mr. Handy

AFTER photos from the Country Living shoot.
I will post more after photos soon. 

39 comments :

  1. Very interesting the process; it's all in the details! Kudos to Mike!!! SS

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  2. How very lovely. What. A top bloke. It looks great.
    Carolyn

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  3. Trina, that was such a great idea to put the ply wood against the ceiling like rafters. I love it. Our family room has that, or so we thought. When we moved into our home I fell in love with that very feature, and then one day Rob reached up and touched it. They are painted foam. I thought it was an incredible idea. They carved pieces took look like woo and then painted them a dark walnut. It makes our family room look so warm and rustic and cozy and there isn't a night that I don't sit in there and marvel at it and how much I love it.
    You have wonderful ideas. The loft is a dream.
    xoxo
    Lisa
    leeshideaway.blogspot.com

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  4. I loved seeing your guest room in Counrty living this month. You and your husband do a great job on every project you do. Also, you made me fall in love with wood furniture all over again. It seems that everyone is so eager to paint furniture now a days! Thanks for sharing!

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  5. top job always lovely to see a plan come together.
    Bec x

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  6. Love this guest house, and you have a really fine fella.

    YOu did an amazing job with this, Trina, so exciting!

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  7. Unbelievable! The transformation is amazing. Congrats on the articles, and most of all, a wonderful space for guests!

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  8. I'm a firm believer that when you go with your gut it always comes out right. Glad you didn't backtrack when you had your panic attack - it is simply lovely!

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  9. Please clone Mike and send the clone to me ASAP. Charge whatever price you like! ;)

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  10. I just loved seeing the stages you went through to get to that beautiful finished product. It's is so airy and inviting.

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  11. Interesting thought about your husband's perspective. I've never considered that before.

    Your "small" architectural detail of the 2x4s every 4 feet across the ceiling makes a big difference. You have a great eye.

    Such an informative series of posts. Thank you!

    Karla in CA.

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  12. I am going to show these photos to my own Mr Not -So-Handy . I love the ceilings and the sanding of the floor looks like it might be possible for a person to do who has never done anything like this. lol.
    I love seeing these sorts of posts, old sad rooms coming back to life.
    besos, C

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  13. love it and really love the WI t-shirt. Are you from WI? I am Fond du Lac.

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  14. The room turned the corner into calm and tranquil once the white paint was added. It's projects like this that make us all say 'it was worth the effort'.

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  15. Table is here:
    http://www.amazon.com/International-Concepts-T-42DP-42-Inch-Unfinished/dp/B0026NZOFK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1358909053&sr=8-1&keywords=round+pedestal+table+unfinished

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  16. So enjoying these detail posts on the guest house. You have such vision! And I think we've all had those moments while in the midst of a project when we seriously second guess ourselves. But as with rest of your home, it came together beautifully. Can't wait to see the rest.

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  17. Mike is from Wisconsin and also went to University of Wisconsin for his undergraduate degree!
    : ) Trina

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  18. Thank you for sharing your vision and the gorgeous finished project! Congratulations to Mr. Handy! Wish he lived here!!!
    A most wonderful year ahead to all of your beautiful family!
    xoxo, Chris in So. Cal.

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  19. Beautiful changes to an already great space.

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  20. I love the finished product. We would like to do something similar in our master, which has a lot of angled cielings. An expensive fix to a poor tape job....

    Your comment makes me concerned that I will feel it is too busy too!!! Do you think the room works best withall thite paint if it is done with these ceilings?

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  21. Your happiness as a married couple is such a joy. He obviously just adores you.

    Love the beams. Looking forward to more details.

    Take good care, Em

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  22. I absolutely love your idea of adding 2x4s and the white really did make it all blend. I think Mike was wise to thoroughly sand the floors. I painted the wood floors in two rooms of our house... one room was sanded down to the bare wood and the other was only lightly sanded. Although both look the same, I can tell a difference as the paint chipped in a couple places in the room that was only lightly sanded. Although... that is the girls' playroom so it may see more use! ;-)

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  23. The guest house looks wonderful! I loved seeing it it Country Living! I hope you have a great week!

    ~Dan~

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  24. Dawn,
    Yes, it will make angular ceilings blend more. We did this is our upstairs master bedroom with the dormer, beam, etc. It made everything much smoother looking.


    We used Simply White paint on everything.

    Em, Thank you for your kind words...I will post on how we met, etc. soon!

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  25. Can I move in? I love the ceiling! My husband is 6'3" and I'm 5'4", we have the perception discussion all the time. He tends to hang things like mirrors, bars, art really high. I have to tell him to think average height. Not giant height! Good work!

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  26. The pleasure is all mine. I'm sure I'm not alone in looking forward to hearing more. Take good care! Em

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  27. Amazing job as always!I LOVE your blog!

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  28. I love home projects that turn out so beautifully! Thanks for sharing.

    Velva

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  29. You guys are awesome. I've been following you for a couple years now and I just love, love, love everything you do!! Thanks for sharing!! Alayne Johnson

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  30. I am new to your blog Trina, and I am completely smitten with all the gorgeousness!! You and your husband are very talented and have created a lovely home.

    I'm off to enjoy stroll through more of your awesome blog now.

    Have a great night!

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  31. How were the 2x4's attached to the ceiling? I have been wanting to do this in our living room that has a slanted ceiling but it is 2 story....I know scaffolding would have to be used. (yikes- can you hear the cash register ringing!) are they screwed in?

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  32. Just want to say that your blog has more helpful info on a regular basis than any other blog i follow

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  33. Your photos are all so beautiful! So glad that I could follow along your building process!!

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  34. Trina,

    How did you make the design decision to do the narrower strip panels instead of the beadboard-looking ones? We are renovating our 1910 guesthouse, which only has a wall board similar to what was originally the ceiling material of yours, and I don't know if I should should the two different types, knowing that the wider pine paneling was a "given" for you.

    Thanks,
    Catherine

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  35. I bought an old colonial and one of the first things we did was rip up the smelly blue carpets and refinish the wood floors. Yours look great and they add such character to the room. They are definitely much better than an orange carpet.

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  36. just found your blog and am enjoying reading backwards, in what state are you located? I went to UWMadison too! go Bucky! :-)

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  37. What color gray paint is on the floor?

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  38. What paint/color did you use for they grey wood floor ?

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Thank you for leaving your thoughts. Kind regards, Catherine

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