Hallways Before and After

I posted about the remodeling of our living room recently.  You can see it here.  After I re-read it, I realized that I took a lot of credit for the improvements, but it was a total collaboration with Mr. Pressed Pants and I didn't give him enough credit.  He was totally involved and without his participation, this wouldn't have happened.  So much for my disclaimer!!!

 There were a myriad of details just in this hallway that connects the master bedroom part of the house to the kitchen part.  It runs along this stairway behind the sofa.  Upstairs, this same area was changed dramatically, as you will see here.

Here's what we started with.  This newel post was huge, and from the front entryway, it actually blocked the view into the living room.  I couldn't get rid of these ceiling lights quickly enough.

That area looks like this now.  We refinished the stairs and replaced the banister and railing, upstairs and down.  These iron spindles made such a difference, especially from the entryway.  There was no railing on the left side of the wall, so we added it for safety.  Southern Staircase did the work for us and they were just wonderful to work with. 

The next decision was how to carpet the stairs.  I really wanted sisal, but was concerned about the wearability.  I settled on this sisal/olefin blend with a subtle diaper pattern and bound it in matching tape.  Then decided to install it "tight" instead of "waterfall", which means that it closely follows the edge of the step.  Details, details!  I put it on the stairs that go down to the terrace level, as well.

Here's this area from the other end of the hallway.  The master bedroom is down this hall. You can see the inappropriate light fixtures are gone and replaced with simple pot lights.  My electrician thought I was crazy, but fortunately, he didn't get to design this!

I'm so into Soumak rugs.  I chose this one for the run down the hall.

This wall gave me the chance to use some artwork that I had been storing for a while.

These are prints, but the subject matter is appropriate for this house in the country.  See the setter?  Love!

And the top one has a setter in the boat.  Who would do that?  I've had setters, and they are way to flaky to put in a boat.  But they are truly sporting dogs, so they lend themselves to this genre of art.

If the house caught on fire, I might just have to run in to save these sconces. I love them that much.  The photo is a bit dark, but these sweet doggy faces make me so happy.  I found them years ago at an antique shop and had to have some repair work done to the candle cups, but I was sooo willing to do so.

The previous owners had this......

and this.

But we  closed up the balcony.......

and the second floor railing.

We inserted this wonderful antique French gate into the wall for interest.  We had such a good time choosing the perfect piece.  We found it at Architectural Accents in Atlanta.  Then quite a planning session occurred with the carpenter to be sure that it would never fall out.  It is heavier than you'd ever believe.

This upstairs view.....

became this.....

and this.

Besides visually simplifying things from downstairs, this project gave us a large wall space to hang these four special art pieces.  Years ago, when we lived in Cincinnati, Mr. Pressed Pants served on a capital campaign for the Historical Society.  They gave the committee members these limited edition re-strikes of views of Cincinnati in 1835.  They are really quite large when framed, so there weren't too many places that we could hang them and keep all four together. 

I didn't have a runner here for a long time, but I finally bought this at auction.  I don't know anything about it, but it gave me some color that I needed.  Do  any of you know what I have here?

As you pass the gate from the upstairs hallway, this is the view you see into the living room.

And if you look through the bars, this is the view.  I keep hoping that three little boys don't decide to launch water balloons or something here!

And, from the downstairs entryway, this becomes the sight line.  Sooo much better!

Thanks, Mr. Pressed Pants for the fun we've had on this project!!!

Check out these blog parties which I am joining this week:

Seasonal Sunday

]http://thetablescaper.blogspot.com/

Metamorphis Monday

http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/