The Office/Schoolroom Renovation

Happy Tuesday!  Did you have a nice weekend?  For the most part we were away from home, but we did have enough time to complete a couple projects upstairs.  I wouldn't say the space is one hundred percent complete, since I still have some additional decor projects, but I thought it was close enough to share!  Besides, I couldn't wait much longer!  (smile)

BEFORE:

If you recall from some earlier before pictures I have shared, the upstairs was charming in the sense it appeared as if nobody had been up there in 80 years, but it was also dark and gloomy (I referred to it as the "dark cave").  We have been using the space as an office but we will also be using it in the future for a schoolroom as well.  My hope for this space is that it looks like an old schoolhouse with a modern touch. Before we began the renovation, I searched for interior images of old schoolrooms and took note of similar characteristics in the old photos so we could try to incorporate some of those elements. 

AFTER:

 The first step was bringing in the light though!  There was no way we could leave the beadboard in its original natural state, especially since the air duct work.  And while I love the natural wood in some areas of our home, the upstairs definitely needed to be painted since the landing area's only source of natural light comes from the two bedrooms off of it. 

The walls and ceiling are all painted white.  Although we refinished the floors in our daughter's bedroom upstairs, we made the decision to paint the floor in this area.  (Maybe I should reword that with compromise... after my husband sanded and sanded her bedroom, his exact words for doing the same here were "no way, no how".)  But I have to say I am so pleased with the way the light gray floors look painted and it was such an easy fix.  In fact, the floors may have been the simplest project we tackled!  

We also changed out the door you see in this photo with a five-panel to mimic the two original doors we have up here.  The door leads to the eaves, which we use for storage.

The chalkboard is the project we completed this weekend.  After all, what schoolroom is without a chalkboard?  (smile)  When my husband built in the desk, we specifically saved enough room off the side for a long chalkboard.  This is just a piece of wood painted with chalkboard paint and trimmed with window casing.  I painted it with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint Emperor's Silk and used a dark wax to match the desk chairs.

You may remember this photo of the shelf ledges we built for the alphabet cards. This may always be my favorite wall up here.  I just adore these cards! 

And also the 8' desk my husband built into the wall.  (If you missed it, you can read that post here.)  As I've mentioned before, since the walkways on the side of the stairwell are so narrow we wanted to eliminate any bulky furniture.  The bare wall will hopefully soon have a cork board hung, trimmed and painted the same as the chalkboard.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

We added two schoolhouse light fixtures in this area and painted the staircase as well.  Although not extremely noticeable, the stair railing is painted a very light gray, one shade lighter than the floor in fact.  It was more time and effort, but I love the subtle difference.  The doorway leads to our daughter's bedroom.

Along this wall is the built in bookcase my husband built, which we still absolutely love. (If you missed the bookcase post, you can find it here.)  After having walked around a bulky bookcase and file cabinet here for the past two years, it is wonderful having a walkway devoid of furniture.    

The girls of course love that part... they chase each other around and around the stairwell. 

And last, but not least, is the painted flag hanging.  I hope one day to have a little bench built underneath it and some additional wall decor, but for now it feels absolutely wonderful to have this renovation complete and time now to focus on the decorating!  Next up is painting the floor in the girls' playroom... you can see the doorway just right of the flag in this photo and I hope to be sharing those pictures soon! 

P.S. I cannot thank you enough for your kind words about being a finalist in the Country Living Blogger Awards.  They meant so much to me that I already felt like a winner.  Thank you for voting, but most of all, thank you for reading and for sending such encouragement my way!