Wood Plank Ceiling / Recessed Lighting

So I thought I'd give a little update on one of the home rennovation projects going on around here.

 

I don't think I've shared some of the "before" photos with you - so here goes...

Our little 1953 rancher was very.... shall we say, 1953 bones with 1980's decor touches when we moved in three years ago. We had a very choppy floorplan. Lots of little rooms strung together. Connected by small arched openings. Like a gigantic horseshoe. If you wanted to get from the playroom to the bathroom, you'd have to pass through 5 small rooms to get there... It needed a LOT of work. And I was 5 months pregnant when we closed on it.

Enter - my superhero husband. Mr. Clark Kent himself.

This was the front "sitting room"

"We" removed the carpet, stove, mirror and draperies and painted the chimney white.

When I took this photo I was standing with my back up against a wall which led into the dining room.

This is the wall... looking back toward the chimney and down the hallway. Nice light fixtures, eh?

 

This wall went bye-bye shortly after we moved in. In order to support the house, the ceiling was cut open and a huge beam was inserted up into the attic.

This was the dining room on the other side of that wall... B-E-A- utiful!

And that little doorway led into the kitchen... Yeah - that wall went bye-bye too... and another beam went up. And the kitchen - well... that's another post for another day.

When all this happened we realized that the old dining room ceiling had one of those "popcorn-style" treatments - while the front sitting room and hallway all had smooth.

We also had this gigantic "drywall patch" where the beam was placed up into the attic.

What to do? What to do?

Hmmmm...

I like wainscotting. Like EV-ERY-WHERE.... Since moving in - we've done a ton of it in various styles all over the place. So I thought - why not put some wood planks on the ceiling to cover up all that mess...

And lucky for me, I have Clark.

SO... about a zillion cartons of pine tongue & groove planking later... we have this. Clark primed it and then installed it. He was gonna go ahead and put another coat or two of interior latex paint on it - but I told him not to. I like the white-washed look of just the bare primer.

This angle is where the wall would've been... old "sitting room" window on the right - old "dining room" windows on the left.

Our sectional couch currently resides in that left corner... So we needed some light over on that side...

Clark installed these recessed lights next...

The TV sits directly across from the couch. You can see there is some trim yet to be installed around the edges... We are deciding what type of moulding would be appropriate there... I'm thinking something really tiny. Like that concave quarter-round - whatever that's called.

On the old "sitting room side" of this new open space is where we have our formal dining table (which we never use)... with a chandelier (West Elm) just above it - so we really only needed the recessed lighting on the other half of the room.

Again - "we" still need trim up around the bookshelves, etc. - but I thought you'd like to have a look.

 

Before

After

Amen, Clark!

Comments

[heidi]

looks like a picture right out of a magazine! i too, LOVE wainscoting and we have put it in a lot of places. i LOVE the look of the ceiling...looks boatish which is totally wonderful. love your home improvements!!! i am amazed that clark does all of it...sheesh.

[Lindsey]

LOVE LOVE the finished product--the ceiling is amazing...

[Cory]

As always your personal touches shine through! Katie youre amazing! When are you coming to State College!!!!!!

[Jaime]

Noooo... I think you moved and bought a different house! HAHA... seriously though, absolutely gorgeous!

[Christy]

love the shelves and the chandy! is awesome