Living Room: Now to the inside!

After clearing out the resident ghosts, I moved on to the scarier projects at "my old house."

In the living room, there was a crack down the middle of the ceiling from the joist that sagged in the bedroom floor above it. First, After friend removed the floor in the bedroom above the living room, I had the joists repaired and reinforced. A skilled drywaller put in a new ceiling. He did wonderful finish work with no flaws.

My sister and I put up new crown molding, and I sanded and repainted all the mouldings. I hung blinds on all the windows. The windows have storm windows so I do not feel the need to replace them as yet.

A friend rewired the original ceiling light fixture and I shopped around until I found three opaque glass shades that match the center glass.

A contractor wired a light fixture on the east porch and added an outlet in the living room by the door. He also rebuilt the porch floor and steps, taking it back to the original design and supported the steps with a cement slab.

Croft-Beck Floors refinished the original pine floors in October 2004. This room was almost finished! I furnished the room from Ashley, LazyBoy and a few other pieces I found on sale. With a couple of antiques I already owned, three new rugs, and miscellaneous accessories the room was almost done. I would still like to improve on the window treatments, but am stumped on what to get.

My most exciting find was the hanging on the north wall. I looked and looked for something I liked, but alas, my taste was too expensive. One day I said, "I would settle for a blanket to hang there." That night I took a friend out for dinner. We walked from where we parked to the sandwich shop. Wow, hanging in the Ephraim Drug store window was a throw blanket of the historic Manti Temple! It matched the rest of the decor perfectly. The room is now a peaceful sanctuary.