The hand-painted antique cabinet matches the color of the new rug.

I haven’t posted anything in more than two months. My wife says, “That’s because you’ve been sitting around doing nothing.”

Oh, the sarcasm.

I’ve been doing quite a lot (which I’ll be posting updates on in the coming weeks), including this. The dining room in our 1848 house in Malden, Mass. was in bad repair: the horsehair plaster walls were crumbling in a few places, and so it was time for a redesign.

At first we considered unearthing the fireplace that must exist inside the wall between the dining room and living room. But after consulting Mario, the fireplace expert, we decided not to do it: besides the expense (upwards of $20,000) it would have required us to cut into some major beams and reduce the size of two already small closets.

Plan B: Call in an old-school plasterer who could repair the damaged walls, rather than putting up blue board over them;  Strip the four doors that open up into the dining room of their layers of paint; Paint and glaze the walls and woodwork to give the room an old-world Scandinavian effect; Buy a new rug and curtains; And one thing I wasn’t counting on was replacing an old hope chest with a painted piece of furniture to continue the Scandinavian theme.

That purchase was made last Sunday when I attended opening day at the SoWa Market in Boston’s South End (Be sure to click on the video I created to see interviews with the vendors).

AFTER: The new dining room with the antique cabinet, painted walls, and bare wooden doors.

BEFORE: The old dining room after the walls were re-plastered but before the doors were stripped of paint.

Resources:

• Doors were dipped at Minuteman Furniture Stripping in Somerville, Mass. They picked up the four doors and then dropped them off. We kept the natural color and had a light coat of polyurethane put on them for protection.
• Walls were re-plastered by Fay Brothers Plastering in Dorchester, Mass. John Fay is an artist and a perfectionist. He and his son, Sean, spent nearly a week working on the walls, paying special attention to a curve in one section. He also uncovering a wooden corner bead, which was the old-fashioned way of protecting corners back in the day. They dug this little gem out and now that it’s painted, it’s a highlight of the room.
• Walls and woodwork were painted by Sitting Pretty in Haverhill, Mass. (978-521-0915). Kathy McCormick specializes in old world painting techniques. We hired her several years ago to match our new kitchen cabinets to the same color and grade of wood as the original douglas fir cabinets in our butler pantry. She’s great to work with and made several sample boards before we agreed on the color and glazing technique.
• The hand-painted antique cabinet was bought at Tula Antiques at the SoWa Vintage Market in Boston.

Here's a peek at the new medicine cabinet against the freshly painted walls and next to the old wall sconces which will be ripped out soon.

The bathroom remodel is about half-way done and we couldn’t have done it without your help.

At your suggestion we painted the walls off-white (actual name: Corner Cupboard Yellowish White). And we took Marie’s hint that the original medicine cabinet we picked out might be too modern looking. Instead, we found an antique silver framed medicine cabinet on Hayneedle.com.

The vanity with vessel sink was installed. But the faucet that came with it didn’t go with the antique design, so we purchased another one.

Actually we purchased two. The first one we ordered online had an original retail price of a whopping $843 but we got it for $185. However, when it arrived, it was huge (about 18-inches high and about 5 or 6 inches thick).

We returned it and found this one from Delta’s Victorian collection. A local bathroom design shop wanted more than $350 for that faucet but we got it online at Faucet-Warehouse.com for $225.

We also started researching toilets but decided to stick with the old one for now. It’s got a big tank (in fact you can’t buy them this big anymore) and we worry that one of the new toilets with a smaller tank won’t work as well.

The new sconces to go on each side of the medicine cabinet as well as a new ceiling light, two glass shelves and four polished nickel towel rings were ordered from Rejuvenation Lighting and should be delivered sometime this week. The last thing we need to find is a cabinet to hang on the wall across from the bathtub that is 7-inches or less deep. We have at least one in mind, but we’re holding out for something better.

As usual, let us know your thoughts.

See “Bathroom Makeover Part 1“

See “Bathroom Makeover Part 2“