If walls could talk...

What would they say, walls?  I'm sure they have many stories to tell.  Family memories and secrets, the sound of laughter and tears, and even quiet conversations among their dwellers?  I have often wanted to hear the stories of the walls.  And when you tear one down, you are then creating more stories for that wall, and the one to follow in its place.  What were the triumphs and trials in these walls from the previous owners?

What will be the new joys and sorrows that we will create.  When I think of the stories created within these walls, my heart leaps for the opportunity to embed more stories of our own.  Into new walls that were also created by us...not just the stories they already hold.

Sadly, this is the best picture I have of the before, unfortunately it is from the other end of the room, opposite view.  But if you look at the wall to the right of this picture, you will see two walls with an opening.  I am standing in the previous dining room area facing the kitchen.  The opening leads you to the front door, or if you turn left through the opening....down the hall to the bedrooms.  However if you walk towards the front door, you can then turn right, into the sitting room.  

As I have mentioned before, I need light, I need air and I love space....so the walls had to be altered.

Maybe I am biased, but I have the most handsome and hardworking remodel partner around.  Carl got to work and cut right into the kitchen wall, bringing it down to a half wall.  I got to go after the other wall.

Here I am standing in the kitchen with a view of one wall down and the half wall opened up.  The sitting room was a very large room that would have just been wasted space.  We only need a place for visitors to sit and for our children to play the piano.  The wall that is still standing will soon be moved...see pictures following as we share the process of moving a wall.  We didn't just throw the whole wall out, remember, there are stories in these walls, and I certainly didn't want to just toss them aside.  So this wall will become the new wall....later in this post.

Standing in the dining area before cutting the wall.

We did however need to cut the wall in half for the move to go smoothly.

Standing in the sitting room, looking into the kitchen.

Look at the space we gained.  It was refreshing.

Ta-da!  Presto-chango....and you have a whole new dining area.  You can see the 2x4's in the ceiling from the previous wall placement (which I shared in a previous post of the faux beam install right over top of those 2x4s) and now our sitting room wall has a new home.  Resting comfortably there, making our open concept space ready for many, many, many countless memories to be soaked into its fibers.  Look how willing that wall is for us to live here.  I love that wall.

But before the memories can really begin (although we have already written a few for her to hold), I must decorate and give her a new face lift, or a new pair of heels.  I just simply can't leave her there naked.

The same view from the sitting room into the kitchen

So I called a friend to assist me.  When the husband leaves to play....I get to play dress up.  My good friend J came over to help me cut up all the MDF I bought from Lowe's.  I got three sheets of 4x10 MDF and cut them into strips of 3 inches each (with around a 2" strip leftover from each sheet).  Some of these strips will also be used in the master bedroom and master bathroom.  (coming soon)

We got some serious dust up our noses and in our clothes with this, but it was great to have her with me.  Don't tell the hubby that we leaned those strips on his truck for the picture 😬😳Shhhh!

And so her dress begins.  This is what you call a board and batten treatment, and this wall is getting all gussied up for the ball.  We bought three sheets of a smooth panel board to put on the wall behind the trim strips.  Cut precisely to leave the seams hidden behind the trim.  This gives the wall a smooth look.  You could also do the trim strips directly onto a textured wall, which is what we did in the master.  But for her, we went all out with only the best jewels and fabrics for her attire.

She's all ready for color

She's not dry, but I love the color and how she is turning out.  This color is Seawall Navy by Sherwin Williams.


And here she is in all her beauty...she's just waiting for decor and the rest of the room to to be filled with furniture.