The parlor started out as a big, open, square room. Very neat, but not a lot of character and not sure exactly what purpose it would serve for us.
You could tell it was "the formal room" with what was left of the curtains, the wallpaper, and the VERY PLUSH, cream colored carpeting.
They wallpapered the ENTIRE room, including this little closet in the corner--we weren't sure if they were trying to make it secret--and we thought about making it TRULY secret with a bookcase at one point, but decided a hallway to the dining room would be much better.
So the wallpaper had to go--and mom likes to tear off wallpaper, haha.
So Garhett helped too, then he decided he wanted to take the curtains down--we did save the cornice frame in case we want to do something with it later though.
And Kalvin was helpful with the taller spots--all of our legs got tired doing all that work on the ladders! Those 10 foot plus ceilings are killer!
Cora had fun playing in all the paper scraps. There wasn't much to be done structurally, especially at first, but it all had to be cleaned up anyway.
There was wallpaper ALL over the first floor, so we all got plenty of time with that--especially my dad. I know he spent a whole week or more at one point.
The last shot of the closet, sans door, before it was turned into the hallway/ pass through.
After the carpeting was gone, the floors were refinished and boy did it ever change that room dramatically!
The walls were painted a deep grey, all the trim got a fresh coat too--and then we started to load in the play room. Oy.
Amara was a lot of help...telling us where to put things, haha, especially once her built-ins were in, and painted. It added such a nice anchor to the room.
It really grounded those front corners, flanking the big window in the front. For now it's for toys, puzzles, books, etc. but we're hoping as it grows up, that those built ins will house photos, trophies, and games too.
We also had the can lighting put in--not very common of houses built in the 1920s, but with those huge ceilings and walls, it really needed it. It would have been impossible to have floor lighting or even ceiling lighting in there that would have done it justice.
Again, we used all of our existing stuff, just moved it around a lot. Believe it or not, we used it as an opportunity to downsize some of the toys!
I love this photo--this is taken from the vantage point of the closet (now pass through) so you can see how large it is and how now it looks right into the living room. The kids absolutely love playing in there and it allows us all to be together. I realize some people wouldn't want a toy room as a main room in their house, but I kind of love it.
The parlor started out as a big, open, square room. Very neat, but not a lot of character and not sure exactly what purpose it would serve for us.
You could tell it was "the formal room" with what was left of the curtains, the wallpaper, and the VERY PLUSH, cream colored carpeting.
They wallpapered the ENTIRE room, including this little closet in the corner--we weren't sure if they were trying to make it secret--and we thought about making it TRULY secret with a bookcase at one point, but decided a hallway to the dining room would be much better.
So the wallpaper had to go--and mom likes to tear off wallpaper, haha.
So Garhett helped too, then he decided he wanted to take the curtains down--we did save the cornice frame in case we want to do something with it later though.
And Kalvin was helpful with the taller spots--all of our legs got tired doing all that work on the ladders! Those 10 foot plus ceilings are killer!
Cora had fun playing in all the paper scraps. There wasn't much to be done structurally, especially at first, but it all had to be cleaned up anyway.
There was wallpaper ALL over the first floor, so we all got plenty of time with that--especially my dad. I know he spent a whole week or more at one point.
The last shot of the closet, sans door, before it was turned into the hallway/ pass through.
After the carpeting was gone, the floors were refinished and boy did it ever change that room dramatically!
The walls were painted a deep grey, all the trim got a fresh coat too--and then we started to load in the play room. Oy.
Amara was a lot of help...telling us where to put things, haha, especially once her built-ins were in, and painted. It added such a nice anchor to the room.
It really grounded those front corners, flanking the big window in the front. For now it's for toys, puzzles, books, etc. but we're hoping as it grows up, that those built ins will house photos, trophies, and games too.
We also had the can lighting put in--not very common of houses built in the 1920s, but with those huge ceilings and walls, it really needed it. It would have been impossible to have floor lighting or even ceiling lighting in there that would have done it justice.
Again, we used all of our existing stuff, just moved it around a lot. Believe it or not, we used it as an opportunity to downsize some of the toys! 
I love this photo--this is taken from the vantage point of the closet (now pass through) so you can see how large it is and how now it looks right into the living room. The kids absolutely love playing in there and it allows us all to be together. I realize some people wouldn't want a toy room as a main room in their house, but I kind of love it.
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