Bye Blog, Its Been Real

My presentation is in one week, and all my material is due on Monday, so it's time to say good bye.  It been handy having a place to keep all my research, and share my progress on such an accessible platform.  Having my entire project on this blog is nice it shows how the project as grown and ended. Maybe one day if I'm feeling nostalgic I will look back on my WISE project.

Mentor Meeting 6/3

Today we talked about my upcoming presentation.  I read her my draft I had made of what I wanted to cover in my presentation.  I'm going to have to work on being concise because I have a ton of information.  I will highlight an aspect different parts of rooms, but also have some general parts of the house that I will go over once because they occur in every room (things like floor repair, wood repair, and walls.  I'm going to have note cards with major points to cover, but not all of what I want to say.  We really want to highlight the research I have done because like I said there is a lot of it.  This week end I'm going to be preparing everything I have to send to my evaluators on Monday, then starting to plan my presentation more.

Bathroom Painting

Living Room Painting

In Class Meeting 6/2

In class we talked more about our roles as community evaluators.  We got a hand out that goes over how to behave, and not insult any one.  This included how to give consecutive feed back but say it in a positive way,  not really my specialty but I'm going to work on that.  We also went over how to create our blog into a "book",  which is just putting all of our posts into chronological order.  Several more people shared their artifacts, then time was up.

Mentor Meeting 5/28

We talked about what we did in class, then the time frame for finishing the project.  The biggest challenge we talked about is to compile all the information I have. I want to print out large pictures of at least the outside of the house, because it's impressive.  I would also like to have large versions of other rooms I painted.  I will look into that this week.  We talked about different presentation sites to use. One we talk about was using Prezi so I can zoom in and out.
I'm going to start with the "base line" parts of restoration that are in every room (floors, walls, windows).  To do I should start with start with dining room because it has almost everything that's repeated.  I will start with the outside and talk about the overall information (who live there/ history).  Then go to renovation and furniture in the inside of the house.  My mentor mentioned I should look for music during the period time, to get in the mood.  I hope to be done with the bathroom painting by this week end, them focus on project presentation. By our next mentor meeting I hope to have a draft of the information I want to include.

Furniture- Bedrooms #1-4, and Foyer

Bedroom 1 is called the "Blue Room", because every piece has some accent of blue.  After seeing the Argos Inn and the owner's themed rooms, it inspired me to do the same.  The room has the same type of antique furniture as the rest of the house, with an armor, chair, bed, mirror, side table and rug.  These pieces are in all of the 4 rooms.

Bedroom 2 is the "Princess Suite" because it has an on suit bathroom, as well as a princess style bed.  The rose gold color scheme adds to the princess vibe of the room, as well has the pale pink.

This room is the "Day Room" because it has a day bed.  I wanted a room with two twin beds, but I could not find the style of bed I wanted.  The color is similar to the rest of the house, being pale colors and whites.

This room is the "Matted Room" because it has matt purple/ gray colors.  This room is the smallest so it has the least amount of furniture.

The foyer is the room you leave and enter into, which typically had a table in the middle of the room, benches off to the side, then a full length mirror.

Class Meeting 5/27

In class today we talked more about our finial projects.  We went over how to submit our project online to our evaluators, and what to submit to Ms. Lord.  I have to have everything in by the 8th, which I'm not too worried about.  I got done all the major rooms I wanted to have done, I just need to finish the bathroom painting.  We also went over who we were going to watch and evaluate and what's expected from that. Last we watched a musical performance from a class member, which was very impressive.

Furniture-Breakfast room, Office, Sunroom

The breakfast room is simple because its a private dining areas for those who live in the house.  There is a breakfast bar, as well as a cart for tea.

The sun room is another sitting room, which is why I used several types of seating.  This room has white and gold colors like every other room.  Tables are also used as accents and storage.

The office has seating and a large table for work.  The white color continues through out the house although this is a private room.  Storage is also important in this room.

In Class Meeting 5/18

In class on Monday we talked more about presentations and options we have when planing for them.  We got a hand out that shows with a diagram how we should connect research, hands on, and what we learned in the presentation.  We then shared any ideas we had with another person, Dylan had a good idea for my project that I might think about.  She subjected using a prezi and showing the over all work, then zooming into certain parts.  Prezi is unique in its ability to let you do this.  We then wrote down people we would like to observe and ended our class meeting.

Bathroom Plan

Personal hygiene was extremely uncommon except for the very wealthy, until the end of the 19th century.

Shortly before this the common people saw bathing was a weekly thing, usually on Saturday evening.  This was because it took some time to heat enough water. Family members would share the bathing water. Outhouses were also used, they would be kept near the back door of the kitchen for easy access. However, chamber pots were also used in every one's room.

There we many variations on the type of bathroom a house would have-

Powder room-

Also called the "1/2 bath” and refers to a bathrooms with toilet and a sink.

On suite-

An on suite bathroom is a bathroom attached to, and only accessible from a bedroom.

Family bathroom-

This is a full bathroom in a house.

Jack and Jill bathroom-

This is a bathroom with two doors, accessible from two locations.

Going into the 20th century, is was revealed that bacteria was living on those who did not clean them selves properly, as well as their environment. Cleanliness was from them pursued very aggressively. Modern sewer systems in the cities were implemented as huge sanitation projects, as well as in the home. In 1905 the magazine House Beautiful wrote articles on "household bacteriology", which described how bacteria worked, and how to quickly eradicate them from the home. 

By 1910, almost all houses had bathrooms, which included toilets, sinks, bathtubs, and showers.  People who had a lot of money would be extravagant will the bathroom designs, and how many they had in the house.  The rich would do to great lengths to hide pipes in the bathroom, so they had lots of cabinets to hide them.  Cast iron bathtubs with porcelain coating became popular in 1910; and were usually the center of attention in the bathroom. Granite was a favorite material for counter surfaces.  Ceramic tiles were used for the floor and back splash because they are attractive and moisture resistant.  White fixtures were the most common.  High tank toilets were also essentially the only toilet available for use.  Marble sinks where very common.  The bathroom was not different from any other room; in that the appearance was supposed to be impressive.  

Bathrooms from around 1910-

Bathroom inspiration-

The bathroom I'm using-

What the new bathroom would look like-

What needs to be done-  Walls (take it down), Ceiling (lights) , Floors, Wood Molding, Sink, Toilet, Shower, and Bathtub 

The ceiling can be repaired the same way the master bedroom ceiling was, with a simple lighting fixture.

Walls- The wall that has a door way across from the balcony will come down.  This wall is not in the original blueprints, which showed a tube behind the wall.  Because of this I think the wall will be reasonably easy to remove.  Hiring a contractor to remove the wall, like I said I don't want to mess with walls.
Removing the wall paper is like any other room, and paint the walls white with moisture residence paint.  Use ceramic tiles as the back splash above the sink, and inside the shower.

The floors- the floors will be the same ceramic tiles, and will be installed the same way they were in the kitchen.

Bathtub-  A claw foot bathtub is installed differently than regular tubs, because they don't connect to any wall.  First turn off water connection, you might have to remove excess pipe Connect the overflow, tighten the coupling nut at the drain, then tighten the retainer nut at the overflow hole.  Install the stopper assembly on the tub, then assemble the lower drain extension. Place the drain extension into the hole in the floor, move tub into position and align over the extension drain. Tighten the nut to hold in place.sections that could have accumulated from different bathroom renovations.

Insert the new pipes into the elbow of the tub, connect to the end of the existing pipe.  Wedge a pipe underneath the new tub then sweat it into the remaining joints.  Place the drain line onto the preexisting drain by applying PVC cleaner, then follow the cleaner with glue to the outside of the new pipe and the outside of the pipe fitting. The vertical pipe that connects to the tub and pipes to transport water, will connect at the hole in the tub and screw onto the the bathtub drain.

Put the new tub near the new location, then aline the new drain to tub. Add plumbers putty around the tub surface to tighten it down.  Then install a "T bracket” which has the pipe holders, and are going to be exposed.  The ends of the pipes will be covered with plumbers tape, place flanges (metal rings) over the holes in the tile which the pipe goes in; and tighten the flanges.  Then attach faucets to the tub and pipes, clearly indicated by the holes on the tub.  The tub feet could be attached to the tile with plumber’s putty.

Claw foot bathtub-

The toilet-  The toilet is already set up to be attached because it's going in its original location.  The pipes can just be connected to the high tank and bowl of the toilet.  Because I'm putting the bathroom accessories where they were originally there not much that needs to be done.

The Sink- The two sink vanity can be connected to the pipes under the tile, and the water line can separate off to the two sink.  The sink is easy to connect, the connection of all water lines have been described in the bathtub part.  Use plumbers putty, and flanges to connect and secure pipes.  The vanity is simple and white, with cabinets under the sink to hide the pipes.

The Shower-  The shower is already there, the old structure just needs to be removed, and the shower head can be replaced.  The head created to be replaced over time, the easy replacement happens after the new structure is lined up.  The shower is like the tub in that the drains just need to be alined and attached to the floor and wall.  The shower will be glass, and have metal fixtures.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bathroom

http://antiquehomestyle.com/inside/bathrooms/index.htm

http://www.oldhouseonline.com/category/articles/kitchens-and-baths-articles/old-house-bathrooms/

Usual Books

http://www.historichouseparts.com/pdshop/shop/category.aspx?catid=265

Master Bedroom Painting

Mentor Meeting 5/12

We talked about the date I picked for the presentation that luckily worked well for my mentor.  Then about the post that was for homework in class from yesterday.  We then discussed how the project I'm doing continues to be interesting.  Think I just love American history, and the domestic side that goes along with it.  I love learning about how extravagantly the wealthy people used to live, but also how many of the things they came up will continued through history.  For example the master bedroom was a new thing then, large functional cooking, eating, and living areas just became popular.  In U.S history we focus a lot on how the poor live, and how wide the inequality gap is.  But learning about the other side of domestic life is interesting to learn about.

In Class Metting

In class today we picked our dates to present our finial project, and talked about different options in where we would have the presentation.  I picked Monday 15th at 12.
The in class journal entry assigned for the class was to address the following points-

• I think the reader can see the 8 hrs a week in the posts of the plans for each room, as well as the paintings.  Each piece takes a very long time because of the detail I put into it. Although they don't come out every other day each post takes a lot of time.  For example, I'm working on the bathroom plan now which is the most detail oriented because of the technical detail that goes into it.
• I think I document the plans well, I take notes but put everything on the blog.  I'm not waiting for some big reveal but I post all my progress as I go.
• What I should improve would be posting more about my personal development.  I don't post about how I feel much, but more about the facts I find.  Just to address that right now, I'm doing well.  In the past week I have not been able to spend as much time on the project as I would have liked so on the project because I have been studying for my AP  tests.  After Wednesday my AP test will be done.  However right after that I'm going to Virginia for a wedding, and won't be able to work on the art part of the project.  Hopefully I will have time to work on the plans. I'm going to be very busy because I have been volunteered to help with what ever needs to be done will the wedding.

Furniture- Master bedroom, Master Sitting Room, and Family Room

The Family room is the less formal siting room reserved primarily for members of the family.  Because it's more casual I decided to use subdued colors that match.  Clocks and cabinets were common to have, as well was attractive shelves.  Mirrors were common in every room, as well as ornamental rugs.

The Master Sitting Room had lots of tables will matching sofas and chairs.  This room is similar in color scheme in the rest of the home.  Although most guests never see this room the master suit was always elegant.

The Master Bedroom is the most attractive bedroom in the house, because it's the largest.  The bed is a canopy with light colors.  Although the mater suit has a closet an armour would be common in the room, as well as a vanity with mirror for the lady of the house.  Reflective surfaces like another room were common.

Mentor Meeting 4/8

For this meeting we talked about the furniture I found, and posted for what I see the decor looking like in the house. We also discussed the library painting, and the living room plan.  Like usually we talked about what I learn from researching that room.  We then talked about plans for the future, I will be posting the bathroom plan soon, and am actively working on the painting of the master bed room.  After the bathroom is done I would love to be able to finish the office and sun room plan.  These two other rooms are the most run down.  Last we again talked about ideas for my presentation, things this location and ascetics came up.  During the presentation I definitely want to talk through the house as if we were really their.  Individually giving a virtual tour of each room.  However my mentor was concerned with the time constraints for the presentation, and worried all the interesting information I found would not be addressed.  We are still brainstorming ideas for a way to present the details.  I thought create a magazine to pass out, but I think people would just quickly skim through it.  The goal is not to be boarding when talking about the details, but to create a story to be engaging.

Furniture- Dining Room, Library, Living Room

In a previous post I posted furniture that I picture in the home.  The pieces have characteristic of 1910, however there is a slightly modern look.  After I visited the Argos Inn I saw how you can use old furniture styles, but they don't have to look old.  Although I would be using antiques, I believe the furniture is timeless.

Dining Room- Light colors and elegant but clean lines were common in a Neoclassical/ Colonial Revival homes.  Dining Rooms are meant to have minimal furniture, but long tables.   Mirrors were also very common to have around the room, they would range in size.

Living Room-  This room is meant to be impressive, so I brought some gold accents in.  The chairs and couches would not have had any patterns, but light colors.  Again mirrors were common, along with simple rugs.  The shelving and side tables were not usually used, but still their.  The chandler is actually from a 1910 mansion that is being sold on an antique website.

Library- Again simple chairs, but still impressive look.  The book cases would be almost floor to ceiling.  A writing desk would be small but functional, as well as a small golden clock.

Library Painting

Living Room Plan

Until the late the late 1800s, the main room in the house used for formal social events was called the parlor.   Parlor in french means ‘to speak’. And it really was mainly a place for sitting and talking to people. The "Living room" was named in the 1890s, my books written on decorating. The living room was coined as a word to describe where general social activities took place. This makes sense because there is a name for each room based on the  activities in the room (bedroom, the dining room, the kitchen). The parlor was the first room without a clear porous except for entertainment. A parlor was used for displaying the homeowner’s finest artworks, and decor. One of the major differences in the parlor room from the living room, is that the parlor was their to impress guests, while the living room would be representative of a homeowner’s style. From then it was seen as a reflection of the owner, not a formal Victorian room. 

Certain pieces in the living room became normal, like a sofa, tables, lamps, chairs, and shelves. Traditionally, fireplaces were in living rooms, because they acted as a source of heat. 

In larger homes, like Beckett’s, the living room would be used for formal occasions, so there was a separate family room used for entertainment, and relaxing. 

Here's a fun fact- Up until World War I in 1918 the living room was also called ‘The Death Room’. This is because when a person died in the house the body would be displayed in the living room during the morning.  Many people died during this time (from the war, influenza, ext.).  So their where lots of bodies kept in the living room for mourning before it was taken for the funeral.  Then people got their lives under control as conditions improved, and the number of deaths decreased.  The room quickly switched from a place to keep dead bodies to one used fir various activities.

Here are some examples of a living room before 1910-

Here are some more modern pictures I will use for inspiration-

The house-

 What needs to be done- Repair floors, repaint wood, remove book cases (panels are behind them), new tiles on fire place, remove wallpaper.

There will be repetition with this room, the wall paper remove, floor repair, and brown wood painting will all repetition from the dining room post.  The removal of the book cases would be easily redone. I think there are panels behind them, they are already coming off the walls.  So just genitally unscrew them, so you don't damage the walls.

Fire place- The wood detailing will stay the same, just repaint the brown wood.  I was thinking about this fire place, and modern fireplaces, and how practical it would be to use it as a 1910 fireplace.  The fire place, if you look at it is literally an intended hole in the wall. There is no pit, or safe guard around it.  This is very dangerous for an old house to have, a house that has already had one fire; and is largely made up of wood.  To prevent any more fire I think I would just clean it up, and put a cast iron grate over the entrance.
In the bedroom plan I described how to remove soot from floors, that can be done here.  The tiles on the floor would be removed, and replaced with tiles that match what is used for the fire place.  Use while ceramic tiles on the floor, that can be installed in the same way the kitchen tiles were.  The tiles surrounding the fireplace will be cream glazed ceramic 6'x6' tile with floral accents.

After removing the green tiles, start with creating a template for the fireplace.   Start with the center tile and work outward. Screw a piece of wood to the bricks, if there is not already a piece of wood; this will provide support. Create a base for your tiles. Use a latex additive to create a smooth surface, just follow the directions on the packaging. Smooth the surface with a trowel, and let dry overnight. Make some thinset and additive, and use a trowel, to create lines of adhesive. The thinset should be scored to make it easier to sick on to.  You should line lines where you want the tiles to lay, and start with the center tile. Tip the bottom on first, and follow with the rest, then wiggle into place. Move out from their, from the left and right side of the center piece. 

Continuously check to make sure the pieces are even, and level.Let the tiles set over night, then using a putty knife to scrape out any showing thinset. 

Mix some grout according to the instructions. Pull the grout across the face of the tiles with some pressure. Then pull it diagonally across the grout lines, this will remove excess grout.  Let this set for up to an hour, then use a damp grout song to wipe the tiles, and clean off excess.  After letting this sit overnight, use a cloth to buff the tiles. Use a caulk gun to caulk between the tiles and cracks.  
From here I just use a decorative grate to cover the place where the fire would be.  You could actually use the fire place, but I would have an expert come and check it out.  The chimney would also have to be cleaned.

http://www.amli.com/blog/bringing-the-household-together-a-brief-history-of-the-living-room/

https://blogsurabhi.wordpress.com/2013/03/09/what-is-the-origin-of-the-term-living-room/

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/how-to/step/0,,20243084_last,00.html