Need some advice...

When the former owner gutted the first floor of my house, he took out the wall between the living room and dining room. For some totally bizarre reason, he decided to leave the original beam exposed because he thought it was "cool". Well, the exposed beam is driving me crazy mostly because he did such a poor job of trimming it out. My brother wants to put some sort of bead board around it to cover it. I want to box it in with drywall and it will just look like there is an "I" beam in the middle of the room. Thoughts?

Next is the shape of the rooms.

From House photos

I can understand why he took down the wall to open everything up and move light through the space. The problem is that this gives the space a "shotgun" feel and I think it needs something to break up the view going from living room to dining room. Should I put a wall back up with a large opening from LR to DR?...and if I do that tying it to the beam overhead makes the LR & DR the same size. The benefit of the wall would be that I could put my hutch against it making the walking (and sitting space) around the table better. How horrible would a wall of fabric be behind the wing chair? Too Christopher Lowell?

I have looked at decorated shotgun style rooms and nothing looks right to me. I am usually pretty good about picturing something in my mind and then executing the idea but this really has me stumped.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!!

The joys of living in "the country"...

I live in a very small town (population of 2600 in the 2000 census) that was established in 1762. George Washington really DID sleep here! It has many beautiful old homes, narrow streets, barns in the middle of the town, etc. The town is in the midst of farmland...mostly farmed by Mennonite and Amish folk. It is very beautiful and green all around where I live. Why is it so green?


Cows...lots of cows...and lots of cow manure. In the spring and in the fall, the farmers spray the fields with some sort of manure "tea". The smell is pretty horrific. Not as bad as living near the mushroom houses on the other side of the county but pretty smelly nonetheless.

The other day, I noticed a nasty smell in the house. My first thought was the litter box. Then I realized that I recognized the smell. Farmers are spraying. Oh, my goodness! Guess it is too late now to re-think my house purchase!!

Finally - Photos!

First let me say that my photography is horrible. The "before" photos were taken on Sept. 12th and the "after" were taken last night. I still have things to do but there has been a vast improvement.



I have to update my photo of the outside of the house. I love my little porch! I will do that with my next post.

Well, I was gonna show you pictures...

Blogger is not cooperating with me tonight. I have some photos of the house...my own little disaster area...but Blogger won't let me upload.

I made huge strides this weekend, however, there is so much more to do. It has been hotter than blue blazes so I took many breaks. Temps are forecast to drop tomorrow so I hope I will manage to get lots done over the next few days. I did hang quilts and other decor on the walls. I am not excited about the furniture arrangement so I am going to consult my personal decorator (sister Julie) and get some input from her.

Sorry about the lack of photos. I also want to update the picture on the sidebar on my blog but until all the boxes are off the front porch, it really looks like Ma and Pa Kettle have moved in!

September 11, 2001