The Parlor/TV Room

Click here for the parlor's photo page
6/18/2004      New windows have been purchased and I've begun fixing the door so that it can be transferred to the kitchen.  There are presently two windows and a door to the front porch.  The plan is to remove the door and install a third window as well as install an opening through to the living room.  That way you can get into the den from the living room or the library and not be bothered by people knocking on the front door.
    The den is to be done in a more elegant fashion than the living room.  The silken drapes we bought are floor-to-ceiling in soft gold tones and the color scheme will be gold with a few purple accents to set it off.  This room will house Beth's Barbie collection and have two wingback chairs and a matching loveseat.  The idea is to have a bright Southern exposure room decorated to reflect a more feminine touch.  It will be a nice place to read a book or a formal setting to briefly meet with visitors but not a highly used room.
     I compare it to bringing out the fine china for special occasions.
12/04/2004      Has it really been almost six months?
     All we've done at this point is to get it cleaned up for the holidays.
12/05/2004      Okay, if all goes according to plan I'll be doing this room tomorrow and I want to make it a single-day renovation.  I'm serious.
     Here's a humorous side note:  I was in there this afternoon and decided to check out the ceiling tiles to see how difficult they'd be to fix.  While I was up on the ladder I touched the fan and it was as hot as a fan that's been left on for eight months with a jammed motor.  I put my ear to one of the blades and the humming sound I heard told me that the heat was the result of it being a fan with a jammed up motor that's been left on for eight months.
     We consider ourselves lucky to be alive.
12/16/2004      Oops.
    I completely forgot to write down that we finished the parlor in just four days.  And what a simple room it turned out to be!  Beth was a little hesitant to start another room this close to the holidays but she plowed through the wallpaper removal as though it were tissue and we had it painted in no time flat.   After that it was just a matter of hanging the drapes, rearranging the furniture a little here and there and it was done.
9/26/2008      Has it really been four years since I last wrote here?  Amazing.
     The reason I'm writing at this time is to note that we purchased a floor sander, and the first areas where we used it were the parlor, office (bar) and library.  The results are nothing short of impressive, and it's amazing to walk through those rooms in bare feet, and feel a  smooth, cool surface rather than the rough, dusty planks.  I'm sure it will also help reduce the level of dust in that wing.
     The flooring project also brought change along with it as we'd decided that having the TV in the living room was crude, and detracted from any sense of formalness.  We therefore put all the bulky tropical living room stuff in the parlor, and the Victorian antiques in the living room.  The change was a good one -I think- because the hugeness of the living room, with it's vaulted ceilings, and fireplace lends itself to a more formal atmosphere.  Meanwhile, the 'parlor' made a cozier setting for watching TV at night.
     But my personal feeling is that the living room looks nicer if only because it doesn't appear that all the furniture is arranged in order to worship the TV God in the corner.  Sure, we watch TV, no doubt too much of it, but to dedicate a 14X27' room to it seemed somehow ridiculous.
     I'll also make brief mention here that our country's economy is collapsing to the tune of trillions of dollars.  Our banking system is on the verge of imploding, and the government is trying to figure out how to stabilize the situation.  I have the feeling that this may be the beginning of a new era of depression, and plan to start buying canned foods by the case.  The situation looks really bad.
10/5/2008     Yeah, this TV room thing is really working out, and should be even better when we change the wall color from its current 'parlor yellow' to a warmer 'slate tan.'  The old living room furniture is extremely tropical, and we've had a couple of huge Florida prints laying around that needed a home, so now we have a room that not only looks great, but also gives Beth a daily dose of Florida.  I like it, too.  It's like Florida minus the oppressive heat and humidity.