And The Winner Is….

Well, Anonymous and & Kathy won the “Let’s Guess The Mistake” contest, so they get to split the set of 6 Ginsu Steak Knives. Congratulations you two. The problems were the crooked window and the different widths of beadboard.

For some reason, in the butler’s pantry and going up the back stairs they used a narrower beadboard than in other rooms of the house. The boards are actually wider, but it is the kind of beadboard that has what appears to be 2 boards milled in to one wider board. The beads are closer together. I used this stuff to fill in above and below the window, and over the cabinet. It’s hardly noticeable, and I don’t think many will even catch it.

The window is another issue. I put that thing in nearly 3 years ago and I’ve walked by it hundreds of times and never noticed it was crooked. Now with the vertical beadboard running on either side of it, it is painfully obvious that it is crooked. This will only become more obvious once the casing is on. I must straighten it.

This is not one of these things where, “oh, it’ll only be noticeable to you”, or “It’s one of those charming nuances of an old home”. No, it’s crooked and it will stick out like a sore thumb with all of the straight, even vertical runs of beadboard going floor to ceiling. I’m going to need to remove the outside casing, so its kind of pain, but not really an all day job.

I got the room all painted and I really like the way it came out. This mud room is only 4X6 and sits in between the kitchen and bathroom. I used the 2 trim colors from each room for the paint colors in this room. In the bathroom the trim is Queen Anne’s Lace and in the kitchen the trim is Honied White. I think they go well together in here





I bought the stencil pictured above to go on the frieze but it turns out the pattern is about a half inch too high for the space. So I can’t use it, which is a bummer, because I really like the pattern. I first had the idea of fern leaves or something, but when I looked at patterns like that they all started to seem a little too Martha Stuartish too me. Everybody does know that she is the Devil incarnate, don’t they? Anyway, it’s back to the drawing board for the stencil. The paint needs to cure for a week anyway, so there is still time to change my mind a half dozen times.



I also cut the marble window stool for the stained-glass window. It didn’t come out as good as the others, but it should look nice once it is sanded down. I also went down to the mill and ordered the casing and plinth blocks I spoke about last week. The owners weren’t in, so I wasn’t able to get an ETA. I should find out Monday and I’m hoping it will be less than 2 weeks.

The last thing to do is to make templates for the marble pieces for the 2 built-in cabinets and then order that marble. I had hoped to do that this weekend, but it didn’t happen. Maybe tomorrow. I’m hoping I can get that ordered and received within 2 weeks as well. If all goes well, and it never does, I could have this room finished by Thanksgiving.