I just realized that I have failed spectacularly in keeping y’all updated on the improvements we’ve made to our Yellow Texas Rose. This is no more evident than in showing you the changes we made to the parlor (which is the small sitting room you see upon entry). The parlor renovation consisted of a just a few changes that made a huge difference.
First things first
When we purchased the house, the parlor had painted paneling walls. The color was actually a nice mint green but the paneling had to go. After day one of incredible stress with water leaks among other things, finding beautiful, original shiplap behind the paneling was such a blessing.
Needless to say, the contractors went to work removing all of the paneling and trim. The trim was stored until we were ready to reinstall it.
Then we waited
The walls were stripped but we couldn’t actually do anything further because the rest of our belongings were delivered and the room would be filled with things like two refrigerators, broken down dining room furniture, and the like. Not gonna lie, it was depressing.
Everything was kind of at a standstill until the kitchen was finished. Most of the stuff that wound up in the parlor would eventually go to the kitchen and free up the space.
Furniture delivery
I debated about what type of furniture I wanted for this room. Leather is usually how I lean because we have 75 dogs and they ruin everything. Try as I may, I could not find a leather sofa that I loved so I settled on a sectional. They delivered it and we lived with it in the dark room. And yes, my furniture came with a pillow that referenced my dogs.
Prep
After all of the paneling was removed, I had the task of getting rid of all of the threads from the cheesecloth that was originally nailed on back when the house was built in 1901. The cheesecloth went on the walls before the wallpaper. When it was pulled off at some time it left lots of little threads. I burned them all off with a small propane torch. It seemed like this task would never end.
Time to paint
It was finally time to paint in November. We’d been in the house 8 months so it really wasn’t too long. As always, the most difficult part was prep. We’d already done the board and batten wall over the stairs so we had to protect that as well as lots of other areas since The Mean Man was spraying and not rolling.
Finishing details
All of the trim was sanded and re-stained. We did the same to the floor; just trying to bring it back to life.
So that’s basically it. It was a thousand times more tedious than described. I’ll end with lots of pics.
