Breaking Down Walls and Finding Inspiration!
Did you know that a modern 2x4 board is not 2" x 4"? Probably so, but in my naiveté, I foolishly thought that a 2x4 was exactly that. Actually, it is closer to 1 1/2" x 3 1/2". I know this because Anthony has been at the house all week tearing down walls. Especially this wall in the picture above. This is a picture of the master bedroom. The first thing that I noticed when I saw this picture, and later in the actual space, is that the fireplace is not centered.
Full disclosure, I am an asymmetrical obsessive compulsive, having a fireplace not centered on the wall bothered me, but I figured I could live with it. However, when I saw the room in person, it was then I realized that, in fact, the fireplace is centered in the room. At some point, a wall had been erected in the bedroom creating a small room to the right.
What was the intent? Too small for a bathroom. Closet maybe? With windows? My OCDness told me the wall had to go. Thats were the 2x4's enter the story.
Here is another view of the offending wall as modeled by my lovely sister-in-law Amanda who, by the way, excels at busting down walls, taking down cabinets, and stripping down sheetrock. Anyway, as you can see, the other "room" is painted a bright yellow. Poor Amanda. On the night this was taken, Anthony made Amanda call me to double and triple check that I wanted the wall gone. It was a nice wall in the wrong place.
Back to the 2x4's. This wall that I have wanted down since the first day, was in fact constructed with true 2x4's. Not the "knockoffs" that todays homes are built with. Needless to say, it was quite a large task. So large, that Anthony had to crawl up into the attic to loosen the 2x4's that were nailed in by square nails. Large, sturdy, square nails.
Here is the (almost) end result. Of course, we have to fix the floors and paint and repaint. However, Anthony did uncover something quite extraordinary. No, it wasn't a million dollar painting.
See, I have been struggling with what color to use in the bedroom.
As I am typing this, I realized just how much of a first world problem this is, yet it is the one I am faced with.
While tearing down the wall, Anthony found an old wallpaper sample.
I have no idea how old this wallpaper may be. Anthony says that it could very possibly be that we are the first people to see this wallpaper in 100 years. I don't know. But this color blue is what I have been searching for. I even like it with this color scheme. This blue reminds me of my youth in Houston. Blue is my daddy's favorite color and we had a house that was done all in blues. It was known as "The Big Blue House" because of all the different blues decorated throughout. This particular hue, found in the wallpaper, was my favorite.
So as silly as it seems, by getting rid of that wall and removing those 2x4's, I received a gift of renewed, happy, memories of my childhood. I love this pallet and it gives me a great source of inspiration for this room and beyond! I am glad that we took the wall down and I am thankful for my husband and sister-in-law who tackled the true to size 2x4s to allow me my centered fireplace.
Actually, I don't know if the true 2x4s are any better than the not so true 2x4s. Like I have previously mentioned, I am no expert so my lack of knowledge is bound to peek out through my writing. Much like the wallpaper peeking out from around the window. I will own up to it. I might even get a chuckle out of my new Amazon Alexa! Who knows?