A Fixer Upper
Living in a house that is over 100 years old has its challenges. It seems there is always something that needs repair or refurbishing.
Wallpaper began to peel off the stairwell wall—a two story high wall—with ten foot ceilings. I had hung that paper hanging over the stairs on an extension ladder with the help of my middle son who steadied the ladder and helped me maneuver that long sheet of wallpaper–I ended up with glue on my hair, my clothes, my shoes—but it was hung—and it was lovely for many years. But then we installed mini splits and had actual climate control—the paper began to peel off the walls.
Scaffolding was not to be rented by anyone, paper-hangers advertising their skills only worked on eight foot ceilings and no stairwells—and so we tried a long pole with a roller on the end to glue up the paper—this worked well for some smaller areas but one strip peeled back about a quarter of the length—making it impossible.
Now that I am older I do not want to hang over the stairs to rehang that paper—middle son is no longer here to assist.
Husband came up with this idea:
And we will be hanging a rod for me to display some of my art quilts.
And…..the lighting fixtures in this house are all original–except for the ones we replaced with ceiling fans. There were two sconces in the attic—I took them along with a chandelier from the breakfast room (now a ceiling fan) to a place in Houston to see if they could refurbish them.
They are absolutely gorgeous:
Two more sconces and two chandeliers are awaiting their refurbishing; we live with two single bulbs in the living room and dining room in rather dim light—I am not so interested in romantic lighting while trying to work the daily crossword puzzle….but it shouldn’t be long before we will have plenty of light with all the reflections from all that brass.
Sylvia Weir Art 