The next area in our before and after photo series is my new favorite place to relax: the master suite.

View the entire set from move-in day through demolition and the full remodeling process on Flickr. You can also see all the entries categorized as Before and Afters.

For the last 50+ years, the attic used to exist as an illegal bedroom or two as it was separated by a wall and chimney chase right up the center. These walls were “finished” sometime between 1930-1945 with some sort of cellulose-based fiberboard that literally disintegrated when we did demolition.

Demolition uncovered a treasure trove of historical objects including girlie magazines, photos/negatives, a miniture 1914 calendar (the year our house was built!), 1923 postcard, original owner’s painting, along other things. Based on all the objects we’ve found, we believe that the attic first served as an artist studio, sewing room and possibly the bedroom of the original owner’s mother-in-law. The walls were originally “finished” with thick, embossed posterboard. We found much of this board nailed to the walls behind the fiberboard.

Before: The entry to the attic when we moved in. Note the wall separating the attic and the chimney chase:

After: As you can see the dividing wall and chimney is gone.

After: Restored salvage french door and stained glass window grace the new entry.

Before: The view when walking into the attic:

Before: The “second” attic bedroom area on the other side of the wall. The window seat was kind of cute but we had to ditch it.

After: No more wall or bumped-out closets make for a spacious room

Before: The area before we moved in.

After: Our bed in the same space with “Rutherford” bedding.

Before: The view from the old window seat.

After: A clear view to the other side of the attic.

Some antique treasures. My homage to the original owner in the photo who used this attic as her art studio and sewing room:
  

Salvage door hardware and Max impersonating a pillow:
  

Our closets exposed:
  

Linen closet and entry to the master bathroom:
  

6 Responses to “Attic to Master Bedroom: Before and After”

1. TWB says:

   December 30, 2008 at 2:29 am

   I absolutely love the stained glass look area rugs. Where did you get them?
2. TWB says:

   December 30, 2008 at 2:31 am

   It doesn’t look like the same room at all.
3. Dawn says:

   December 30, 2008 at 2:34 am

   I got them at Home Depot surprisingly. They also have a similar pattern at Lowes. They are Shaw brand. I think the pattern is called Leaf Point. We have a Lowe’s one that is similar in our basement called Fir Point, or maybe I got that backwards. :)

   The sagey/loden color was special order but I got them on sale for about $350 for both which was amazing.
4. Nicole says:

   December 30, 2008 at 7:15 am

   It looks amazing. And the bedspread really does fit in perfectly.
5. casacaudill says:

   December 30, 2008 at 9:41 am

   It turned out beautifully!
6. A Warren says:

   December 30, 2008 at 10:45 am

   NICE! I have hope!!!!!