Windsor Terrace Reno

Doesn’t the word “vestibule” make you think of men smoking pipes and women in corsets? I’m not even sure what I have can be called a vestibule but thats what I call it.

Todays post is about the least touched “room” in the house – the parlor vestibule. Although this doesn’t really count as a room as much as a pass through, it got some renovation attention but mostly cosmetic touch ups.

Here is how it looked when we got started:

As you can see, the ceiling had the most damage. It was a total mess. After the plaster was repaired, a single light was added. Somehow this became a recessed can when I really wanted a small hanging fixture. But once it was there, I sort of liked the drama that the single arch of light added and how the empty space overhead added to the open feeling. Its not like I’m going to be reading Proust in there so the recessed light worked out well.

Thankfully the detail on the walls wasn’t in terrible shape. It had a few cracks/chips but it was entirely intact. Our contractors did a nice job of touching up the ornate plaster work while smoothing out the rest of the wall.

The wood wainscoating got a few coats of bone white while the wall above got its due with the lovely Silver Fox. The light switches got push button switches and an aged brass plate.

Our contractor suggested doing a gold leaf treatment on the detail. At first I wasn’t too crazy about the idea but the concept has grown on me. Maybe I’ll give it a try once I have some free time?

Even though its not a space I spend much time in, the “frame” of the plaster feels like it needs something else. What have you brownstoners done in here?

In other weird mix up, the contractors put down a coat of white grout on the floor. Not sure why as we never asked them to and would never want to put white grout in the vestibule. Hey, they meant well. The floor still needs a good scrub down but that will have to wait until the winter is over.

This concludes the end of the vestibule tour. Hope you enjoyed the ride.