Windsor Terrace Reno

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February 27, 2008

Gussying up the Vestibule

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. :)

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Comments

How about a mirror to put in the plaster frame? It's the perfect shape, and everyone likes to check their appearance before they leave

Posted by: guest at February 27, 2008 9:38 PM

I don't know what it is .I'm just not feelin this house

Posted by: guest at February 27, 2008 9:40 PM

love it!

mrs L, did you use an architect at any point during the reno or did you work directly with the contractor? i'm new to renos and am not sure which parts require paperwork to be drawn and filed.

Posted by: pospolita at February 28, 2008 1:00 AM

Guestat940 - Thanks so much for your thoughtful addition to the conversation.

Guest 938 - A mirror is a good suggestion but I think it would be difficult to get something to fit exactly in that profiile. Also the detail work is on both left and right side so that might be a little bit weird.

Pospolita - We did use an architect. He drew up all our plans as well as spent an hour or so a week with us checking on progress and answering questions. I can't imagine doing a job like this without one unless you were using a contractor that had his own architect. And even then, it might be tough.

Posted by: Mrs. Limestone at February 28, 2008 8:05 AM

You've outdone yourself!! I would leave the wall detail as is... looks very soothing. Maybe the gold would be over powering in such a small space considering the detail is on both sides. I'd love to see the exterior of the house, if you've done some work. Is it a limestone?

Posted by: guest at February 28, 2008 9:23 AM

Love the end result. Great style.

Posted by: guest at February 28, 2008 9:25 AM

I would call is an entryway or maybe even a foyer...

940, I'm not sure what you need to feel. The Limestones are not selling, just restoring and renovating, and were kind to show us what they're doing. I personally got many ideas that I'll eventually implement.

Posted by: guest at February 28, 2008 9:28 AM

Lovely vestibule! I second the mirror idea--I don't think it has to fit perfectly within the plaster. You could do a rectangle within the plaster that still had some wall space between the mirror and the plaster. Or you can do an oval.

And to get a custom mirror made with a nice bevel is pretty reasonable--and doing the same thing on both sides would be cool.

Another thing you could consider is wallpapering within the plaster. Since it's such a small space, I'd go for something on the wild side!

Posted by: tinarina at February 28, 2008 10:12 AM

Thanks again Mrs. L. I love the idea of of the gold leaf. It'll play off the brass fixtures. We'll be buying something within the next month or so. We have couple of things we like in mind, our favorite needs an extensive gut reno from structural work to historic restoration, complete elec, plumb, kitchens and baths. The 2 contractors I've spoken with were extremely high-priced and would love to get another rec. Also, can you recommend a building inspector? You can call me if you like at xxx.

Posted by: Susan Elkins at February 28, 2008 10:13 AM

gold might be cool.

ever think about getting your address painted in the transom in gold leaf? I love that look -- especially if your address can be written out: "sixteen" instead of "16". Not sure if it's too much for this house tho.

Posted by: guest at February 28, 2008 10:25 AM

Ok, I looked up vestibule and the definition is: "a passage, hall, or antechamber between the outer door and the interior parts of a house or building. " So I guess I am calling it the right thing. Although antechamber sounds much more sexy. haha

My address is already painted out in the transform. I haven't included it here for obvious reasons but it was one thing we didn't have to touch at all. It was already in good shape. Not perfect but the imperfections have their charm as well.

The mirror idea could be pretty cool but I would think having two of them made to fit in here would be pricey and a pain to install. But I like the idea of some kind of framed mirror instead. That would be easy to change out if I get bored of it.

Guest923: If you look earlier in the blog, you can see the exterior work we did.

Susan: I took out your phone number. If you have some specific questions you can email me.

Posted by: Mrs. Limestone at February 28, 2008 10:42 AM

Wish there was going to be a "wrap party" like on This Old House but if you ever have your house on an open-house tour please let us all know. Mine will be on the Bed Stuy tour

Thanks

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at February 28, 2008 11:23 AM

I would paint the wall detail in bone white to match the wainscoating and leave it at that.

Posted by: guest at February 28, 2008 12:29 PM

Mrs. L, How do I find your email address? SE

Posted by: Susan Elkins at February 28, 2008 1:09 PM

SE - Its Bklimestoner at aol dot com

Dave - I love going to house tours but I don't think I could tolerate stangers coming into my own house. Not that there would ever be a Windsor Terrace house tour anyway.

Posted by: Mrs. Limestone at February 28, 2008 2:09 PM

I love that ornate wall piece, I think I might steal that idea. (wink)
I second the wall paper idea. There are so many gorgeous wallpaper choices these days. Or if you are using this as a mud room, three nice antique hooks could hang there to catch a coat or hat or two.

I love love love the push button with brass plate. I have a box of them waiting to go in.
Always love your pics.

Posted by: hhitchc at February 28, 2008 3:36 PM

Looks great. Are you planning to have a small coat rack in the vestibule? We have one to the side of the door that is usually closed. It's very useful on wet days to be able to hang raincoats there and not worry about water dripping on the wood inner hall floor. Btw, you're quite right that "vestibule" is the correct word. "Foyer" is very Non-U.

Posted by: guest at February 28, 2008 3:59 PM

We have a large hall stand with coat hooks in the hallway beyond the interior door of the vestibule. Ive shown it in prior posts.

Posted by: Mrs. Limestone at February 28, 2008 4:29 PM

Love that plaster detail and the way you have used the silver fox paint color has totally changed the way I look at grey. Don't be surprised if you see the same paint color on our blog!

Posted by: HomeSweetstuy at February 28, 2008 9:31 PM

I would leave the plaster detail alone and not put mirrors or wallpaper anywhere. I wrestled with the same issue and wound up painting my vestibule walls a deep blue. The plasterwork design is not symmetrical like yours but more flowers, garlands, wreaths, etc all over the wall. It looks like, from the photos, that yours stands out nicely and that should be enough. "Don't guild the lily."

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at February 29, 2008 8:54 AM

Is that a large air gap between the outer doors? Is it just missing weatherstrip? I would think you'd lose a lot of heat that way.

Posted by: cmu at February 29, 2008 11:35 AM

"I would paint the wall detail in bone white to match the wainscoating and leave it at that."

Great idea. This simple action will really make the detail pop and add a nice and simple contrast.

Posted by: guest at February 29, 2008 11:44 AM

I'm with daveinbedstuy. Leave it as is, otherwise it would be overpowering. Don't pick out the plaster detail with gold leaf. It is elegant and spare the way it is now. Best to leave well enough alone.

Your choice of colors is terrific BTW. You'd never guess it would look so good from a paint chip.

Posted by: guest at February 29, 2008 11:51 AM

I vote to leave it as is. When something sculptural is painted in a monochromatic way, you really see the light and shadow play out much more. There is a certain grace in less. Put your money into a nice umbrella stand or interesting mat. This "room" tends to gather stuff over time anyway. Oh, and thanks for your blog. We did a renovation in the S. Slope 10 years ago very similar to yours, and reading your blog has awakened my sleeping reno-monkey.

Posted by: guest at February 29, 2008 12:28 PM

Very elegant. I like the choice of paint color in the vestibule. The effort you made to put in the aged brass plate was definitely worth it-- it looks nice. The mosaic floor is pretty too. Gold leaf is an interesting idea, but I vote for leaving the wall detail as-is, unless you can spring for a highly skilled mural painter to come in and do something within the frame. It would have to be done beautifully to pull it off, though. Maybe a trompe l'oeil...

Posted by: guest at February 29, 2008 1:04 PM

Gold leafing seems Trumpish. Looks great as is. Enjoy and thanks for giving us all inspiration. I don't know how you have the energy to 1st go through doing it (even via contractors) and then 2nd write it up.

Posted by: guest at February 29, 2008 1:11 PM

No mirror. PLEASE. Maybe throw in a very small square antique one on either side, with a very thick baroque black frame (total 12" by 12") - a minimal touch, something a person can use as they're rushing in or out, but doesn't disrupt the flow of the permanent elements. The black would tie in to the door colors and balance out the space on either side of the doors.

And personally -- and this is just my preference -- I would have kept the wainscotting in the same cream color (obviously a new coat!) instead of that harsh white, while adding the grey to the walls, as you did. The grey and stark white is, to me, too loud and trendy-circa-2003. (see philippe starck miami lobbies and restaurants). But cream and grey would've looked both modern and oldschool elegant, more subtly elegant.

I'm just being peevish though, in general, fantastic work!

Posted by: guest at February 29, 2008 1:33 PM

You'll be happy to know that the woodowork is in fact painted cream, not white. Its called bone white but its very much a cream color...like buttercream. The original color may look charming in this photo but it really was just white paint that had yellowed and dirtied over time.

Posted by: Mrs. Limestone at February 29, 2008 2:58 PM

MrsL - di you strip your woodwork before you had it painted? Also, is that bone white from BM?

Posted by: guest at February 29, 2008 4:14 PM

Oh, I dunno, you could put up something sculptural. Or you could do a brass or gilt sconce of some kind. Maybe a candle sconce. But, it really doesn't need anything.

Posted by: guest at March 2, 2008 1:33 PM

WOW it is looking so amazing!!! I'm sorry I never comment here but apparently had been too stupid to actually log IN until now. Ahem.

Anyway--as always I love every choice you make. It's so interesting to me how different your color palette is with this house as opposed to your old house which was all warm reds and golds. This house is so cool and sophisticated but still totally YOU. It's really coming together beautifully, which is no surprise.

I personally vote for leaving the plaster detail the way it is. I tend to agree with a previous commenter about it being a little Trump to gold leaf it, and I love the slightly modern edge that the monochromatic treatment gives it. It reminds me of an ornate baroque picture frame that's been painted white--the detail becomes much more about structure and shadow.

Oh and BTW I also got a negative comment on my blog from some random Anonymous jagoff today. Feh. I just deleted it since it wasn't worth the bother of logging in and refuting the comment.

Posted by: kingstreetfarm at March 2, 2008 11:16 PM

Interesting, all the suggestions you got over this.

Mine: Gold leafing is a good idea.
Try out some on a test frame to see if you can deal with the process first. I believe Daniel Smith Artist's Materials still sells a basic kit out of Seattle, though I imagine you could get some closer to NYC.

You don't even have to go legit gold leaf as small brush strokes of the Ralph Lauren metallics fake it pretty well. They make so many gradations of golds, brasses and bronzes that it hurts.

I once painted an entire courtroom cornice with a detail sprayer (in gold). Had to rig the gravity feed up to a 2 qt. pressure pot with a copper tube and a compression fitting though. I wasn't going to live through it (30 x 40 foot courtroom) 5 ounces of paint at a time! Modern Masters also makes good gold paint. It's expensive. $25 a quart last I checked. Mirror in there also sounds good. Just set it off with a margin, like a mat around a photograph if it doesn't fit.

Posted by: akryeguy at March 4, 2008 12:42 PM