Renovating the Farmhouse Landing – Before

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The landing in the farmhouse is the room right when you come up the stairs. It’s actually the same size as the second bedroom (which is downstairs, directly under this room) so it’s basically a 3rd bedroom.

When we first walked up the stairs in the house I really just didn’t know what to say about this room. You are about to see why….

Landing Renovation

This is the east wall. There is a nice large window in here and that’s about all the nice things I have to say about this room….the carpet was stained, the paint colors are…..well there are no words. No light fixture, just a bulb on the ceiling.

landing2

Here’s the west wall where you can see the staircase coming up to the upstairs. There was a weird section about a foot wide on the end of the railing that made for an awkward storage space. This entire room looks incredibly small .

Farmhouse Landing Renovation

Like most of the rest of the house, the walls in here were all plaster. The upstairs rooms’ plaster was in very rough shape. It was cracked and coming off of the walls already.

Farmhouse Landing Renovation

In case you have no experience with it…plaster is a pain. And a really really big mess. On a nicer note, this room has a lovely view of my garden to be!

Farmhouse Landing Renovation

It was very difficult to move the plaster out of the upstairs rooms and hauling buckets up and down very narrow stairs was not going to be an option for my hubby! He built this flume that went from the upstairs down to a wheelbarrow in the living room. Very useful but what. a. mess!

Farmhouse Landing Renovation

Here’s the room after the plaster was all off the walls, yay! It looks so small in this picture.

Farmhouse Landing Renovation

After we ripped up the carpet  we discovered that the wood floor was painted. It was still in pretty decent shape though. We removed the spindles. While they were really cool since they were original, they were in very unstable condition and quite brittle. We didn’t think it was fixable or safe for a home with a little one and we’ve decided to repurpose them for something else.

beehive

That was a BEEHIVE! Thankfully it looked like it hadn’t been used in a very long time and it just needed to be torn out. I couldn’t imagine living in a home with a huge beehive like that but since we discovered that the house was most likely abandoned for several decades, it was most likely active when the home was empty. I hope!

Farmhouse Landing Renovation

Here is the west wall after the lath was removed. You can see the darker section in the middle where the beehive was.

Farmhouse Landing Renovation

Here’s the east wall while the new wiring was going in and the ceiling was being reinforced and straightened. It looks bigger already just from getting rid of all the ugly paint!

See the After Pictures here!

Farmhouse Renovation Part 1: Moving On
Farmhouse Renovation Part 2: Getting Started
Renovating the Farmhouse Bathroom: Before Pictures
Renovating the Farmhouse Bathroom: After Pictures

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merissabio

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10 Comments

  1. This is so exciting to read about. This upper room reminds me of the one in my grandparents farmhouse. Very common in older farmhouses built in 1800’s. Can’t wait for next chapter.

  2. My grandparents had a room at the top of the stairs like that. They did use it as a bedroom but I think it would be an awesome playroom.

    Years ago we had a wasp’s nest in our bedroom wall. We kept seeing wasps in our house and our bedroom had an odd, disgusting odor. My husband finally located the nest and we had to have it professionally exterminated. Lately we have again, been seeing wasps in the house so it is time to start looking around and be sure we do not have a nest again. Ugh.

  3. We had a room like this in our former house and liked it a lot. There are so many different things to do with a space like that. A study or library. A music room. Art room. Sewing room. Writing room. Whatever.

    I look forward to seeing the ‘after’ pictures. You guys are doing great!

  4. Your house reminds me so much of our own…my landing/room…is where we keep our family library…and a blanket chest…I’m so enjoying reading about all your adventures….yes and I have to agree, its an awful lot of hard and dusty work….we have quite a bit to do on our home yet…you will have plaster dust FOREVER….. we made it livable and now are just beginning to do heavier renovations….to restore it back to the grander that it was…simplicity at its best….love what you did with your bathroom! What colors are you going to go with?
    Keep up the good work! I’ve enjoyed all your articles thus far!!!! 🙂

  5. This is almost deja vue for me Merissa – we bought an old l800’s farmhouse that hadn’t been inhabited since l940. It has the same upstairs landing area as in your photo and a mother raccoon had made a nest in the corner and had 3 babies there when we first inspected the house. It had the same old lathe & plaster and it was filled behind them with nuts from the Black Walnut tree outside. Squirrels had used the house as their storage area! My husband and a friend completely redid the house and carted out 3 garbage cans full of black walnuts. There is a huge bedroom to one side of the landing room and a small one on the other. We rent out the house now after completely redoing everything and I think our tenants use that landing area as an office/computer room for themselves and their children. I’m sure in the old days that was a child’s bedroom. I think old houses are so interesting! My grandparents house in Canada was much the same. They used the small bedroom upstairs for themselves and 4 girls shared the big one w/2 double beds and it still seemed large to me. Interested to see more of your photos as you move on with the renovation.

  6. Thanks so much for your pictures and info. I really enjoy it living vicariously thru you. Hubby and I are retired and unable to do this. Enjoy it while you are young.

  7. Reminds me of my own 1908 farmhouse 🙂
    If you don’t have a 1/2 bath upstairs, it would be easy to put one in the short end of that room 🙂 They sure come in handy with kids upstairs 🙂

  8. I love your posts, and watching the progress on your beautiful new home! After 35 years of marriage, having and raising our children, and numerous corporate moves, hubby and I are retiring and buying a farm in Northern Alabama. We are buying a vintage 70’s home on several acres with a stocked pond. Our new home won’t need the kind of work yours is needing, but, it needs a lot of work. You inspire me, even so far “down the road” of life! Thank you.