Architectural Dining Room Details

Although the architect I work with is brilliant at reworking floorplans and roof lines.....

I am the expert, brilliant, fabulous one when it comes to interior architectural detailing!!!!!!!

 (if I do say so myself)

(and I do)

When Connie and Chris bought their Vermont home, the house lacked charm.

It was situated on a wonderful piece of land, and sited beautifully, but architecturally, it was underwhelming. 

One of the first things Les Brown (the architect, not the band leader) and I suggested (forcefully) was changing the windows.

The window sills were too high, so the rooms felt closed in.

This is a typical mistake of builders and folks who think they can design houses without having any training.......

They make the windowsills too friggin' high.

(Betsy's disclaimer.......

lot's of people with training don't agree about this.....)

(but then, I think they be wrong, wrong, wrong.....)

So.....

wonderful new windows were installed that had the proper proportions!!!!

I like me a window sill that be 30" AFF (above the finished floor).

HOWEVER!!!!!

Because of the way I was laying out the furniture, we had the window sills made even lower.

This did wonders for adding an airiness to the rooms.

Then I got to work on the paneled wainscoting.....

When I was hired to do this job, I put together a dream team of architect, builder and me, me, me.....

I had worked with G.R. Porter and Sons Construction  on a previous project in New Hampshire and had been bowled over by their attention to detail and that they didn't give me a hard time on a construction site!!!!

I first started working with them around 1984 or 5, and back then, women on construction sites could be patronized and altogether ignored.

Ha!

Just try to ignore me!!!!!

Anyway.....

I found that anything I could draw, they could build!!!!!

I was used to getting a bunch of resistance from cabinet makers telling me that what I had designed couldn't be built.

They didn't like it when I would explain to them how to build it.

NOT THIS TIME!!!!!

Sooooo.....

Since I had had such a wonderful experience with them, I got Connie and Chris to hire them.

Where was I???????

Oh, yeah.

Architectural Detailing.

Wainscoting.

Dining Room.....

So, I added the paneled wainscoting to the walls and had wallpaper applied above. 

Then Connie and I found these wonderful butterfly prints that we had framed.

I hung them all the way around the room.

(On two walls anyway. There wasn't room on the other two walls....)

I found this other photo.....

shows a little part of one.....

I know I keep saying this.....

but I really need to get back up there and take some decent detail shots.

IT'S SOOOO FAR THOUGH.......

MY HIPS HURT JUST TO THINK ABOUT IT!!!!!

Where was I?????

Oh, yeah,

architectural interior details.

I also changed all the window and door casings, baseboards and crown moldings.

But other than that the house was just the same as when they bought it.... other than moving walls around.....

If you beef up your window and door casings, don't forget to increase the size of your baseboard.

I like baseboards to be at least 5.5" h (that's a 1x6).

If the ceiling's over 8 feet high, then the baseboard should be even taller.

Just another arbitrary Betsy rule.

I'm starting to ramble.....

(why should this day be different from any other?????)

Sooooo.....

On that note...

Latah, Gatah