November 16, 2009

The Hallway: Part IX

DRUMROLL: We finally picked a colour for the hallway! It was between the Spice Bounty, a greenish brown, and Silver Sage, a greyish green. The winner is Silver Sage! All of the trim will be painted a bright white.Painting 003

Now, I’ve been asked to come up with a decorating scheme for the hallway. As you can see in the pictures, there’s currently a large trophy case, two potted corn plants, two benches, an Adirondacks bench and a large radiator. Tivoli 004In addition, there are four doors, a staircase and a hallway to the kitchen wing.Painting 009My thinking is to get rid of almost everything and replace the tall trophy case with a low credenza for holding brochures, annual reports, and other materials. I will get rid of the Adirondacks bench, and the quilts hanging on the walls can go into the dining room. The flag painting might be hung just inside the front door.

I’d like to keep the bench next to the front door, but maybe have it painted black lacquer. I’d also like to put the other bench, again painted black, along the back wall. We frequently need a place for the social workers who visit to sit and chat with the children in our care.

The stairs will be painted, and the balusters will be either painted black or white. The handrail will be stripped and refinished. These are the stairs in the two houses we visited this weekend:

beading 007 beading 009

Unfortunately, we don’t have any of that wonderful paneling on our stairs, and we’re worried that if we paint the trim and balusters white, they will get kicked and get dirty quickly.

For the walls, I am thinking of hanging identically framed images from Woodbourne’s history. I found a cache of photographs from the 1930’s and scanned them. two boys2 I think a narrow black frame with a wide white mat with black and white pictures will be a classic look.

The downside is that this all has to be done by our board meeting the first week in December. Thoughts???

14 comments:

  1. It's going to look great! I especially love the photography idea.

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  2. I was completely engaged until the final picture. The little boy on the right looks a lot like my youngest. I hope he ended up as happy as he looks in that picture.

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  3. Mrs. B... at the point that this picture was taken, we were an orphanage. It was probably right after the depression and children were frequently dropped off at our doorstep.

    We hope that the children were happy, and it seems, at least from the history I've read, that the staff really cared about the children in their care... as they do now.

    All of the pictures I've seen from that era show children looking healthy and happy. There are some amazingly touching images.

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  4. American Frame -
    www.americanframe.com

    Great prices, great frames, and great service. They will send you free frame samples and you can upload your artwork into the "sandbox" to play with matteing and frames. I highly recommend them.

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  5. Bingo! I think that sounds soothing, classic, elegant. Timeless. And the photography will be a very warm touch.

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  6. Sounds great Meg. I like the black frame idea....but just to throw another thought out there since this a facility for kids. What about framing everthing in a thin red frame? B&W photos and white mattes in a red frame. It might look fun with the flag art piece, and youe other black accents. Or maybe a red liner. Maybe too trendy.Just a thought. I am lookng forward to the "after" photos! I am sure it will be beautiful!

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  7. I think you are totally on the right track, and I agree...love the photography idea.

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  8. I think this all sounds great -good luck on the deadline! Are you sure you have to keep that flag painting...not that I'm not patriotic..but...ya..

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  9. The silver sage is perfect!

    Coco
    Cococozy
    http://www.cococozy.com

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  10. AD... I kind of like the flag (oops, almost said fag), and I think if I put it right inside the front door, on the wall, it won't be as obvious. It was a donation from the Maryland Institute College of Art, so I'd like to keep it.

    Meg (not BayBuff)

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  11. the photos sound great, and a long console would look good too. maybe keep one plant- i little life never hurt any space (one of my decorating rules actually- public areas should have living things).

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  12. I think framing and hanging the photos is a great way to honor those who have been part of the building's history. (Not to mention look great too.)

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  13. And if I weren't on the exact same time deadline--I'm switching apartments--I'd hop on a train and come lend you a hand.

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