Wednesday, June 26, 2013

The Turn Of The Screw...ssss

Cottage Ceiling Series - part 3


One of the commenters on the previous post said that she'd rather see my cottage than inspiration pictures. I'm happy to oblige, but please remember if you're disappointed that you asked for it!

L'un des commentaires de l'article précédent me disait qu'il serait mieux de voir mon cottage que des photos d'inspiration... Eh bien, préparez vous au pire!

Before we dive into ugliness, may I suggest you swallow a dose of gorgeousness. This is more or less where I'm going.

Avant que l'on plonge dans le côté peu glamour de la rénovation, prenez tout de même une petite dose de ce qui m'inspire, cela vous aidera à supporter le reste!

Via Hooked On Houses

And this is what I had.

Et voilà ce que moi j'avais dans ma maison.


Now, when I asked what I could do to cottage-ify my ceiling, many of you suggested to add beams, beadboard or planks. 

Your were both wrong and right (that's what we call a Norman answer in France).

Beaucoup d'entre vous m'ont suggéré dans les commentaires d'ajouter des poutres. En fait, je n'ai rien rajouté, j'ai plutôt arraché le placo... Les poutres et le plancher apparents étaient là-dessous, juste un peu... verts!

I didn't add anything, I ripped the drywall that was on the ceiling. Well, to be fair, I had it ripped because I was worried about the electrical wires that were inside.


See? Beams and a planked ceiling! Perfect! Or almost perfect!

Le côté vert-jaune-blanc cassé était moyennement à mon goût, par contre. J'ai décidé d'employer quelqu'un pour le ponçage, mais pour économiser, je me suis dit que je retirerais moi-même toutes les vis qui retenaient auparavant le placo.


The living-room beams were green, the former corridor ceiling was yellow and the kitchen/dining-room ceiling looked white from far away, but was actually off-white.


Now given the surface there was, I decided to pay someone to sand the ceiling. But in order to make it work for my budget, I thought I would remove all the screws that were still in the ceiling and that used to hold the drywall...

Mais qu'est-ce qui m'a pris? Comme d'habitude, je me lance dans des trucs trop lourds pour moi. Sans rire, j'ai cru mourir. Il y avait beaucoup, beaucoup, (j'ai déjà dit "beaucoup"?) de vis! Et j'ai le vertige dès que je suis sur la deuxième marche de l'escabeau!



There were many, many, many screws to unscrew... And the ceiling is rather high now that the drywall is removed. Did I mention I get dizzy as soon as I'm on the second step of the stepladder?


I thought I would never make it. So I decided to cheer me up by keeping track of all the screws I removed. First I began keeping them all in a box.

J'ai donc trouvé des petites astuces pour m'encourager. J'ai d'abord mis les vis dans une boîte pour visualiser mon travail. 


But pretty soon the box was too full for me to count anymore and I kept forgetting how many I had already put in it.


So I found an other way. This is were I usually write my grocery shopping list! This actually helped me visualise how much work I had done and kept me motivated enough so that everything was removed from the ceiling when the person arrived to sand!


Mais rapidement, il y en avait trop dans la boîte pour que je puisse facilement compter et j'ai donc utilisé mon calepin où je fais ma liste de commissions pour noter combien j'en retirais à chaque fois. Il semble que c'était une méthode efficace car tout était enlevé quand le "ponceur" est arrivé avec sa machine à faire de la poussière.

Now one more thing was left up to me: finding the perfect colour for my ceiling... Not an easy task!

Il me restait encore une part essentielle du boulot: trouver la couleur parfaite pour mon plafond... Pas évident!

Any suggestions?

Des idées?

Thanks for visiting, 

Merci de votre visite et à bientôt,

See you soon,


I'm sharing my work on the ceiling with:
Lavender Garden Cottage        No Minimalist Here       "OPEN HOUSE" BLOG PARTY  is posted on THURSDAY
           
Rooted In Thyme                          CLICK TO JOIN LINKY PARTY


30 comments:

  1. Dans ce moment de ma vie je choisis le blanc.

    Marina

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  2. Oh my! So many screws! I knew the beams were under there! Maybe you can put the screws in a clear jar and save it.

    My spouse's office, thankfully much smaller than the area in which you are working, had to have the power cut by the electrician and the ceiling ripped down, for various reasons, but one was the wiring. It looks like that on a smaller scale. We have done no more work on it other than that. It is pretty horrid, not as pretty as yours is looking. It's like the sleeping porch's ceiling, but still in the natural state of raw wood, though quite darkened due to age.

    On the sleeping porch, the electrician said the wiring was newer and done right, so we left it. It is all in metal conduit, so we are painting it the same color as the ceilings and walls. We did not want to spend money putting it in the walls on something that was fine, when we have to spend money on my spouse's office putting in new electrical. Right?

    The inspiration photo is beautiful. It wil be so charming when it is done. I have no ideas on color, because I can't make a decision. Your current green is actually pretty, but maybe not necessarily in that shade; the photo could be deceiving me..

    Magali, It's amazing that you removed all the screws yourself!!!

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  3. Oh, so much potential! Love the ceiling beams :)
    Yes, kumquats are very exotic to me too!! It's amazing to go out in the garden and pick kumquats or lemons :) We had a lemon tree once and a kumquat tree as well but both died. Now I pick citrus fruits at my in-laws :D ~Pernilla

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  4. so pretty it looks already! how far along are you with it now? Off-white is a good color for a ceiling. More importantly is what type of paint you choose, you dont want it too glossy, or going yellow, or a too thick coat so it cracks when the wood moves...

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  5. Your photo made me smile as it so resembled the farmhouse we bought in Brittany in 1995, even to the little stairs with , I think, chestnut wood?
    We painted our beams with an organic paint, not bright white, more a chalky off white, and they looked good.

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  6. Oh, that is a charming ceiling! You must have been quite pleased to see what was under that drywall. I do love white on a ceiling. I also like the paint in a semi-gloss. It reflects the light, and just makes everything so cheerful. You have made great progress. Renovations are not for the faint-hearted, especially an antique house like yours!

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  7. How about a pretty aqua blue; like the lettering in your header pic.

    S
    xo

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  8. Ugh...that would've been a total pain, but think how gorgeous it's gonna be! That first inspiration room is perfect for your space, and I'm sure you'll get the vibe easily :) May your arms recover quickly!

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  9. Madame "l'Agatha Christie" de la déco................tu as encore su me laisser sur ma faim & j'attends donc la suite avec impatience .
    Bises . Babette

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    Replies
    1. J'attends de dépoussiérer un peu (beaucoup, à la folie!) pour pouvoir prendre des photos! Merci de ces visites régulières!

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  10. Magali, I think you should have had your cute firemen buddies come remove all those screws! :)

    -andi

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  11. Oh wow! It's going to be gorgeous! I can visualize it all finished.....so cozy! I am thinking I would paint it white, however I do think a pale shade of aqua, yellow, or green with white beams might look good as well. I am anxious to see it all finished! Oh.....I love your keep calm & make a list sign! I may have to make one of those.....:)

    Blessings, Vicky
    Life On Willie Mae Lane

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  12. FANTASTIC!! White, creamy white all the way. I have natural wood beams and wood ceilings. I would love to keep the beams natural wood and paint the ceiling boards in a creamy white. It allows you to enjoy the wood beams while giving a lighter feeling to the overall ceiling. Very cottage-y in my humble opinion.
    It is all coming together so beautifully.

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  13. Oh my, what a terrible job. I get dizzy on the second step of a ladder, too, and your arms must have been ready to fall off, I am a lover of white and love the inspiration room. I like seeing photos of what inspires you. xo Laura

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  14. I can see it now! Such work, but it is going to be beautiful.. I don't do well with heights either, and your poor arms, well, one way to keep in shape while working.

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    Replies
    1. When I was younger I wondered what Madonna's secret was to have such toned arms. Now I know! She probably removed screws from her ceiling every day! That or she had a coach!

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  15. What an amazing difference! It's already such a huge improvement! I'm boring, so I'd go for a white ceiling, too.

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  16. Wow, Magali--it's really coming together nicely! Ceiling work is so hard, so very well done:) We put wallpaper one time on a ceiling, and my husband vowed after that, never again! Can't say that I blame him--I was pretty sore, too, after that little project.

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    Replies
    1. Ceiling are really tiring to work on and with beams, it doubles the surface! Thanks for visiting!

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  17. Dear Magali,
    What a lovely comment you left me… I am quite flattered to say the least… Thank you so much. I do love the Victorian era.
    blessings,
    Penny

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  18. Wow that is a lot of screws! I liked the way it looked white and distressed :)

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  19. Garde précieusement ta boîte de vis ! C'est un véritable trophée de... guerre, enfin presque quand on sait tous les problèmes que tu as rencontré ! Mais courage, ta little white house devient bien jolie !

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  20. This is one screwy list - I don't usually say things like that but I did! PROGRESS IS GOLDEN!!!!

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  21. Guess they wanted that secure with all those screws? Love your inspiration photo! Swing by
    http://www.sewsweetvintage.com/2013/06/folk-art-fabric-flag.html
    http://www.sewsweetvintage.com/2013/06/beachy-signs.html

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  22. Where you're going with this interior, is somewhere I'd like to go - the inspiration is gorgeous, and I'm sure you'll get there !
    I'd have to go white, all the way

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  23. Love your inspiration - seeing the project come to fruition is fun, don't mind the inspiration photos either - spurs creativity - can't wait to see this come together! I do appreciate you sharing with Home and Garden Thursday,
    Kathy

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  24. Magali:
    I featured this post for my Open House tomorrow!

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  25. Who would have thought! That turned out darling! Looks so clean and cozy! Nancy

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