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This room was the start of my renovation project. The ceiling takedown and replacement was done by a plasterer. That work was beyond my ability. Again rewiring had been done beneath the original ceiling. Also a long ago repair to the bathroom above had left gaping holes in the plaster.

These pictures show the stripping of paint from the woodwork. I took the lower sections of the windows out to strip, and also replaced the broken weight cords with chain. Unfortunately one pane of the old wavy glass did get cracked from the heat gun and had to be replaced.

The first picture shows the removal of the old wallpaper and the chairrail. The ceiling medallion is not original. I found it on a trip to San Francisco. It is handmade of plaster, and I dragged it home on an airplane with me. Next is a closeup of the trim that separates the frieze area of the walls. I repositioned it at the original 15" from the ceiling. It is wood, with the raised relief being made of plaster.

As you can see, the floor needed some help. The floors are quartersawn oak with a tiger striped pattern. They were in relatively good shape, except for a few damaged boards and some pet stains. They looked very good after having been sanded. I had a floor refinisher sand and stain the floors in the here and the living room.

The dining room was the first room that I renovated. It took me about 9 months to strip the woodwork, paint, paper and get the floors redone. I was very happy with the end results. During the tear down of the ceilings, when there was plaster dust and dirt everywhere, I sometimes wondered what I had gotten myself into!