Reworking the Floor Plan of the Queen Anne

When I purchased the Queen Anne, reworking the floor plan was one of the first tasks at hand. I have long admired this historic home and knew if I had the opportunity to renovate it, it would be a project to remember. And as it turns out, I could not have been more right. This renovation proved to be one of the most challenging and yet the most rewarding projects to-date. We focused not only on updating the home for modern day conveniences, but also preserved as many original details as possible. Today I want to walk you through the before including what changes had been made when I purchased it, and then show you how I reworked the floor plan. We’ll also look at many of the original features we were able to preserve throughout the house.

The Before

For years this house sat vacant and neglected on a prominent corner of our neighborhood. The owners had moved out years ago and the house unfortunately began to deteriorate. The two major problems were the collapsing front porch and the back of the house. On the back side of the house the roof had collapsed letting water and the elements inside for years.

Changes Made Before I Purchased the House

Much to my surprise, a young couple purchased the house with dreams of renovating the house themselves to live in. They cleared out the contents, had the roof replaced and structural repairs where the hole was along the back, and started demolition including tearing out a large wall between the kitchen and dining room and disassembling the front porch. When the project became too much for them and they decided to sell, I was more than ready to take on the challenge. Here are the first pictures I took of the house before any work began.

As you can see, there was a lot of work left to be done. After we did a little bit of exploratory demolition, I developed a game plan on how to tackle the inside.

The Reworked Floor Plan

From the outside, the house seemed larger than the actual footprint inside. The layout when I purchased the house had three bedrooms and one bathroom as far as I could tell. I wasn’t entirely sure based on the current condition if a second bathroom had been where some of the demolition had already taken place. The same goes for where the laundry room could have been located in the back corner that had been completely torn out. I was basically picking up from where they had left off.

THE BEFORE FLOOR PLAN:

After taking all of the dimensions, I got to work reworking the floor plan with three primary goals. First, I needed to create a second full bathroom. Second, I wanted to carve out a private master suite with a large bathroom and walk-in closet. And third, I decided to move forward with the open concept already framed for between the kitchen and dining room. I’ll do a deep dive on the latter two goals in my next posts but here’s how the new floor plan turned out.

THE AFTER FLOOR PLAN:

With this new floor plan I was able to address my three primary goals and preserve many of the original features throughout the house.

The Interior Changes

The New Guest Bathroom

In looking over the floor plan, I knew the only way to add a second bathroom was to take space from the middle bedroom. While not ideal, the bedroom had plenty of room to give. And, the new bathroom would be accessed by the main hallway, ideal for guests. So, the team got to work framing for a the new bathroom with a small entryway for the middle and master bedrooms (shown on left).

After drywall, we added in original details we had salvaged from other spaces in the house such as the fluted casing and original door and hardware. We also replicated the high baseboards and added picture railing to match the rest of the house. To me, these extra steps are the difference between a new space looking original or not.

Once finished I chose a dark green for the walls in HGSW 3251 Coriander and a beautiful black vanity as the focal point. I went with a classic Subway tile for the bathtub surround and finished the space with antique brass fixtures. I love the dramatic yet vintage feel to this bathroom and how spacious it turned out to be.

GUEST BATHROOM SOURCES:
Scalloped Mirror
Globe Sconces
Antique Brass Facuet
Champagne Tub/Shower Faucet
Satin Nickel Hardware Set
Vintage Toilet Door Sign

Bedrooms

While the middle bedroom size was reduced due to the guest bathroom, otherwise the bedrooms primarily were just refreshed. We made sure to repairs the cracks in the plaster and then ended up skim coating all of the walls due to their condition. All of the trim and doors were preserved and then the paint team sanded, primed, and painted.

Once of my favorite things throughout the entire house was that we were able to keep the pine floors (presumed original). After sanding, stain, and a few coats of polyurethane, they turned out beautiful.

The last project for both bedrooms was to open up the fireplace and add new tile since none existed. Both of these bedrooms are great for guests or children’s rooms and we’ll take a look at the master bedroom in a later post.

The Grand Foyer

To me, one of the most beautiful spaces in this historic home is the grand foyer. Large in size, it’s a great way to greet guests and is fitting for this Queen Anne style home.

The only major change made to this space is probably my favorite of the entire home – refurbishing the original fireplace and tile. When I first walked into this home the blue fireplace stood out. The tile had been painted and the inside bricked in. I grabbed a sledgehammer, crossed my fingers, and got to swinging. Thankfully, the added bricks had not damaged the original and after having a brick mason repoint as needed, I could reinstall the insert.

So the next task was to address the tiles. After carefully scraping some of the paint away I realized this gorgeous green original tile was hidden underneath. Since the grout and mortar was in bad shape, I carefully removed each tile one by one. I then took them home and removed the paint so that I could reinstall them around the fireplace. They really are stunning and their imperfections are what make them perfect to me.

To finish this space I decided to go bold and paint the walls black and hung a beautiful French Empire chandelier to light up the room. These bold design choices alongside the soft pink front door make this foyer grand and welcoming.

The Hallway & Stairwell

Much like the bedrooms and foyer, this space primarily received a lot of care to the cracked walls and the original trim. Along the back hallway wall, we did reconfigure the space a little to create a galley wall on the left with a library sconce above, and a pocket door on the right for the laundry nook.

And let’s not forget about the grand stairwell. Once the stairs were sanded and stained and the spindles painted, the stairwell turned out stunning. I carried along the same dark green for the back wall and the remaining walls a bright white for contrast. This combination allowed the gorgeous stairwell to be the center of attention. And before you ask, the stairwell simply leads to an upstairs walk-in attic with plenty of storage space.

The Living Room

The last space we’ll look at today is the living room which of all the rooms in the house, didn’t change much. We repaired the plaster walls and trim and then painted this room a bright white to contrast against the refurbished porch doors painted black. Both the doors and windows in this space allow for plenty of sunlight and I finished the space with this modern fan/light with brass accents.

Original Details Preserved

Throughout the entire house, we preserved as many original details as possible. To start we kept all of the detailed door and window casing with a distinct fluted design. Anytime we make changes to a space we try to carefully remove original trim and then reuse in new ways when the floor plan is reworked. This makes it hard to determine what changes have been made which are always a compliment if you ask me.

We of course kept the original windows and doors, refurbishing those throughout the house and the great find of all was the intricate door hardware. Once I removed paint for one door and saw the unique details I knew there was no turning back. I painstakingly removed all of the door knobs, hinges, and plates so that I could refurbish and reinstall after paint. And what a difference that hard work made. Those are without doubt my favorite door hardware of any historic home I’ve renovated.

In my next post we’ll take a look at reworking the floor plan allowed us to create a private master suite and then I’ll explain why I chose to embrace the open concept for the kitchen and dining room. If you want to go ahead and get a sneak peak, head to the Queen Anne portfolio where you’ll also find all of the sources for this historic renovation.