It's lovingly referred to as "the Monolith".
When we toured the house for sale in January, we noticed some light coming through the faux brick that encased the huge non-working gas fireplace insert in the parlor side of the living room.
We poked around and realized the previous owner had installed this fireplace in front of a window we hadn't even noticed on the outside. This is the before-we-bought-the-house photo.
Walking through the weird maze of this house was disconcerting enough - what with the odd connection of rooms which made each and every one a hallway into two other rooms and the fact that 125 years of bad drainage had caused the north end to sink 5 inches. I don't notice it anymore and we've (royal we - it was my husband) solved the drainage issue - but that thing was sitting in a room we couldn't even use and I finally decided it had to go.
Zero dollars? Hubby said he wasn't going to pay anyone for something he could do himself, so last week when I went to visit my parents, he dismantled the chimney stack and dragged the Monolith to the backyard. I couldn't possibly get him to do it any sooner since he's been under the house solving the drainage issue. Good man!
He painted the Osawatomie mental hospital green wall behind it and yesterday, I painted the trim. Then I moved my comfy chair to the only window in the house that has no huge overhanging roofline and I now have a naturally lit comfy corner in a working parlor.
Excuse the ceiling. We left the chimney for a future wood stove for the corner. The ceiling is for another day....week....okay, season.
I still need to buy brackets for the curtains that I bought at the same time as the other ones in the room - heavens to Betsy if they didn't match! And there's a side table around here somewhere I need to move in.
And did you notice the front door? I threw a lovely velvet cut-out scarf I had over the sheers that were there. Then I used this tutorial
to cover just the glass with a lace curtain left in the house. Rehung the scarf and it gives us privacy and light and style.
You probably didn't notice the little sewing box next to the chair. My stepmom just gave it to me and I'm thrilled. I remember her using it my whole life.
I think next week we should play a game: What's In Your Sewing Basket? Leave all game rule suggestions in the comments or email me.
