Breaking the Rules in Cow Island, Louisiana

Earlier this year, our finishing carpenter, Paul, dedicated a lot of time, largely unpaid, for a project for a family member of ours who was "displaced" by Hurricane Ike.

To help repay our debt to him for his tireless efforts, we re-designed a guest bedroom in his house in Cow Island, Louisiana.

We had to break some pretty basic rules, but they were necessary.

Here's the layout we had to work with:

Please note the doors on every wall, causing furniture placement issues.

We had a HUGE Pre-Civil War 4-Poster (w/Canopy) Bed, that belonged to Paul's Grandfather. We also wanted to see a writing desk in this room. No closet - the house was built in the 30's and closets as we know them today were not invented yet, lol.

So, we had to edit a few distractions - chiefly being the single window, the awkward electrical box, and the secondary door to the office. In old houses in the South, doors were everywhere to take advantage of a any and every passing breeze. A room could not have enough doors during this design phase. The attached parlor has a large wardrobe closet. We hope to get to do that room this winter.

Here's the Before and Afters:

Our Team:

• Recreated the Missing the Cypress Canopy

• Sewed the Massive Wall Draperies

• Created Custom Pillows to Tie in the Wainscoting

• And Made the Stained Glass Window

It was loads of fun working with such fabulous period furniture. The desk is from Paul's wife's family. It was her travelling school-teacher mother's, and it actually was transported weekly from school to school in a covered wagon.

I dunno when we will get to work on a project as interesting as this one again. It was a kick!

~Michelle