When Doug first showed me all the goodies he’d been collecting over the years, I was blown away at how much cool stuff he’d saved!
This project probably would have gotten done a lot quicker but it was so hard not to stop and read or admire treasures from the past.
That, and the number of times we had to change our plans due to the construction of the building, but we’ll get to that.
Let’s take a look at what the room looked like before.
It was a shame to have so many neat pictures and artifacts tucked away in boxes, so Doug wanted a room where he could put it all on display.
After meeting with him, here is the design I put together:
The idea was a cigar lounge vibe: dark walls, leather, and moody.
Put me in, coach
To begin, Doug painted the top half of the walls Cloudy Slate by PPG. We also replaced the ceiling tile with these drop in tiles, and the impact was instant.
And now, onto the lower half of the walls that probably made this project the most challenging one I’ve ever done.
I first wanted to do a grass cloth wallpaper on the lower half of the walls in a really dark grey. I spent about six hours one day installing one, and I think it would have been really beautiful, but these heavily textured cement walls did not hold it.
So, we take it down. Back to the drawing board.
My next idea was to do vertical shiplap, similar to what I had just done in the church basement project. My handyman, Chase Adams, was now recruited to help me out because this type of construction was out of my skill set.
With the walls being cement, he thought it might be best to add stripping first, and then attach the boards to the stripping. We also toyed with the idea of gluing it all on, but once again, we didn’t trust the cement walls.
Also, this text exchange occurred.
After Chase began installing the stripping onto the wall, he quickly informed me he didn’t feel like it was going to work. The unevenness of the walls were an issue, and we didn’t feel comfortable proceeding.
Luckily, Chase had an idea that gave us a similar look, but also required less lumber to work with and less drilling into the walls. In this case, less is more.
Essentially, he had the idea to use a trim piece on the top and bottom to look like a wainscoting, painting it all to give us the look we were trying to achieve.
We used the color Slate Mine by PPG for the bottom half of the walls. The contrast was so pretty!
Game time
Now, the fun part! I began by laying out all the large prints that I needed hung in the cement by Chase.
On the opposite wall, we hung two art ledges to display items, and also a shelf that resembled lockers.
I really love these leather chairs. They’re comfy, wide, and have arm rests. I ordered them locally from Furniture Mattress Outlet where delivery is free!
This vintage cigar box and pipe was a great accessory for this end table.
This shelf worked out as a great display piece for more memorabilia. Chase and I were swooning over the eight-drawer piece. I also added a touch of greenery to this shelf to give your eyes a break and give a feeling of freshness. And peep the vintage jump rope!
There’s some pretty neat stuff in there, right?! As challenging as this project was, I really love how it all came together and I hope Doug enjoys his many walks down memory lane!
Sources