The first thing to go in the new salon area was the ceiling. I knew we needed more lighting in the darkened space so the only way to get it up there, was to tear down what was presently there.
As an openly sentimental person, doing demolition on a home that was lovingly built and cared for was tough. Do you know what was tougher?? Actually tearing DOWN the ceiling! !! GUYS, I am talking three inch nails into everything, seemingly every three inches apart. We are literally saying that this place was built like a brick house.
Tearing down the ceiling took about half a summers day and it was tough work during one of the hottest days of the year.
DIY TIP: Hefty construction bags are your best friend when doing demolition. Just throw everything in and tie up. Nothing will poke through, those bags are pure magic.
I had big dreams for this ceiling and knew that everything that was attached to the ceiling in any way shape or form needed to go so we could build a perfectly uniform coffered ceiling.
DIY TIP: What IS a coffered ceiling?
(Read the below definition if you like history and architecture and want to sound like a know it all to your friends and family when the discussion of coffered ceilings arise.)
Coffer
A coffer in architecture, is a series of sunken panels in the shape of a square, rectangle, or octagon in a ceiling, soffit or vault. A series of these sunken panels were used as decoration for a ceiling or a vault, also called caissons, or lacunaria, so that a coffered ceiling can be called a lacunar ceiling: the strength of the structure is in the framework of the coffers. The stone coffers of the ancient Greeks and Romans are the earliest surviving examples, but a seventh-century BC Etruscan chamber tomb in the necropolis of San Giuliano, which is cut in soft tufa-like stone reproduces a ceiling with beams and cross-beams lying on them, with flat panels filling the lacunae. For centuries, it was thought that wooden coffers were first made by crossing the wooden beams of a ceiling in the Loire Valley châteaux of the early Renaissance. In 2012, however, archaeologists working under Andrew Wallace-Hadrill at the House of the Telephus in Herculaneum discovered that wooden coffered ceilings were constructed in Roman times. Experimentation with the possible shapes in coffering, which solve problems of mathematical tiling, or tessellation, were a feature of Islamic as well as Renaissance architecture. The more complicated problems of diminishing the scale of the individual coffers were presented by the requirements of curved surfaces of vaults and domes.
A coffer in architecture, is a series of sunken panels in the shape of a square, rectangle, or octagon in a ceiling, soffit or vault. A series of these sunken panels were used as decoration for a ceiling or a vault, also called caissons, or lacunaria, so that a coffered ceiling can be called a lacunar ceiling: the strength of the structure is in the fram…
en.wikipedia.org · Text under CC-BY-SA license
That meant that these two closets flanking the front door to the salon needed to go so our ceiling beams could sneak right up into the corners of the room.
If you aren’t too certain what a coffered ceiling looks like, here is my all time favorite coffered ceiling in blog land.
This ceiling is the picture I sent my husband when I was explaining to him what I was envisioning for the space. Because he is awesome and likes a challenge, he agreed to make my ceiling dreams come true.
#hubbyoftheyear #myhero
But if I we are both being perfectly honest, we knew we were a far cry and a few days worth of demo from even beginning a pretty ceiling treatment. Here is a few more before photos of how the space looked during demolition.
Here is a view to the garage from the salon area. All those bags are filled with debris. Guys, Demo is meant for you if you like to get your hands dirty. If you don’t like to, just remember that it is best to have your child be around the age of nine and eager to help. Our first born babe is getting a lot of first hand experience during this home renovation.
DIY TIP: Giving children popsicles is fair compensation for hot summer work. Also, promising any kind of cold sugar will work just fine: ie; slurpees, slushies or icecream of any flavour.
This wall will be where my salon sink will go and where we will build a bathroom.
My salon mirror and new fireplace will be on this wall closest to the garage.
This room has come a long way from a few months ago, I cant wait to show you what we have done and to share our DIY coffered ceiling tips and tricks soon.
Happy Wednesday!
