Evanston Mansion Renovation Episode 15: Entry Hall & Library
Evanston Mansion Renovation – Entry Hall & Library
The entry hall of the 128-year-old mansion in Evanston, Illinois has new paint and recessed lighting. Planning for a library that feels darker than the rest of the first floor – with cabinets, walls and trim all painted the same blue – accented by a unique herringbone wood ceiling.
Follow along!
- Episode 1 – Exterior and Foyer
- Episode 2 – Library and Family Room
- Episode 3 – Dining Room and Porch
- Episode 4 – Kitchen and Pantry
- Episode 5 – Stairwell and Landing
- Episode 6 – Primary Bedroom and Bathroom
- Episode 7 – Porch and Third Floor
- Episode 8 – Lower Level
- Episode 9 – Laundry and Guest Bath
- Episode 10 – Kitchen and Pantry After Demo
- Episode 11 – Primary Bath and Closet After Demo
- Episode 12 – Laundry and Guest Bath After Demo
- Episode 13 – Third Floor After Demo
- Episode 14 – Temporary Primary Bedroom
- Episode 15 – Entry Hall & Library
- Episode 16 – Primary Bath
- Episode 17 – Exterior Sconces
- Episode 18 – Powder Room
- Episode 19 – Kitchen
Transcript
Welcome back to the Evanston Mansion series. I’m Amy Berka from Scott Simpson Design Build. And we’ve been really, really busy, so let’s go inside.
I’m standing in the entry hall. We talked about the fact that we’re going to be doing very little work here, just some cleanup and improving the lighting.
We’ve already painted all of the crown moldings you can see in the celling.
We’ve added recessed lighting so that we can get directional lights that are going to aim at the walls. We’ve also ordered the most beautiful chandelier that’s going to hang over our center entrance table standing in the library.
And you’ll probably remember from the last video, this was also another one of those rooms that was really, really dark. Unlike the great room living room, this room is going to return back to being dark because our desire here is to create a space that feels different from that living room great room space, having all the walls and the windows and the cabinetry be painted the same color, Benjamin Moore Hale Navy HC 154, everyone’s favorite navy.
We had shown the owners a previous project where we put a wood board ceiling, herringbone ceiling. In anticipation of that, we have plywood on the celling. There’s going to be wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling cabinets, some open storage because they have a ton of books, and then some closed storage. There’s also going to be a TV. It’s the only TV on this floor. This is going to be the place to be.
As a reminder, if you’ve missed any episodes or even if you just want to watch them again, start from the beginning to see the transformation. This is an exceptionally cool project.