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The staircase giving access to the floor above generally has to be reversed, as this was originally a basement stair facing away from the entrance and not sufficiently dignified or decorative to serve as an ornament to the main hall. The treads and risers must be wider, a more substantial newel post and rail must be supplied and a very excellent additional feature can be made by curving the rail at the base of the stairs and making still wider steps there.
When we come to what was the old parlor floor, we find a long room partly divided between parlor and music room, or a small drawing room with an open foyer next to it, and also the old entrance hall and vestibule. By demolishing all those existing walls, excepting those of the dining room at the rear, we obtain a. fine room the full width of the house and at least two-thirds its depth. This becomes the real living room of the home, with the old main staircase opening into it, and if no servants' stair exits above this floor, a few steps may be built with an opening from the pantry or dining room to give access to the main stairs from these rooms without causing the
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66INTERIOR DECORATING
maids to come through this new general living room. In this we have our accustomed seven or eight-foot sofa or two sofas, our fireplace (there may have been two fireplaces but one, of course, has been removed) our commodious chairs, occasional tables, lamps, etc. If there is to be no library on the floor above, we may also have our bookcases and desk here, for there is plenty of room for every essential of the living room and library combined.
There will be three windows, two existing before and one new one built where the main entrance door originally was. The old sliding doors should be replaced by French doors and the plaster ceiling made uniform throughout the room where old sections have been removed. In this connection, I may suggest, in cases where ceiling beams have to be retained, that these be finished in wood, with ornamental brackets below them, so that they contribute to the effect rather than detract from it.
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