Continuing with the living room walls project, under the wallpaper was the mason board.

Under the mason board was the original wainscoting. We discovered there was originally a much larger arch between the living room and den—just like the arch we found between the living room and dining room. We also discovered evidence of a plate rail that was removed and picture hanging trim that ran along the top of the walls.

Now I’m convinced we should strip all the white paint and restore the room but Rachel still wants to paint the room white. I was raised in a house in San Francisco that, ironically, was built the same year as this one, 1913. It had a lot of the same features we’re discovering in this one. We’re pleasantly agreeing to disagree on the direction we should go with this one. We’ll revisit.