Interior Painting Project
The original plaster in the house was removed and replaced with new plaster during the 1960s restoration of Wylie House. Today, if we were undertaking such a restoration project, we would carefully strip the walls to determine how many layers of paint and/or wallpaper had covered the walls over the years. We would take samples so that we would know exactly what colors and patterns were used. Unfortunately, none of that was done at Wylie House and so we have no clues as to how Margaret Wylie decorated the walls in her new home. We have searched not only the family letters but also the store receipts that we have, hoping to find mention of paint or wall paper that was purchased and applied, but have found no clues there. It is likely that wall paper adorned at least some of the walls, but period reproduction wall paper is very expensive. Therefore, we have chosen, for now, to paint the walls using colors and techniques that are appropriate to the period. The Old Fashioned Milk Paint Company of Groton, Massachusetts generously donated the paint for the walls. Latex paint was used on all of the trim in the house.
Click on the thumbnails to get a larger view of each picture.
During the winter of 2007/2008 we painted the middle bedroom using milk paint on the walls, mixed 12 parts Snow White to 1 part Mustard. The trim color was Benjamin Moore, Cottage Red. See Window Treatments page for images of this room with its curtains in place.
The women's room after painting. The colors used were one part Salmon mixed with 9 parts Snow White. See Window Treatments page for images of this room with its curtains in place.
The boys' bedroom after painting, June 2007. See Window Treatments page for images of this room with its curtains in place.
John Thom, of Florentine Finishes, Bloomington, IN applying milk paint to the walls in the boys' bedroom in May 2007. This color was custom mixed by John (one part Marigold mixed with 12 parts Snow White) and makes this sunny southwest bedroom seem warm and cozy rather than glaringly bright.
Lane Booker of Florentine Finishes, applies Hasbrouck Brown latex paint from Benjamin Moore to the trim in the boys' room.
We chose the color called Driftwood for the guest room and mixed it with Snow White (one part Driftwood to 9 parts white). Since the windows in this room face north and east, we wanted to keep the walls light. The room was finished in April 2007.
Both Wylie families took in student or faculty boarders (IU had no student dormitories for most of the 19th century). We know from family letters written in the last half of the 19th century that two young men often shared the little room over the entry hall. The walls of this room were painted with one part Slate Blue mixed with 13 parts Snow White in 2007.
We think this room may also have been used as a sick room when Andrew and Margaret lived in the house. Isolating a sick person in an upstairs room was a fairly new idea in the first half of the century, but that practice may have been partially responsible for the fact that all 12 of Andrew's children lived to be at least 18, which was highly unusual for the time.
Importing marble to Indiana in the 1830s would have been a very expensive proposition. However, artisans could paint a wooden mantle to look like the more expensive marble and often did. Here you see our faux marble parlor mantle.
The downstairs master bedroom connects to the parlor with large double doors. When needed for entertaining a large group, the doors could be opened, and both rooms were used as one. Therefore, in 2002, we decorated the fireplace in this room to match that in the parlor. In the second half of the 19th century, this room became a back parlor, a use that would still indicate a decorated mantle. Notice that the walls are still white in this picture. See below for how it looks after the walls were painted.
The downstairs master bedroom was painted with milk paint in 2003. These walls were painted using one part Snow White, 4 parts Marigold and 4 parts Tavern Green. See Window Treatments page for images of this room with its curtains in place.
Here is a view of the fireplace mantle against the new wall color.
Kitchen walls were generally white washed so that they could easily be refreshed. We've painted our kitchen white, with deep red trim. This room was completed in 2003.
In 2002,the dining room walls were painted using milk paint. The colors used were one part Pumpkin mixed with 9 parts Snow White above the chair rail. Slate Blue was used below the chair rail.
The wood trim and doors in the room have been painted to look like oak, another period faux finish. The work was done by the same artists who did the stenciling in the parlor and the faux marbling on the two mantles.
This image shows the doors of the dining room "press," or built in cupboard where china, silver, and table linens would have been stored. See Window Treatments page for images of this room with its curtains in place.
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