Schoolhouse Converted into Private Home with Amazing Home Decoration Ideas

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  • Home
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Hallway Renewal

The Beginning

School hallway with florescent lights

In the Beginning...

There was a lot that needed attention. The school hallways were dimly lit by 48 outdated surface-mounted fluorescent fixtures, many of which were damaged or not working at all. The terrazzo floors hadn't been polished in decades and were worn dull by foot traffic over the years. Tired, mismatched bulletin boards were screwed to walls along the hallway, presumably one for each grade. Doors were tired and the paint everywhere was absolutely depressing. Overall, it was a sad sight.


We saw lots of potential.


There are seven alcoves along the school hallway, each one with shelving and coat hooks for the  students....no lockers. These alcoves could become areas to feature some collectibles and artwork. Great.


We also had the original blueprints for the school, so we knew the locations of the Principal's Office, the Library, Teachers Lounge and classrooms. This worked in our favour, providing an opportunity to decorate by theme.


The first projects would be to refurbish the terrazzo floors and modernize the hallway lighting.

men grinding a terrazzo floor

Grinding Terrazzo

Techstone Canada of Ottawa was contracted to repair & restore the school's original terrazzo floors.  It took several stages of diamond disk grinding with a 400 pound planetary grinding machine, starting with 30 grit and working up to finer grits until the desired effect was achieved.

a terrazzo floors in schoolhouse

Grinding Terrazzo

It took almost 6 weeks to complete the work at a cost of $16,000.

Compare that to installing terrazzo floors in the school today at a cost of well over $150,000. 

man painting a school hallway

Hall Painting Took 6 Weeks

 The main hallway is about 160 feet long by 10 feet wide. Priming and painting of walls and trim began as soon as the terrazzo work was completed.
This photo shows painting underway and original fluorescent lighting being replaced with LED pot lights.

Painting took 6 weeks. Cost $15,000.

a shiny terrazzo floor

Adding Colour

 After the walls were painted white, yellow was used as the accent colour. All hall door frames were painted black as were the 3 sets of school entrance doors.

old shelf and coat hooks in schoolhouse

Alcoves 2019

Each of the seven alcoves along the hallway contained old wooden shelves with coat hooks for the students. 

Shelving was removed from three of the alcoves to provide larger display wall space. Today, all of the alcoves are used to hold & showcase our personal treasures and memories.

picture above old schoolhouse shelf in hallway

Alcoves

 The alcove pictured above, with the name stickers, is immediately inside the double-door entrance at the east end of the school. We restored the shelf & replaced hooks so that we could use the area to display some of the original school Year Books with old school photos. 

The hats and rain slickers were added for effect.

Alcove 2022

We had brass plates made to commemorate some of the original name tags and maintained coat hooks in one of the alcoves.

We have had visitors who recognized and recalled some of those names from when they attended the school as a student themselves!

Alcoves

This particular alcove holds part of our collection of Mexican Catrinas along with photos taken in the Village of Ajijic Mexico. 

 Catrina has come to symbolize El Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) and the Mexican willingness to laugh at death itself.

A set of Texas Longhorns acquired at M.L. Leddy's in the Stockyards, Fort Worth Texas, hangs above the Catrinas.

broken shelves in a room

Hallway Coatroom

 A paper supply room opening onto the hallway, near the east entrance,  was renovated into a walk-in coat closet. 

We never had enough coat closet space until now!

Where do you hang your hat?

broken shelves in a room

Hallway Coatroom

Shelving was torn out; walls repaired and painted; and Black & White porcelain floor tiles installed. This conversion took a week.

a walk in coat closet with black and white tile floor

Hallway Coatroom

View through the opened doorway.

The door was varnished and remains in place. 

coats hanging in coat closet

Hallway Coatroom

There are hat & glove cubbyholes, boot trays and more rack space than you need. The room  measures 8'6" x 12'.

Future plans call for strategic installation of cedar panels.

Renovating took 2 weeks. Cost $3,500

A sign over doorway

Signs of Things to Come

In 1964, it was not intended for the gymnasium to be completed for the school opening. Instead, it was to be used as a general play area and was labelled "Playroom" on the plans.

We collaborated with RoomTagz in the USA to produce custom signs which would identify the school rooms as they were labelled on the original archetictual drawings. Appropriately, the Main Loft is our Playroom.

Picture of old school bus and Volkswagen bus

Artwork & Decor

There is a lot of photography and eclectic prints to add flavour and interest along the hall and we will add a page devoted to the artwork at a later date. 

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There's more...

With a name like the Old Volks Home, you might expect to see some VW's. Let's take a look.

The Buggy Corral...

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