Columbusguy, I will try to remember to take a pic and post it when we close on the house next week. The birds match the turquoise toilet, tub, and sink very nicely. The birds may be allowed to stay, at least for a while, but the turquoise toilet is frightening. Wondering about glazing the tub... As for my mom, you are right it is my house and ultimately I will make the decisions. Problem is, I need her help with things like painting and landscaping. Or at least I need her to watch my two little ones so I can do those things. The infant isn't great an entertaining herself and the toddler gets into EVERYTHING. My mom actually tried to talk me into a ranch, but like you, I have NO interest. I love old houses with all their quirks and just want to make sure I'm not doing this poor old place a disservice. It's really helpful for me to be able to send my mom things like posts from this forum to back up what I'm telling her. Mothers always think they know better than their daughters, no matter that the daughters have daughters of their own. :)

Okay here is a pic which may help. (Ignore the clutter of the table and stools there -- that was temporary.) Many months ago I posted a thread here about putting rock veneer here, a plan which was discouraged by y'all. Still struggling with this area and want to do an artistic and striking feature. I've considered quite a few things -- rock, wallpaper, wood paneling. But in the end, it must be EASY as my skills are limited, so I was thinking a paint treatment would work. some research told me that a faux VP wouldn't work because I'd have to do too many coats to get it smooth. The paint has an orange peel texture already in it. I know that I want the treatment to include the back of my counter on the left of my picture (yes where people sit) and continue it on to the adjacent wall to the right horizontally. I would extend the moulding straight across almost like a chair rail, or put a tile or other decorative strip there. That wall (and you can't see the whole thing in the pic; think its about 12 feet?) is where my entertainment/family room area is and where the tv will go. Am planning to purchase a new tv and two low stands (one for the tv and one for the computer); and probably bookshelves there too. I will have art or something above on the wall. (My current thinking is padded and fabric tile squares, for acoustical purposes). This post was edited by Violet.West on Fri, May 9, 14 at 11:22

This is in response to the suggestion of taking the plaster walls out in order to insulate. I offer the thought/question for discussion as much as expert responses but with a strong bias toward leaving the plaster intact because drywall is inferior. (Just compare the cost of new drywall to new plaster if nothing else.) At a time when my ex-husband was teaching college classes in thermo-dynamics and consulting for a contractor who built super-insulated, passive solar houses that could function without furnaces in cold climates (by way of expert references,) what I retained from some conversations was that the best insulation is dead air. e.g. when the pink stuff isn't fluffy, the trapped air is pushed out and insulation value lost. So I have thick plaster over wood lath interior walls and thick stucco outer walls in a 1913 house in a very cold climate (Central Minnesota, planting zone 3.) Whatever insulation was ever in the walls is most likely packed down in the bottom of the stud bays. The outside walls are cold to the touch in the winter and cool the rest of the time. On the other hand, it takes at least 24 hours for the house to lose its heat/cold - change interior air temp - to match the outside temp, even with some windows open. With the thermostat set at 65 during the day and going to 55 at 9 p.m. (very comfortable for me,) the radiators heat up in the morning and stay cold the rest of the day as long as the outside temps are +0. In short, I vote to keep the plaster and don't worry about wall insulation in a mild climate.

It's a knockdown texture. You can search youtube for some videos on how to make repairs that blend in, but this is a very hard thing to do unless you are a experienced pro at doing this type of texture.