"Dark reds, creams, deep greens, rich wallpapers, gold leaf in main rooms, oak wood paneling with medium to dark stains, lots of wood veneer, wood mantels with elaborately carved reliefs, dark red carpets, extravagant crown molding, molding details on the ceilings, baseboards, door and window trim, layers of window curtains in rich fabrics, chandeliers&. I really like this red and gold floral pattern wallpaper with the bird. It would pair beautifully with that dark wood stain." Esther Larson is back. I still don`t like her very much, but I also don`t dislike her anymore. She might be a little condescending and self-important still, but she can at least provide meaningful feedback with definitive opinions. Frankly, I invited her over today to con her into designing the interior of this house for me. I don`t have a professional eye for these sorts of details despite my research, and I think she is honestly enjoying herself.

　　Stomp&. Stomp&. Squeak&.

　　We have officially achieved blank slate status in the interior of the house, and the collection of antique items I sent to Mrs. Larson`s restoration professional friends have come back and sat in storage for a good long while at this point. Jay is going to help me move those pieces back in once I finish making the walls look pretty and less blank. Yes, we have entered the "put it all back together" stage of this restoration project. After talking with Mrs. Larson, I have plans to meet with a furniture builder about creating some custom pieces per the blueprint designs that Jay found and Mrs. Larson`s style recommendations.

　　"The foyer and grand staircase should be elaborately paneled with gaudily detailed banisters and railings. The foyer was the first impression of the home, wealth, and status of the Victorian elite, so it was given the royal treatment in terms of how it was decorated. Small tables with giant floral arrangements would be set up against the foyer walls, one table might hold a fancy bowl for collecting calling cards from guests, and the odd lavish painting might hang above the tables depending on the extensiveness of the oak paneling," Mrs. Larson rambles, scratching notes down on her paper while she thinks. "Soward`s mansion has a small receiving room nook in this corner of the foyer that leads into this great drawing room or main parlor right off the foyer. Historically, both the receiving area and drawing room would be spared no expense in an effort to give that glowing first impression to visitors. The receiving area would be equipped with cushioned seating, maybe a nice table, lavish lamps, paintings to look at, a tall, standing grandfather clock? And then the drawing room would be expensively furnished with cushioned seating, a coffee table, lamps, a piano- think of it as the formal living room of the house. And, of course, these details that we are discussing today would be immaculate and of the highest quality in these areas."

　　I nod quietly when Mrs. Larson requires my acknowledgement. Mostly I am letting her ramble and take notes while I struggle to focus on her musings. I have to admit that she is amazingly knowledgeable about all of these details, so I`m glad Jay suggested that I bring her back in for this stage of the project.

　　"The formal dining hall is the other room that would be treated with the utmost care when being designed as it is the other main room that guests would spend their time in. You`ll see that the space is connected to the drawing room, not an uncommon design, and it is quite large. That is so the room can fit at least one massive table that would have easily seated twenty or more guests! The table would most likely be mahogany or oak, and the master of the house would sit at the head of the table while the mistress would sit among the guests to help entertain them. I can`t remember. Was there a table in this room when we went through all the furniture?"

　　"I think the table was vandalized beyond repair. The chairs too," I say after some reflection.

　　Creak&. Sigh&.

　　"It`s a pity. I wonder how many people the original table sat."

　　I shrug without an answer for her, and Mrs. Larson moves on to the next room. "Ah! This is an interesting room. This would be called a serving pantry, which, it`s basically a really fancy pantry, but it functions as a midpoint between the dining room and the kitchen. The kitchen staff might bring the food here for the serving staff to plate up and load onto trays or serving trolleys before moving the food into the dining hall. This room wouldn`t have been decorated quite so elaborately, but the shelving, cabinetry, and countertops would have been nice in case a guest wandered in accidentally. And then, through here&. Yes, the kitchen. Now I understand that you haven`t remodeled the kitchen at all?"Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author`s consent. Report any sightings.

　　"That`s right. I`ve needed it to be functional as a kitchen while the rest of the house was being torn apart and put back together," I say dryly.

　　Shudder&. Creak&.

　　"Hm. And back here you have-"

　　"Ah! That`s just the old chapel," I say quickly in an effort to redirect her. "It`s the space I`ve been living out of, so it`s not ready to be decorated or anything. I`ll have to move out before tearing that room apart."

　　"I`d love to see it, even if-"

　　"Maybe next time?" She frowns, and I feel a little rude for cutting her off twice in rapid succession like that. In truth, I`m a little confused about my response to her harmless curiosity, but it can`t be helped now. She seems disappointed regardless.

　　Lottie&. Oh, Lottie&. Sigh&.

　　"Well, on this other end of the kitchen is where the house servants would have eaten their meals, and then through here&. Ah. The bathroom. I`m guessing that this door& yes. This door exits into the foyer so guests could access the facilities without crossing into the servants` areas."

　　"I see."

　　"Yes. And then over here we`ll find&. I`m guessing that this room was a study. It`s smaller, but it would have been&. No. No, no, I`m sorry. The master`s study will be a part of his apartment of rooms on the second floor. This room would have been a second parlor where the ladies gathered after dinner, and this room next to it is designed as the billiards room where the gentlemen would have gathered and smoked. See how the room opens to the front porch? That`s to vent out the smell of tobacco. Now, the billiards room would have been designed like a really nice man cave with the male guests in mind. Obviously it would house a billiards table, but it would have some seating and perhaps a shelf of books, a cigar display case, lamps, tables, etcetera. The parlor next door would be a less formal sitting area designed with the women and the house family in mind- kind of like an informal living room, if that makes any sense?"

　　All done&. Lottie&. Sigh&.

　　"Kind of, sure. Well, Mrs. Larson, you`ve given me a lot of great information about this first floor. It sounds like I`m going to need a lot of new furniture. Do you have any recommendations on where to find some?"

　　She grins and begins an eager dig through the purse hanging from her shoulder, procuring a small accordion file full of what looks like business cards from my perspective. "I know so, so many places you could look." I gesture for her to follow me back into the kitchen and specifically to the small table and mismatched chairs in what was apparently the servants` dining room for her to use while she flips through her file of cards and scribbles down the info of various shops and flea markets on her clipboard. I keep quiet until my patience is rewarded with a satisfied smirk, and Mrs. Larson removes the stack of papers with her referrals and notes on the house to hand them to me. "This should get you started."

　　"Thank you."

　　"You are welcome. Please let me know when you are ready to move to the upstairs floors. I would love to help there as well."

　　"Certainly. I`ll let you know. Thank you."

　　"Until next time, Mrs. Evered."

　　"Mrs. Larson," I return the farewell and rise to my feet to escort her to the front door.

　　She leaves and I find myself back at the small table, staring blankly at Mrs. Larson`s notes. It`s odd how I never bothered to identify the functions of these rooms earlier. Even the obvious ones, I just glossed over that part of the exploration process and jumped straight into demolition after taking a few pictures. I suppose Jay and I did that walk-through right after I bought the house when we speculated on the rooms` functions, but it was mostly to comment on what work needed to get done, and neither of us were terribly fussed about sussing out the actual function of each room when we kept finding indications of wood rot and warped plaster walls.

　　I am finding the "putting it back together" process much more complicated than the gutting process that mostly just involved a lot of manual labor. Comparatively, making the house look pretty and authentic to its original era is going to require a lot more brain power.

　　And I just can`t seem to concentrate long enough!

　　Sigh&. Oh, Lottie&.