Hanging artwork can be the hardest part of a renovation.

When I last blogged about the north wall of the great room (the former altar area), it looked like this:

The cabinetry, shelving and stereo speakers were installed, but a big blank space was left to the right of the fireplace. I planned a massive family photo display.

First I had to choose the right photos (as anyone who takes a lot of family photos knows, this is no easy task, not to mention finding them). Along with wedding photos and graduation mugshots, I mixed in a lot of meaningful travel photos so the resulting combination looked more like art and less like studio shots. Then I figured out how to size them so the whole display of 18 images looks like a single unit. After determining I wanted them all to be canvas-wrapped, I sourced a vendor. Then I had to pay for them (it was a lot). And then they had to be hung (Dad was roped into that project, handing each image exactly two inches away from the others, and believe me, it was tricky, but he prevailed). Each step took time and focus, and the stakes were high–these were treasured family photos to be hung in a highly visible area.

I succeeded, just in time for the open house last fall.

I also set framed photos on the countertop at the bottom (not shown here). (That cross on the upper right shelf, by the way, is original to the church, another tip of the hat to the former while featuring what’s new.)

Speaking of, here are before and after photos of the Hall of History, the hallway between the great room and our master suite. The hall is another photo gallery where we hung photos of the church throughout history and our ancestors.

Before

After

This space turned out spectacularly. The light fixtures all hung elsewhere in the church when we acquired it and were moved here, the wood flooring (underneath old dirty carpeting) is original to the building and now protected with an old-fashioned braided rug, and there is lots of room to hang more photos as I get my act together. All the photographs in the hallway are framed in black to tie them together, but they are hung more randomly than the canvas-wrap display in the great room. The hallway just makes one want to linger–in a hallway!

Maybe my approach to themed family photo display inspires you to do something with all those family photos you have on your phone, that you own, in a box, with a fox … but I digress. Surround yourself with pictures of your loved ones if you can’t surround yourself with your actual loved ones.  Stay well, my dear readers.

That the little Methodist church didn’t have stained glass windows was a plus for us in renovating it into our house.

Incorporating such obviously religious architecture into a private home is tricky.

Here’s a church conversion that did it well.

I found this on Houzz under the banner “the best church conversions.” Located in Chicago’s Little Italy neighborhood, this former Methodist church, built in 1901, is described as a “dream project for a young couple who wanted an open, light-soaked home in which to raise their three children.”

Stained glass has been around for a thousand years, and it is typically featured in the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. It has the benefit of allowing light without tempting parishioners with outside distractions during services. The most elaborate stained glass windows in churches tell stories, such as the stations of the cross or of saints.

The windows in our church were not stained glass, but they were clouded glass to keep worshippers’ attention within. We swapped that out for clear glass. The original transom windows were etched glass. A kind of decorative glass, etched glass is the result of a series of small cuts made to the glass, by acidic, caustic or abrasive substances, after the glass has been manufactured. The cuts normally appear white against the glass and can be made into patterns or images.

One of our transom windows has a small crack, but we resolved that by installing storm windows.

At some point in the reconstruction process, Tyler hit upon a way to incorporate stained glass into our design—as interior windows on the balcony. All the stained glass windows we found in antique stores were too gold or red for our color scheme until we found these leaded glass windows. They were the perfect “stained” glass without stain.

One of these windows overlooks the tub. It’s not as dramatic as the Chicago church conversion, but it suits our aesthetic.