Burgman Building Restoration : It's in the details, "The Garland Parlor"

As everyone knows, old house restoration is a process, often incremental and often a compromise and stop gap measure , however it doesn't have to be an obvious one.

Such is the case in  the "Garland Parlor". Originally there was a Pot bellied stove in that room as it was somewhat centrally located to four rooms . Of course as it was available, the Burgman's updated to a more modern system. However the old stove pipe hole was still there and while the obvious repair would be to remove it and drywall it, I did not want to rule out the possibility of eventually installing a small pot belly stove in that location, so for now what to do (especially with a tour coming up).

I had a small cover but it was slightly smaller than it should be to complete cover the offending pipe but it would work. The key was to make it seamless and mot have it stand out too much as we want the focus to be on the fresco work in the room. So while we were repainting the lower part of the wall its original color we also painted the pipe surround .

We decided to paint the cover the same color but the question was what to do with the center which normally has an ad or a design in it?  As luck would have it I had an old periodical cover from the period that was in ratty condition except for part of the artwork.

First we make  blank piece of light weight art board  which we attached with a spray adhesive. This acts as a base for the artwork. A little photography mount adhesive on the back and then it is mounted.

So back on the wall again it serves its purpose...problem solved until I find that stove!