Well, as in all remodels, there are things that you can't wait to get rid of and other things that captivate your design spirit. This old house is full of both! First let's start with the things that are absolutely stunning about this 100 year old beauty.
These stained glass windows surrounded by a dark walnut woodwork are absolutely exquisite! They are going to give the living space character, bring in much needed light. Now to figure out how to get new storm and screens on these babies without dropping a fortune!
And check out these hardwood floors. 100 year old red oak with the most beautiful walnut tone. Although they have seen lots of wear over the years, the wood is still in great shape and is just begging for a new coat of stain and poly.
But not all features of this old girl are as charming. I call these design-era FAILS. From 40 year old dirty carpet to plastic chandeliers, these doozies have to go! But there are a few items in the house that have so much character, it pains me to get rid of them, but they simply aren't practical. Take the awesome print on this laminate type flooring. Straight out of the late 50's early 60s. And these retro lights. While they look cool, the fluorescent light is painful and every last light in the house has a pull chain! Okay, I'm done with the chatter. I'm going to get to work on that electrical. I have some new fixtures in mind that I'm super excited about. Check the inspiration board for details.
Oh Molly, my grandma had those kind of round uncovered flourescent lights ... how ugly! Your home looks beautiful and you are genius for trying to preserve some of the things that made you love the house in the first place. I am envious of your walnut floors .... I LOVE THAT but I just thought the dogs would wreak havoc on the dark color. I'm going to follow your blog, thanks for putting a link up! It's great!!! I look forward to seeing the progress. -Denyse
ReplyDeleteI guess those lights are a bit scary and old . That linoleum is not kinda worn . What a combo of stuff .
ReplyDeleteI am excited that you are taking this journey with me! Denyse, the floors in my current home are ebony stained. What I find ironic is that when I purchased my current home the floors were light oak. I sanded them and stained them 3x to get them to the ebony color. They have been a disaster to care for since day one! Now, I'm working on a project where I would likely prefer the light wood, but I have the naturally dark wood to work with. Oh well! I've learned to just go with it! The one trick to floors is that if you put on a matte finish (like my ebony floors) they show everything. The glossier the top coat the easier it is to hide dog hair and dust. Even though I prefer the matte look, I will go with a gloss finish for this project as it will save hours of time and effort in keeping the floors clean.
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