Show us your vintage home!

[dhermann1]

"Wonderful SPAM!"

This is absolutely the coolest thing ever.
We have matching cats, BTW.

Yeah, I we just saw Spamalot on Broadway on July 4th.

 

[Big Man]

Restoration project ...

Have you ever started one of those projects where, at the first stroke of the brush or hammer or saw you said "what in the heck am I doing?" Well, this is one of those projects.

The fireplace mantel in the dinning room of my old house has, in my lifetime (53 years) always been painted. From the earliest I remember it was painted white, then sometime in the late 1960's, one of my aunts painted the inside of the house and changed it to the color you see in the first picture below. With the paint being old, I noticed where it had started to crack. so, being the inquisitive person I am, I chipped off the crack only to discover a beautiful dark oak stained wood below. I decided to strip off the old paint and refinish the fireplace mantel to its original oak finish.

This is what it looks like after a full day of working.

This is a close up of the wood under the old paint. It's hard to see in this photo, but the upright post in the foreground has all the finish (the old varnish) rubbed off where (apparently) someone had a habit of holding on to the post as they stood by the fireplace. It doesn't show in the photo, but there is a dark ring on the flat portion of the mantel where it looks as if there was a glass or cup that was habitually placed there. I can picture my grandfather or grandmother standing there, holding on to that post, and drinking their coffee. The thing that makes this interesting is that these marks have been covered by several layers of paint for well over 50 years - if not way more. My Dad, who is 84 years old, said he couldn't remember the mantel being anything other than painted, so who knows how long ago its been since it was first painted over.

I have a lot of work to do before I can finish this project, but I believe it will be well worth the effort once completed. If anyone is interested, I'll try to keep you updated on the progress of this project.

 

[MaryDeluxe]

Yes, BigMan I have had one of those projects! lol But those projects are always well worth it as yours is going to be too! That will look AMAZING when you are done and I can't wait to see the finished pictures! Good Luck!

 

[Miss Neecerie]

hahahah Big Man!

Welcome to my universe!

I oh so unwisely thought...wow..this built in would look lovely in its natural wood......oh yes...




Here is the top half of it now

and the bottom half...

 

[Forgotten Man]

Isn't it such a mess to do such projects? But, the end result will be worth the mess, time and hard work.

Keep it up!

R=

 

[dhermann1]

This is why it's such a sin to paint fine woodwork like that. Eventually somebody is going to have to endure the hell of stripping it all off. But it will be so gorgeous when you're done. Good luck with both projects.

 

[Miss Neecerie]

What I need to do...is just lure another hardworking guest over....and in exchange for sleeping in the guest bed...they get to work!


(note: the bottom part of the built in, is a trundle twin bed, my guest room, as it were)

 

[Big Man]

What I need to do...is just lure another hardworking guest over....and in exchange for sleeping in the guest bed...they get to work!


(note: the bottom part of the built in, is a trundle twin bed, my guest room, as it were)

And if you use a chemical paint stripper those fumes will help them get a really sound sleep ...

 

[Miss Neecerie]

And if you use a chemical paint stripper those fumes will help them get a really sound sleep ...

I use the orange goo...its not -too- bad.... cant just sand it because under the top two layers...undoubtedly its lead based


but thankfully the bed is free rolling..once it clears the tin lined box it is in..they can sleep across the room

 

[Big Man]

This is why it's such a sin to paint fine woodwork like that. Eventually somebody is going to have to endure the hell of stripping it all off. But it will be so gorgeous when you're done. Good luck with both projects.

I'd like to know why the old mantel was painted over in the first place. But, alas, there's no one left to ask. I would suspect that my grandmother (or possibly my grandfather if it was prior to 1932) did so to "brighten up" the room. The dark stained wood definitely has a 1900 - 1910's look about it, so I guess I could see how painting it could "modernize" the look of the room.

while working on the project I discovered where the walls had been painted a green color. The dark stained oak with a medium to dark green probabally looked "dated" in the late 1920's or early 1930's.

I guess I'll never know.

 

[dhermann1]

I call that Domestic Archaeology.

 

[Big Man]

I call that Domestic Archaeology.

I like that term. I look at old buildings and houses and always wonder "what was it like back then." I know a lot about the old family homeplace because I grew up in it and had the curiosity to ask questions. However, the older I get the more questions I have. Sadly, no one is left to answer. I have become the "expert" on the old home.

One interesting thing about "domestic archaeology" concerning my old house. I know when the electricity was installed (my grandfather and his brother-in-law put it in). I have the first power bill (thankfully they saved the first year's worth of bills) dated May, 1930. By removing the old switch plate covers and a "patch" where a hole was cut in a wall, I can tell the paint color in (at least) 1930.

On another project I did last year, I uncovered some work that I know was done around 1917 to 1920. Again, I found the "original" paint color to that room.

One thing for sure, I'll never run out of something to do ...

 

[dhermann1]

Swaybacks

The first thing I look at when I see an old house is the roof line. A double sway back immediately tells you that something was added on. Different styles of window frames can also be a tipoff. Also, the way additions are connected to the original house can give you an idea of how long after the original construction they were built. Deconstructing an old house in my mind is one of my favorite pastimes when going through an old area.

 

[ranchnman]

I think my dream home would be a 1900 style plantation style house somewhere in the deep south. to me, it dont get much better than that!

 

[dhermann1]

For me it would be a 1820's vintage Greek Revival, with BIG columns, somewhere in Upstate New York.

 

[Pink Dahlia]

The kitchen is done!

This is probably the most vintage looking section.

But here's my vintage bread box, spoon rest and salt and pepper shakers:

The step stool:

 

[Mr_Misanthropy]

Dahlia! Your kitchen looks great! The colors really compliment each other, and that blue and white tile really sets a cool mood in the room. Great job!

 

[MaryDeluxe]

Very cute Pinky! I love the color of your cabinets...did you paint them?

 

[Pink Dahlia]

Thanks Mr!

And Mary yes I did paint them. What a pain in the BUTT!

 

[dhermann1]

That's amazing. I just painted the walls of my kitchen the same cream color (Benjamin Moore "Milky Way), with red trim. That's a FABULOUS job. You can come finish the details of my place when you're done. My workmanship is not in the same league as yours. Congrats!