Tabla de contenidos para Finding Home 2022 en Old House Journal

working on your own house comes with many rewards, not the least of which is saving money, as long as the work is done well. Being hands-on also lets you proceed at your own pace and often allows more attention to finer details than a contractor can afford to take. It’s easier than ever to find good tutorials for repairs—in specialty books and magazines, on YouTube, and even through workshops at bigbox stores. • Painting, hanging simple wallpaper, and tackling minor problems in wood floors are among the most common DIY jobs. So is deep-cleaning, which often removes the need for replacement! Work on your house and you’ll know it better.…

If you answered yes to any of the above, proceed with caution or take the fixture to a professional, especially if the wiring is old and frayed. A good repair shop will be able to tell whether the wiring is safe. If it’s not, they’ll replace it with modern wiring (options include cording that looks vintage). The shop can safely remove grease and dirt without damage to the patina, original lacquer, or coloration. They’ll know, for instance, whether arms that are bent can be reshaped, where wiring can or cannot safely go, and how to source missing components. A pro has expertise in matching or replicating finishes. CLEANING Most lacquer-coated brass fixtures can be cleaned safely with mild soap and water. Start with a soft, dry cloth, then move up…

these are the rooms most often remodeled—often at great expense—but also the rooms most likely to be gutted and remodeled again by new owners. Partly that’s because appliances and surfaces get so much wear and tear. But it’s also true that kitchens and baths date themselves very quickly. If you’ve looked at lots of old houses, you know what that’s all about. • It’s unlikely that any of us truly wants to re-create, let alone cook and clean up in, a pre-electric kitchen. So that means some compromise. One design approach is “the scenario,” a plausible backstory that suggests the original kitchen or bath was nicely updated at a later date, whether the 1920s or the 1950s. That way you can create a room in the manner of a past…

Think Edwardian town house or fine hotel: cool, classical bathrooms remain in style. Leggy porcelain console sinks are often labeled “Belle Epoque,” a style reference to that “beautiful era” spanning from the late Victorian art movements until the start of the First World War. Design reflected the optimism, prosperity, and scientific thinking in this time of England’s King Edward VII and France’s Art Nouveau—America’s Gilded Age. To this day, that era’s finer bathrooms are coveted and emulated. The master bath featured is a “retrofitted” design for a restored 1912 house in Victoria, British Columbia. Not everything is old-fashioned: a capacious glass-front showerbath, lined in white tile, is fitted opposite the tub. Having unfitted (not built-in) fixtures accomplishes two things. The sink and tub have the quality of freestanding furniture, in…

All but one window was broken and boarded up, the kitchen had no floorboards. Roof, wiring, and plumbing had to be replaced. It seemed the place was too far gone, but she felt compelled to step into its history. captain james secrest, 19 years of age, came home to the southern Indiana town of Gosport in 1848, having served in the Mexican War. He married his sweetheart, Louisa, and set to work making a cattle fortune. About ten years later, Secrest built a home that would reflect his hardwon prosperity—a brick I-house with Greek Revival details and a dramatic, two-storey portico. Edith Sarra came upon the house almost a century and a half later. A scholar of premodern Japanese literature, Edie had been hired to teach at Indiana University, just…

A California couple restored this 1925 cottage, bringing it to life with vintage furnishings and just the right touch of whimsy. The family includes two Scottish terriers; the dogs were a recurring theme in the 1920s–40s. Pastel Chinese rugs and Jazz Age colors are the backdrop to lighthearted rooms featuring Scottie bookends, fireplace andirons, and etchings. Even the cutouts on the window shutters tell us we’re visiting Scottie Cottage.…

Q “EVERY room in my house is painted white, and I'd like to use new paint colors … but where do I begin?” It’s easy to be intimidated by overwhelming possibilities. Cues are there, though. Context is first: note existing woodwork (fir, oak, mahogany?), brick or tile at the fire place, your pottery collection. Consider sightlines to other rooms. Age and style create context; you wouldn’t use a mid-century tangerine in a Victorian. Is the room dim or sunny; north-facing, or bathed in hot western light? The usual decorators’ advice to “start with the carpet” is not a bad approach. A favorite rug provides pre-selected options. It is easier to find a compatible paint color than it is to find a carpet after the paint is dry. Even after choosing…

maybe pantries are about longing. “Pantry—the crisp, even tidy, sound of the word conveys a sense of order. … Pantries harbor a nostalgic whiff of our domestic past,” writes Catherine Seiberling Pond in The Pantry: Its History and Modern Uses (Gibbs Smith). A pantry is not about the latest technology, but rather abundance and organiztion, grandmothers, and big old houses. Pantries are essentially support rooms off the kitchen—for storing food or dishes, food preparation, or cleanup. The early butt’ry or larder was an unheated storage place for foodstuffs. (It’s not named for butter, but rather a large, barrellike storage cask called a butt.) To keep out dirt and vermin, these rooms were behind closed doors. The Victorian period, roughly 1860 to 1910, was truly the era of the pantry. A…

Colors for body, trim, and accent? Put down that paint-color fan deck until you’ve first considered the architectural details, context (roof color, neighbors), and what mood you want. 1 Simple schemes for simple houses: two-color and monochromatic schemes can work well, if the color is well chosen and placement is done right. Consider off-whites and greyed hues. 2 context is critical Look at such givens as roof, foundation, and houses nearby; amount of light or shade; style and era. 3 PLACEMENT as important as hue. Highlighting with color breaks should organize and lend scale—not create a polka-dot effect. Color placement can make a house seem taller and narrower—or conversely, it can make it seem to hug the ground. 4 color BREAKDOWN Color consultant Robert Schweitzer says to consider five opportunities…

1. Warehouse Utility A classic suitable for outdoors, the 12" Carson pendant in spun aluminum has a convenient plug-in design and comes with an LED A19 filament bulb. Available in a dozen enamel colors and with a removable cage: $270–$310. Rejuvenation, rejuvenation.com 2. Farmhouse Light Quirky and petite, Nuvo Lighting’s mason-jar sconce conjures a canning jar. In several finishes and a choice of clear or frosted glass, the sconce is 8 ½" high x 4" wide with a 5 ½" extension: $13.99. nuvolighting.com 3. Flirty Skirt A big part of the charm of Barn Light Electric’s Seaside wall sconce is its frilled, fluted shade. In many, many colors, it comes in three sizes and can be fitted for incandescent or integrated LED. Also available as a post mount or pendant.…

“Once beautiful, the original floorboards in my 1895 Queen Anne house were a disaster! Covered in glue, burlap, paint— and cat poop—they cleaned up and now shine after months of hard work, most of it by me. ”BY GINA BELLOUS Perched on a spot overlooking Los Angeles harbor, the house I call The Queen had been vacant for three years. She was a rotten mess, but I fell in love with her anyway. As the nervous young agent opened the door, the first thing I noticed was a gaping hole in the floorboards. Suddenly a feral cat—one of many, I was to learn—came screeching down the stairs, claws out, and literally threw himself into the air as he rushed out the front door, knocking the agent to the floor. Every…

BENCH with a secret Leftover beadboard covers an HVAC return, providing seating and future mechanical access. By Alex & Wendy Santantonio When we were forced, reluctantly, to install a new HVAC return in an alcove under the beloved staircase in our 1908 Foursquare, we had to find a way to disguise the duct. Instead of covering the niche with wallboard, we built a storage bench as part of a secret compartment over the return. To finish it, we used a cache of old beadboard left in the attic by a previous owner. The beadboard scraps were of different sizes, pieces were split and broken, and most were full of nails. Each piece needed a new and exact measurement before nailing in place. Supply was limited, so we had to manage…

natural stone Marble, soapstone, slate; quartzite, sedimentary stones, exotic granites: stone comprises all colors, patterns, and prices. Many are durable and immune to heat (granite and marble need periodic sealing), but lighter marbles and limestones stain and etch in the presence of kitchen acids. Pay $70–$200/sq.ft. or more for desirable slabs, installed. quartz Quartz is an engineered stone made of 90 to 94% ground quartz, the rest polymer resins and pigments. Sold in slabs, it’s rock-hard. Quartz has a more uniform look than most natural stones, and may appear “chillier” than a stone like granite, which contains earth minerals. But quartz does not require sealing and is water- and stain-resistant. For materials + labor: $70–$100/sq.ft. solid surface With 1⁄3 acrylic polymers and 2⁄3 minerals and stone bits, solid-surface materials (e.g.,…

Farmhouse Style, Modern Farmhouse, Farmhouse Kitchen. It’s everywhere—but what is it, exactly? Some of those designs would never, in 200 years, have been found in a farmhouse. Unlikely as it sounds, today’s concept bounces between extremes better described as industrial and primitive! IN NAME AND INTENTION, the appeal of “farmhouse” must lie in its association with simplicity, function, nostalgia, such enduring materials as wood and stone, and an abundance of sunlight and fresh air. Farmhouse should be a budget-friendly look, too, embracing salvage and hand-me-downs. Yet we see Modern Farmhouse looks that could have been created only by an interior designer with a millionaire client. Anyone who has an actual rural (or once-rural) house, or even an old cottage, might prefer to start with good historical models: see hints at…

MID-CENTURY BREEZE BLOCKS The popularity of ornamental concrete blocks as a residential screen or fence soared in the 1950s and ’60s, especially in Sunbelt areas from Fort Lauderdale to Los Angeles. Palm Springs, California, is the epicenter of appreciation, owing to the city’s preservation ethic and the appearance here of perhaps 40 different designs. In the desert, the arc of the sun across the sky causes an everchanging, decorative shadow pattern on walkway, patio, or pool. From a practical standpoint, blocks create an effective privacy screen while allowing breezes to pass through. Several masonry suppliers offer stock or custom patterns. FOR TODAY’S MAKERS, SEE PAGE 95. THE PICKET FENCE Pickets or pales attached to horizontal rails, fastened in turn to structural posts, have endless variants. Pickets may be square stock…

COLOR CUES p. 10 KITCHEN DESIGNER Sheila Mayden Interiors, Seattle: sheilamaydeninteriors.com PAINT Chinaberry #1351 Benjamin Moore benjaminmoore.com STOVE 36" ‘Bussy’ Matte Black, brass Lacanche lacanche.com RANGE HOOD Zephyr zephyronline.com SINK Shaws Original Lancaster single-bowl apron front fireclay sink Rohl rohlhome.com FAUCET Perrin & Rowe perrin androwe.com, houseofrohl.com COUNTERS “carbon grey” granite in a honed finish CHANDELIERS ‘Bagatelle’ 3-light, 11" mini-pendant crystal Schonbek schonbek.com WALLPAPER re-creation of a woodblock-printed cloth ca. 1790 Braquenie ‘Choiseul’ in Rose BP303003 Pierre Frey pierrefrey.com STAINED GLASS Unique Art Glass uniqueartglass.com Also See: KITCHEN CABINETS Crown Point Cabinetry crownpoint.com Period styles from Shaker to Arts & Crafts Kennebec Co. kennebeccompany.com Handcrafted abinets for period homes INSPECTION p. 24 Tom Corbett, Tomacor, Portland, OR: Semi-retired, but valuable resources at tomacor.com/resources • Also see: homeinspector.org info on homebuying…