— Filed under Dining Room, Living Room, Projects —

A (mostly) Guiltless Decision

Most of the work we’re taking on is undoing past renovations done in the 60s, 70s, and 80s. The thought of changing any original feature of the house fills me guilt. That happens to other old house owners, right?? I guess that’s a good thing though, because it keeps us in check and prevents us from removing the home’s history and character.

But one thing I wanted to change was the size of the doorway between the dining room and living room. It was previously a tiny off-center doorway, and the original door was long gone. The small doorway was once appropriate since the living room used to be a bedroom that needed to be closed off for privacy.

beforeafterlivingroom

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— Filed under Dining Room, History, Living Room —

Beneath These Walls

We discovered a few exciting treasures when we pulled down the particleboard paneling in the front rooms. The transom windows were a complete surprise although they really shouldn’t have been since they are common to old farmhouses around here. They were covered from the inside with paneling and from the outside with vinyl siding, and unfortunately the glass had been removed. I love old glass, but sadly this house didn’t come with any…

transom

Original transom frame above a not-so-original door.

Another lovely uncovering was the brick chimney that can be seen from both the living room and the dining room. Unlike the rear chimney, this central chimney was taken down from the roof long ago. It peaks out a bit from some removed plaster in one of the bedrooms upstairs, and that’s the only reason we knew we’d find it downstairs. This chimney is now exposed from the living and dining room, partially exposed in the guest bedroom, and under some old drywall in the main bedroom. Add that to the rear chimney that’s in the kitchen and dressing room, and that’s a lot of gorgeous old brick on display! Which is good. Because it’s my favourite.Continue Reading »

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