Monday, July 18, 2011

Inspiration

It's been quite a while now, so I can't remember for sure if I saw the Edgewater Pad BEFORE I bought my house, or shortly after, but this Chicago "Two Flat" became the inspiration for my home. Nothing really fancy, mainly just white trim, wood floors, and neutral colours on the walls.





My house has similar mouldings, and although my floors won't be nearly as nice, I'm sure I can get my house to look just as nice.

Along the way, I've also been collecting photos of early 1920's kitchens, built-ins, and other fun stuff. I have most of those saved on my computer, but I might bring out some of those photos as needed.

The house has lost a bunch of it's character through the years of poor renovations, and quick repairs, so one of the things that I'm getting for the house are some beautiful 1920's light fixtures, antique door knobs + backplates, and ball-tip hinges for the doors.

Here is one of the fixtures that I rewired and hung in the dining room:


I have several other fixtures waiting to be rewired and installed (some need replacement parts).

And here are the knobs and backplates I've chosen. The original backplates (see door below) were very plain, and I had a very hard time finding matched sets of these, so I decided to get some fancier ones which will complement the light fixtures.



I'm currently trying to decide what to do about the doors. I have only 3 remaining original doors, and they are very nicely made 6 (flat) panel doors. Sadly, these were butchered and ruined through the addition of excessively large holes for deadbolts. The house was used as a boarding house for several years. This is how they now look:


Note that the entire bottom to the left is completely broken and splintered where the door appears to have been ripped off it's hinges. One of the other two has one of the panels broken through near the handle. They also have dozens of coats of paint on them. Ideally I'd need a minimum of 7 main interior doors, and I can't afford custom 6 panel doors. I do, however, want 5 panel doors. I'd prefer wooden ones, stained and varnished, but I may be forced to get hollow core moulded doors in a paint grade due to cost.

More soon.

1 comment:

  1. I know of an Amish man in Wisconsin whom can replicate your 5 or 6 panel doors for you!
    He had done amazing work for us and I highly recommend him.

    If you are interested, you can contact him for a price to see if its worth a drive to pick them up. He also does custom cabinetry, molding etc.

    I am enjoying your blog.
    we are in the process of restoring an 1875 victorian, I know the sweat and tears along with the love you are putting into your home!

    Sincerely, Miss Dolly

    ReplyDelete