Here’s a fun one for a Friday: As an owner of an old house… did you take the tried and true advice to “listen to what your house says it wants” before making updates or remodels?
- If so: What did your house tell you — and how did that affect your plans?
- Flip side: Did you not take the time to listen to your house… and make a rash decision you later regretted?
It’s pretty clear what the fabulous evaxebra’s old apartment was telling her: Don’t you dare mess with the pink bathroom!
tammyCA says
Heck yeah, I listen to the house & not the stuff my husband & contractors say. I’m trying to keep the integrity of this little 1954 house..I’ve always loved vintage so that’s what sold me on the house 15 yrs ago. The kitchen was updated by previous owners in the ’80s/’90s & the cabinets are that weak, saggy cheap home depot stuff. So eventually I want to bring it back to more like the original which had that lovely scallopy decorative trim that these storybook post war homes have. They had put in a greenhouse window box which felt wrong to me & so I had that eventually taken out & replaced with a regular window that I can now get a breeze from at the sink & flutters the curtains, which I love. The house has original oak strip floors which I have always loved & like Pam said, these are timeless classic & ignore those tv shows & others who say paint them..ack! My house is painted in cheerful colors of the era which are my favorites anyway, yellow, pink, aqua, green..I will never put it in those grays, taupes that are everywhere now. It’s so awful to see charming storybook homes here (and L.A. is where they are prevalent) turn into dark gray stuccoed over boxes with all the charming features of trims, shutters, crisscross windows/doors stripped off & calling it “modern”! Neighborhoods are looking more & more hideous with the giant sized stuccoed monsters smattered in between the little houses!
pam kueber says
I’ll allow the h* word in this one because you are right!
J D Log says
My first house I painted over the original wood varnished doors and trim. With the second and final house for me it talked to me the moment I stepped in for the open house, although a friend pointed out the house to me a few times 10 years before i bought it. I thought it would be modern re gut inside but nope fairly original apart from mainly kitchen and other things which I knew I could bring back to original. I know we covered this in an older post but was still amazed when I sanded back the walls for repainting the colours I picked were the original colours for the house, although different rooms.
It is coming up to winter over here and my re varnished fireplace and built in bookshelves are so cosy when you come home from work at 3am in the morning. This house has taught me about the beauty of restoring wood.
Next project for holidays in May/June is landscaping the gardens(pretty bare being a renter for years). I have been listening and I think exposing the sandstone rock formations in the backyard is a start.
Scott G says
My house just laughs at me! 🙂
pam kueber says
tee hee
Scott says
I did a few things when I first moved into my house in 1999 but found every single thing I did so unrewarding I didn’t touch a thing for nearly ten years aside from addressing functional breakdown type situations.
Fortunately the house finally started speaking about five years ago. I’m sure it was speaking all along, I just didn’t know it. Funny, once you finally do hear your house you find out what it really wants is exactly what you really wanted all along. Houses are smart!
LuAnn says
I never thought of changing most houses I lived in. Did people really do that before a certain type of TV show came along? Except for fixing things that were broken or missing, I was too busy working and living to renovate a home. Just cooking, cleaning, going to work and raising a child with my husband seemed like more than enough to do. And I have lived in some doozies over the years, too. 😉
Now we’ve been in our 1957 ranch home for 15 years, mostly all we’ve done is try to undo a few poor design choices made by previous owners. (Thick plaster treatment that cuts you if you bump into it, anyone?) One bathroom was completely redone prior to us purchasing the home, and the other one partially redone. We do still have original soft gray tile with burgundy trim in the shower portion of the smaller bathroom. For some reason, the rest of the bathroom floor and walls were changed out for some white nineties tile with wide brown grout. We would love to restore the gray and burgundy bath and the larger bath, which I’m sure was originally pink.
I came very close to ripping out the kitchen cupboards and tile, as a result of watching too much of the aforementioned TV genre. Thank goodness I discovered Pam and Retro Renovation in time. Whatever we do in the future will be done with the history of the house in mind. 🙂
Mary Elizabeth says
We were lucky. We watched the home TV channel faithfully while our house was on the market, and we got lots of little tips on staging and so on. Then we moved, and our new cable company didn’t offer it on the basic service, only on the expensive “premium” package. So we’ve done all our home repairs and restorations without that bad influence. 🙂
As for renovating your house while raising kids, I know what you mean. While we were in that stage of our lives, we basically did things that were necessary, such as replacing worn, stained carpet and toilets that didn’t work, or repainting rooms that had become dingy. In addition, we did things that made our lives easier or our house more economical, such as replacing all the leaky windows, putting in a pellet stove to supplement the expensive electric heat, etc. But we enjoyed all the projects so much that we knew we wanted a home that was also a hobby, which is one of the reasons we chose a midcentury house.
Jenya says
I wish I had listened to my house a bit more when we first moved in, and am now grateful that budget considerations forced me to listen on other levels! We took off the 1980s wallpaper to find TWO layers of 1950s wallpaper (we kept at least one of them in the closet). I’ve learned to appreciate vintage wallpaper (thanks Retro Renovation!), but I don’t know whether or not I would have been able to live with the darker colors.
But we’re now renovating the bathroom and have purchased a pink sink and toilet to go in it (though the tub is white–will that look weird?) and are using gray and pink tile on the walls. We’ve purchased a beautiful Wedgewood Stove that dates from the 40s and seems somewhat streamline moderne in its lines. We’re keeping the oak strip flooring that is apparently so out of fashion (at least if I watch HGTV).
But we ripped out the original closet and built-in in our bedroom. Admittedly, the built-in was clearly a diy project even back in 1952 and the closet had a lot of wasted space. I wish, however, that I’d found a more period-sympathetic way to work with the space.
pam kueber says
You have oak flooring? That is CLASSIC. DO NOT WATCH HGTV!
Sounds fabulous! The white tub will be fine… Get a decorative shower curtain!
Jenya says
Actually, I now watch HGTV to fuel my sense of righteous indignation. 🙂 And to catch a glimpse of some fabulous vintage kitchens and bathrooms (though I talk back to the buyers when they complain about how ugly they are!).
Our house has oak floors through the whole upstairs–it’s under the 1980s vinyl in the kitchen, and it was under three layers of vinyl/linoleum in the bathroom. Unfortunately, it was rotted out in the bathroom, so we got rid of it.
Amy says
OMG – I refuse to watch it after seeing the one young “flip” couple re-face a rat-pack style MCM fireplace in granite tile – the house was in Palm Springs! (there should be a law against that!) I also think the show should set a better example when renovating (appropriately) and remove kitchen cabinets & counters whole if in good condition. They can be donated to Habitat re-store. I hated seeing them smash up perfectly goid cabinets!
pam kueber says
ugh ugh ugh why do those TV shows even let this run?
Mary Elizabeth says
I think you can make the white tub work if you use a pink and white shower curtain and window curtain (if you have a window), Here’s the one I bought when I had a pink tub and white toilet and sink. I got a matching window shade also.
http://www.countrycurtains.com/product/07015s737+ticking+stripes+shower+curtain.do?sortby=ourPicks&refType=&from=Search
And if you’re handy, they have the pink ticking stripe fabric (older dye lot) on sale for $2 a yard.
Jenya says
Thanks for the link. I love the ticking!
Mrs.M says
We have a 1979 split entry – purchased it just about two years ago! The thing was both delightful and a mess – it had originally been clad in stained cedar, which when we bought it had one (ONE) coat of paint on it, probably from the mid 1990s. Key emphasis on HAD a coat of paint – almost no paint remained on the front of the house, the siding punky and silvery grey from exposure to the elements.
Out went the faded and rather ill-chosen blue, in went a bold red, with white trim. In a neighborhood of beige houses, it certainly stands out!
Inside hasn’t gotten much attention from us, but got a lot of attention from the previous owners, who were foreclosed on. The drywall texture had been redone, the popcorn ceilings stripped, all of the original flooring replaced, and sadly, almost all of the original trim. It was badly replaced with the cheapest MDF trim you can get at Home Depot (and we know, since we can see the barcode tags still stapled on in places!). They never even painted it – just left it primed.
Some rooms had more attention paid – a little girls room with the remnants of blue paint has new pine trim throughout, but the original wall texture. Grandma’s room still has the original wall texture and popcorn ceiling.
There’s a half finished bath in the basement. The original rumpus room in the basement was divided in half, into a bedroom and a tiny den. The garage was remodeled into a bedroom and awkward shop.
Needless to say, in the past two years, we’ve done a lot of listening to this house. The outside we’ve put a lot of time into – took down two HUGE trees (7 cords of wood!) added garden space, removed stumps, fixed the lawn, planted trees . . . whew. The inside is coming soon.
After two years of listening to the kitchen, I love most of the layout, and really dislike the cabinets. They’re not very nice. So we’re saving for an Ikea kitchen.
The split entry with carpeted stairs? We’re saving for hardwood floors – the white-beige carpet is a magnet for dirt.
Two bathrooms desperately need a gut job. (The original builders built one too small, so they put in a 36″ shower enclosure in a 58″ space and just walled the rest of the space in – that’s 9 square feet in my house that is totally useless!)
We added a proper wood burning insert into the living room, to deal with the fact that house doesn’t really seem to be insulated well enough in the least.
Things we’ve figured out by listening:
– We listened to our landscaping. Some things went, some things have stayed! There are still some more things that need to go in the future, but they wait for time and budget. Tree removal = $$$$.
– We listened to our kitchen, and figured out that it’s a great layout with bad quality everything. I’m not ripping down walls and making an open plan or anything like that – it’s good as it is, it just needs some new cabinets.
– The house desperately wants to be 1960s, not 1980s, so we’re rocking the 80s does 60s thing. 1980s midcentury modern teak furniture? Check. 1970s rad lamps and egg chairs? Check. Scandinavian decor? Check.
– We want to emphasis timeless and classic, not dated and ‘cool’.
pam kueber says
Wow, you are a good listener! Way to go! Egg chairs? I WANT EGG CHAIRS! And $$$$ for tree removal — I share your pain!
Mrs.M says
Even better – they were hand-me-downs! My husband’s grandmother and grandfather bought them in the 1970s, probably from Dania. They are hard for older people to get out of, so we inherited them.
https://vintagely.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/wpid-wp-1418967821601.jpeg
Orange corduroy egg chairs – doesn’t get too much cooler than that. We have a pair and matching ottoman.
Linda says
I moved into my 1925 bungalow 15 years ago, newly divorced with 3 children to raise – renovations were one of the last things on my mind and in my budget. Over the years I dreamed of how I would redo my 1970’s kitchen with the avocado sink and countertops with granite or marble and a farmhouse sink, and of gutting my pink and grey bathroom….but no more. I see the house with new eyes, and am planning on having the bathroom regrouted and possibly adding some flamingo wallpaper. The kitchen is still whispering to me, and I think it will end up a far cry different than what I had originally been thinking of. The avocado has won me over, haha.
pam kueber says
I love avocado! I have an avocado Fiesta sink in my hoard!
Heart says
True Confessions: I have been lugging around a Vintage Cobalt Blue Bar Sink. I just know I’m gonna find the right place for it 😉
ineffablespace says
What I am paying attention to:
The architect’s design intent.
Scale and format.
Did they have ___ or something like it in 1965?
What I am ignoring:
The low-budget driven execution:
Hollow core slab doors are being replaced with solid slab
Clamshell millwork being replaced with minimal/no millwork.
Cheap locksets being replaced with Baldwin
The strange window glazing:
A piece of single pane held in by quarter round isn’t a window.
Small ventilating sliders cobbled into the above, still no window
The original color schemes:
The long-gone original bath was jet black and mustard mosaic flooring with gold-glitter on white wall tile, and probably Kohler Sunrise or Citron fixtures. I could reproduce all the tile from Daltile and use black Kohler fixtures, but no.
The long gone original powder room was pink. When Kohler dropped Innocent Blush, (this is being converted to a bath, so I need more than a pink toilet)–that color scheme went out the window too.
ineffablespace says
I should add that I am essentially gutting much of the house rather than preserving, because there was very little of the good stuff left to preserve. Beyond that the plumbing had a major failure and is going to be 100% new, the HVAC had been so compromised that it really didn’t cool or ventilate so that’s 85% new, and the electrical was dangerously altered and/or chewed on by rats, so that will be all new.
The trick is going to be making it seem like it could possibly be original without creating a faux time-capsule.
Mary Elizabeth says
If you really want to go with Innocent Blush, contact all the Mom and Pop (for family run) plumbing supply stores in your state. Someone has an Innocent Blush tub in their back storeroom. The sinks will be on line at various large supply places, and if you don’t find a pink toilet, put in a white one until you do.
Amy says
Can you get a white toilet and have it refinished in your color choice?
pam kueber says
No. We know of no finishing method that will work for toilets.
ineffablespace says
Bathroom number one in basement (a totally new bathroom) is Daltile 2×2 in Waterfall which looks like 1960s cerulean blue with Kohler Triton faucets.
Bathroom #2 is Artic White Daltile 2×2 and Corian Silver Birch (looks like terrazzo) mix of Brizo Odin and Kohler Taboret faucets.
Bathroom #3 is Daltile 4×4 and 2×2 on floor, Ice Grey with Kohler Ice Grey fixtures. I snagged one last cast iron Ice Grey tub before they disappeared altogether.
The original plans for upstairs were one Innocent Blush and one Ice Grey or Kohler Skylight (A pale blue, dropped in 2012).
So I managed to get one bathroom with actual colored fixtures and another in an appropriately colored tile.
pam kueber says
Sounds fantastic! Send photos!!
ineffablespace says
#1 is 95% done
#2 is 40% done.
#3 is a giant hole with some rough plumbing and a functional toilet so we don’t have to walk down to the basement at 2 am.
It will be a while before they are ready for pictures 🙁
cellen says
I listened to my kitchen for about a week (it said “I’m done”), my knotty pine den for about 4 years (it said “get this paint off of me”), my pink bathroom for about 5 years (it said “get this white glaze off of me, too”) and my master bathroom for 8 years (it said “use the tile that was on Pam’s ebay carousel and Kate’s Merola tile). But I’ve listened to Retro Renovation for over 10 years! Thanks to all!
pam kueber says
🙂