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!
Chad in the Crooked House says
I had a lot of work to do to my place all at once, but I’ve been so slow doing it that I got to listen to the house plenty. And luck of the salvage yard/Craigslist draw made some choices that I think the house was pulling for anyway.
But I’m trying to listen to the house about some of the other choices I made, but it’s hard because it was already a mashup of styles from previous renovations, some better done than others. I needed a new kitchen right away so I did IKEA without doors. That bought me more time to listen. Also I ran out of money and was grateful to defer that cost.
Chad in the Crooked House says
I should add, the trim my house came with was mostly wrecked or crudely replaced, and I listened to the house and kept the mismatched styles even though I replaced it all. Upstairs is Victorian and downstairs is a blend of Colonial, Craftsman and Art Deco that must have been very trendy when it was first put in. I was going to replicate the mid mod flush doors in the Victorian upstairs as well, but I found a matched set of Victorian doors and the house wanted them so badly I was forced to buy them without even checking that the sizes were right. Luckily they were! Oh, and I was missing 2 Art Deco doorknob back plates downstairs, and I found an exact match! The second I stole out of the basement stairwell.
June Cahill says
My mother’s “words of wisdom” – “Live with it for at LEAST one year”….did I do this? No. I can’t tell you what I ripped out, and then later, reinstalled….or maybe I can! 1)Original wood cornice boxes 2)Divider screen separating den from living room 3)dining room chandelier 4)hard-wired clock in kitchen soffit (I’m not taking the ‘fall’ for that one – it was my contractor’s fault – took me years to find another on Ebay…) 5)Chrome plated pool ladder, original to 1963 pool …and more (I’m sure…)
Bad news is much $$$ spent that didn’t have to be spent – GOOD news is I learned my lesson!
Mary Elizabeth says
June, it is wonderful that you were able to restore/reinstall some of the tear-outs. But it’s even better that–like many of us–you learned your lesson from the experience, even if you didn’t listen too your mother. Experience is a great teacher in this endeavor, as in every other that I know of. But some people are not good students, you know. 🙂
I for one can’t take credit for sitting quietly for a year and waiting for my house to whisper its desires. Ten days after moving into my 1959 ranch, I had breast cancer surgery. We needed to settle quickly into the house as it was, as I had no energy to do physical labor or mental planning. So my husband agreed to wait until I was done with treatments before ripping the house apart–all but the fuchsia carpet in the living room, which was making us both lose sleep. (You’d be surprised how some colors can glow even in the moonlight!) And I took light duty only, such as repairing scratches in the knotty pine cabinets and cleaning and regluing the loose plastic tiles around the bath tub. We danced gently with our house because we had to, and a year later we knew how it worked for us, what we loved and what we wanted to change.
Douglas Camin @ House on Rynkus Hill says
I definitely “listen” to my house when deciding what to do next. I’m fortunate that our place was built by my grandparents and I have tons of history (including lots of old photos) to go back to when I question how something looked in the past.
Right now I follow a “mid century compatible” design theme – we’re not afraid to introduce modern into the house, but only when it remains compatible with the original mid century look and feel. The ideal for me is when people come in and tell me they can’t actually tell what’s new and what’s old. Then I know I did it right.
Mary Elizabeth says
We’ve been following your house, Doug, for a long time. I was going to say you are lucky to have your grandparents’ house (wish I had been able to hang on to my grandparents’ home), but I’ve changed my mind. I think the home is lucky to have you, Mary Grace and Stephen as caretakers!
Douglas Camin @ House on Rynkus Hill says
Wow, thanks Mary! I’m glad you enjoy our blog and thanks so much for the compliment. I’ll share with Mary. 😀
KStacey says
I was fortunate enough to have boxes of photographs left behind when we bought our 1960 ranch. Lots of trash like “Ethel from the church choir’s birthday at Olive Garden” but also almost 50 years of the home and it’s history, the previous owner was quite the photo enthusiast. As a bonus, they had a daughter about my age (44) that grew up in the house. So I can easily date most of the photos using her hair/clothing as a reference, lol! Some things are fun, like identifying the original light fixtures, or “I was RIGHT, that WAS so-and-such way before!” Some things are handy, like realizing the horrible wallpaper they put up in the early 90s was over paneling, not drywall! (so I didn’t score it up to remove like the other walls!) Some things are sad, like seeing the amazing original green shag carpet in the den, when it was replaced with a blueish gray yawnfest. (although seeing that they seemed to have a dog or two from the 70s to the 90s made losing the shag hurt a little less…)
Lori says
We LISTEN to our 1922 house, our older neighbors (they called it “the Wankel house”) and this web site! After searching the city records/US Census and finding all the previous owners, it explained a lot. The wood trim was notched because there were additional walls to divide the house for 6 people/3 generations (yet 3 of us have trouble fitting now…). The divorce probably painted the wood trim Chinese Red… The metal cabinets were painted for fashion, not scratches (teal, harvest gold, cream, etc.). The Hoosier in the pantry was probably from the “original kitchen”. It has been an archeological dig… We are now in the process of gutting the kitchen and taking it back to the white metal cabinets-thanks to this site!!!
lynda murray says
I’m going to admit that I did’nt listen to my house! Sorry. Four years ago we bought a 1952 ranch . It’s on an acre of property. There is an additional 2 car garage with a “Fonzie” apartment above it , and a mid 1930’s Cinder block building on the property. I tore out the origional Crosley Kitchen (But I saved it. Stored it in the cinder block bldg). The pink bathroom was a mess The tile was not properly installed from the start. (I saved that too! even the yellow cracked Ice toilet seat, also in the cinder block bldg.). I replaced everything Kitchen ,and bath, with natural slate tile . Also added custom built natural cherry cabinets . The Backsplash is a stacked stone that coordinates with the 50’s heatalator fire place with origional stacked stone mantle and wall. I’m happy with the results, and don’t concider it a remuddle. I did push to keep the Crosley Kitchen But my family just did’nt agree. I have now claimed half of the cinderblock building as my Studio. I am reusing the Crosley Kitchen in there as a fake kitchen . I have a whole retro theme going on in there. Right now it is a work in progress, But soon I hope to be sending you pictures of my completed sewing studio/re-purpose shop.
melinda says
I live in a 1931 historic house with wood sash windows. A few yrs ago we had a man come and take apart the 15 windows, replace the glass, reglaze, add insulation between the windows and retie the cords w/the original knotting using the same weights and new cording. He told us that he could hear the original craftsman who did the windows guiding him to make sure that he did it right. He did and they are great!
Mary Elizabeth says
That is one heck of a contractor!
Heart says
That happens to me all the time when I’m restoring my house. I tried to replace the doorbell & the contractor bought a ‘new’ one. It failed & got replaced 3 times! Then I repaired/reinstalled the old one. Never had a problem since… lol
pam kueber says
Yay!
Chris says
Our 1934 home has a strong personality — or maybe it’s me? Our house tells me what it wants and I do my best to make it happen, within our budget. Unfortunately, that means many projects remain undone, but what we’ve done, we’ve tried to do “right!”
We recently did a retrofit on our coal burning fireplace that was previously non-functional. We ran a gasline and have a gorgeous fireplace with an authentic period appropriate coal basket.
When we did an addition, we paid a little extra to have all the new woodwork match that of the original house. She keeps talking to us about new projects, but we have to be patient! 🙂
Jamie says
Last spring I finally caved and let my husband have vinyl windows installed in my 1950 rancher. Not my favorite thing — I’m not crazy about the wide white borders on them. But it made my husband happy, and he let me paint the house a pretty 1950s teal. He wanted to gut the kitchen (the cabinets were customs installed in 1975), but we have decided to scrub up and clean up and make do. Hoping to get a cute retro formica countertop for the kitchen in a year or two. Well-meaning folk warned me “you’ll never sell that house with formica.” Maybe, but at least while I live there it will be a space that I love.
Mary Elizabeth says
Ten years ago, we heard, “You’ll never sell that condo without granite countertops and oak cabinets.” (We had just replaced the original 1978 laminate with new laminate and painted the cabinets after a kitchen fire.) Then five years later, the house was on the market, and nobody who came through said anything about wanting granite or oak. Our agent said, “Don’t bother to put marble or granite in the kitchen now; you’ll never get your money back. And stone counters are on the way out.” We ended up selling the house at very close to the original asking price. The person who bought it liked the old-fashioned look of the laminate and the painted cabinets.
As many people on this site have said, pay no attention to what is fashionable at the moment if you aren’t planning to sell you house in the near future. Do what you can afford, what pleases you and what you think you will enjoy in the long term. Do what seems to fit in your house.
lee says
This whole notion of houses becoming “unsellable” because of your choice of carpeting/countertops/appliances/etc is just so ridiculous. As if anyone will nix buying a $320,000 house because it doesn’t have $2,000 worth of granite countertops.
FWIW, the realtor I work with, who is not at all an MCM fan, tells me an increasing number of clients tell her they *like* the look of laminate countertops.
Mary Elizabeth says
And I’ve said this before, but I think it is worth repeating. The woman whose late carpenter father (Mike) built our knotty pine kitchen in 1959 could not bear to tear it out, in spite of what the realtor was telling her. When we first walked into the kitchen with our own realtor, we said, “Oh, look at the sun shining on those knotty pine cabinets!” And we fell in love with the house, even though it didn’t have our top 10 “must haves.” We are now sure that the woman’s parents were talking to her and continue to talk to us through the house.
Melanie says
We lived in our 1962 mid-mod raised ranch for 3 years before embarking on a renovation to our balcony. Before, it extended out only 4 feet along the lake-side of our home. We loved the vibe from the balcony, but found that we really couldn’t use it because it was so small. After living with the situation, we were able to re-imagine the balcony with lovely outdoor space facing the lake without damaging our views from the inside. To show or love, we had the original balcony railing re-made to create a building code compliant version of the original. It turned out fabulous – with room to showcase our vintage preway fireplace. Can send photos if you’d like to see our project. Now just waiting for our homecrest wire patio loungers to come back from their powder coating spa treatment to add to the party!
Rebecca Trammel says
SOS! I was unaware that world of tireless going out of business! I heard about them through your blog. They found the celery colored bathroom tile we need but they closed before we placed the order. Can I buy from you? Do you know the owners? I still have the item numbers from an email.
pam kueber says
nope gone
Elaine says
How about that couple in West Virginia, Bluefield I think? They had a lot of old tile from a warehouse. I found your original article:
https://retrorenovation.com/2011/02/04/gold-min-of-new-old-stock-tile-and-accessories-from-the-1930s1940s-1950s-1960s-1970s/