Doors

Bev and I have been refinishing doors lately.

These doors, from the upstairs hallway, are over 100 years old, and the wood is quite dry and brittle. But underneath layers of paint and varnish is some wonderful old wood. Our goal is to average a door each weekend - because it is so time-consuming. All those detailed edges take a long time to clean up, even if we frequently replenish the chemical stripper.

In August we’ll have been working on this house for six years. It simply not the same house – and yet it is.

Two wallpapers from two eras.

While prying off one door frame I came across a wallpaper pattern that must have been popular in the late 60s or early 70s. The blue in the pattern explains the horrendous blue paint that was two layers down in the door trim. Bev found pink underneath the blue. Imagine! Elsewhere we’ve found other layers of home décor wonderfulness – from painted Masonite wall coverings in a bathroom to plaster imprinted with real tree leaves is what was a breakfast nook. Such diversity, such color, such….

Our goal is to take it back some parts back to the elegance of Carrie Benham’s time – while we may not have the colors right, we can unearth the wood, strip the metal, restore the wood and give it the grace it one had. Other parts of the house, like the kitchen, have all the benefits of our modern era, but done in a classy style that Carrie would probably appreciate.