The title may say, “how to cut antique glass,” but it’s really the same process for any kind of glass you would find in windows or doors. The easy way is to bring your measurements to the local glass shop or hardware store and ask them to do it. They’ll do it perfectly and it [...] Read on →
This is a Guest Post by Mike Zook. Mike has been writing about home improvement topics for many years. Click here to find out more about door retrofitting. As anyone who’s ever owned or loved an antique home knows, their beauty and uniqueness are only exceeded by one thing – the number of problems that [...] Read on →
I’ve got a fun reclaimed wood project for you today that we recently made for a local winery. They wanted a rustic, natural wood feel for their tasting room that was soon to open near downtown Orlando. You can check out the winery at www.quantumleapwinery.com So, here’s what we did . . .
If your house is old enough to have needed a new paint job in its life then you might have a couple windows that have been painted shut. If your house is as old as mine (1929) you’d be lucky to find a window that still opens. Over the years numerous coats of paint by [...] Read on →
The Dutch Door has been around since the 17th century. And through the centuries its iconic design has been found in homes across the globe. But this door has a special relationship with the earliest American colonies where it was almost a necessity of colonial home design.
Shabby-chic, French country, vintage, repurposed, picking, salvage..there are tons of names for taking old materials and incorporating them into your home. It can be as easy as getting a great deal on a piece of furniture at the local antique fair, but to create the truly eye-catching conversation pieces it requires re-thinking the materials you have into something unique and special. So we’ve put together some salvaged projects to get your creative juices flowing. And if you need more ideas you can always follow our Pinterest board “Salvage Projects We Can Make For You” which is updated almost daily with new repurposed ideas for your home.
The trim installed in your home has gone through a lot of changes over the last couple centuries. On the simple frontier homes of early colonial America there wasn’t much need for the fanciful trim and moldings present in European homes at the time. It was a wild country and the focus was on survival. [...] Read on →
There is something special about an old house. The incredible craftsmanship, the quality materials, but most precious is the history and story they tell. It’s easy to get caught up in the nuts and bolts of how to cope a joint properly, or cleanly refinish wood floors, but sometimes I need to remember why I do [...] Read on →
After a century of paint jobs and humidity a lot of your home’s hardware can loose its original luster. It’s a small detail in a historic house, but properly restored hardware on windows, doors, and elsewhere gives a house that extra oomph that adds to the overall vintage feel of the home (whether people consciously [...] Read on →
There are countless old and historic house blogs scattered across the Internet. Some of them focus on How-To subjects, others discuss the history of old houses, and some are an online diary of people’s journey to fix up there own historic house. Some of these blogs are great for learning the step-by-step of certain projects [...] Read on →
So, you’ve decided to buy a historic house. Congratulations! Purchasing a historic house is more than just owning a beautiful piece of history. It’s a labor of love that can require a lot of work and an extra serving of patience. Historic homes line the streets of almost every town from Maine to California, and [...] Read on →
Roofing can be one of the most challenging elements of your historic house. Especially here in Florida the roof bears the brunt of the sun’s wrath. Hitting temps well over 140° in the summer and suffering through hurricane seasons one after the other can wear on even the highest quality materials. And if they were [...] Read on →
Living here in the Sunshine State it seems that folks have an unusual penchant for $0.69 sq. ft. 20″ tiles. The most popular colors are blah, boring, and blech. People love to toss these tiles down over red oak, irreplaceable heart pine, and any number of historic floors. And these tile are spreading like a [...] Read on →
Being in the business of restoring and preserving historic structures I have seen many a house that made me cock my head in amazement at some of the frightening things people do to “upgrade” their old homes. The phrase “What were they thinking?” is almost a cliche in our business! But every year people tear [...] Read on →