While not worthy of much fanfare, we're really happy with a decorating upgrade to the 1st floor bathroom. While the previous owners had taken some mirror from this spot, we've been doing without. The empty space was obvious, but we hadn't found the right period-appropriate mirror. That changed today.
We got a beautiful solid cherry-wood mirror from KentwoodMirrors.
Without mirror New cherry mirror
Our previous house had a walk-in closet, and as a result, we had nearly no storage for clothing. The master bedroom had sufficient space, but we didn't want to just pile a dresser (or two) in to fit our clothes. Instead, we designed, built, and installed a warddrobe system, and to my eye, it looks like it fits in quite nicely.
What do you do in an old house, the day after Christmas? We tackle some DIY project that's over our head…this year that being the installation a smart thermostat.
This house technically has 4 distinct HVAC systems, although for the purpose of this post, I'll focus on the first two.
Gas-fired boiler powering steam heat for the main house Forced-air AC for the main house Radiant floor heating in the 2nd floor bathroom - powered by hot water and a Taco water pump Forced-air heating & cooling for the kitchen Distinct systems for heating & cooling What made this project such an endeavor, was the fact that the two main systems were controlled by different thermostats, and those t-stats were in different rooms.
Before Another task that's far easier before furniture, is interior paint. Obviously color is simply a matter of personal preference, but it's the first of (what I expect will be many) DIY projects that I'm woefully unprepared for. The previous owners had different tastes; favoring yellows and deep reds.
After We favor more earth-toned colors, and went with a scheme of greens, blues, greys, and creamy whites.
Starting state Job number one before move-in was the floors. It'll never be easier to refinish floors, than before the house is full of people, pets, and furniture. The floors are the original western fir floors, with no subfloor. If at all possible, we wanted to save the floors. We solicited multiple ‘quotes’, and got as many opinions as quotes, as to whether there was enough worth saving.
Fir floors had seen plenty of wear and tear In addition to general wear & tear damage, there was a patch in the floor that used different lumber, made no attempt to color or grain match, and wasn't feathered into the other boards.
