RenovateDSM.com - Image - Comments

Beautiful!

kelli.griffis — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 12:43:39 -0700

That's a beautiful restoration job! I'll be restoring what's left of the woodwork in my house to the original finish. Fortunately, like was said before, they just painted over the varnish, which means I may be able to chip most of the paint off without really having to refinish all the wood. I'll post pictures once I get started.

Paint!

RenovateDSM — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 05:56:03 -0700

A lot of beautiful woodwork has been painted in the name of "progress". Fortunately, when woodwork like this is painted, it is not done correctly (stripping the varnish, sanding, priming, and two coats of paint). This actually makes it easier to take back to the original finish.

Replacing Built In Cabinetry

RenovateDSM — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 15:36:03 -0700

I am amazed at some of the beautiful craftsmanship that so many Des Moines homes (even some of the the very modest bungalows) exhibit. Perhaps if you have a space where it is obvious a built in buffet once existed, you could try to approximate the look with a mix of stylistically appropriate stock cabinets and some custom shelving. This would be a relatively cost-effective approach - I'll try to pull together a detail to post on this site in the future.

I'm so jealous of your

kelli.griffis — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 11:18:48 -0700

I'm so jealous of your lovely built-in buffet. Mine was a sad victim of some past remuddling of my house.

It's the Details...

RenovateDSM — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 22:31:42 -0700

It's a testament to the craftsmanship of the time that your modest bungalow would have pieces of "cabinetry" like this. Things like this are what make historic homes so desirable and unique. Wouldn't it be great if you could find a replica of one of those black rotary phones to go in there!

Historic Storm Windows

RenovateDSM — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 22:27:29 -0700

This is not your mother's storm window! Before the aluminum triple track storm window us young'uns know was invented, they used wood storm windows like this to help conserve heat during winter. They had to be manually put in place each fall and they stayed there until spring when they were taken down. This one has true divided lites, which means that the wood muntins are actually structural - they support the individual panes. Thanks for sharing, Kelli!