The Victorians were fond of making the ordinary appear extraordinary, especially when the extraordinary exceeded one’s reach. Faux finishes are not limited to late 1980s interior decor or to low budget “trading rooms” television programming. The Victorians were fond of making the ordinary appear extraordinary, especially when the extraordinary exceeded one’s reach. I found some original Victorian wood graining under layers [...]
Posts Tagged ‘antique doors’
Victorian Trompe l’oeil Wood Graining
Posted in Victorian Millwork, tagged antique doors, Faux Finish, Millwork, Paint stripping, preservation, restoration, Trompe l'oeil, Victorian on January 25, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Installing an Antique Mortise Lock
Posted in Antique House Hardware, tagged Antique door knobs, antique doors, Antique Hardware, Bronze, Corbin hardware, Door furniture, Eastlake, Escutcheon, Mortise Lock, Old house, Skeleton key, Victorian on January 1, 2009 | 10 Comments »
I caught a bit of luck in that the POs (Previous Owners) did not remove the antique pine front door and replace it with a Big Box pre-hung door. Of course the door was layered in paint and the original antique mortise lock was replaced with a typical off-the shelf lock for a bored-door. This [...]
Late 1880s Victorian Millwork
Posted in Victorian Millwork, tagged antique doors, Architrave, Baluster, Bannister, Baseboards, Bay-and-Gable, Corner blocks, Eastlake, High Victorian, Historic millwork, industrialism, late 1800s, Mahogany, Millwork, Oak, Painted oak graining, Pine, Private rooms, Public rooms, Queen Anne, Railway, Victorian, West Toronto Junction, Window casings, Wood moldings, wood moulding on December 29, 2008 | 2 Comments »
Industrialism resulted in the wide availability of architectural millwork that was once only available to wealthy clients building the best of homes. Late Victorian or “High Victorian” millwork was the most elaborate and suited popular Victorian revival styles of the time including Queen Anne and Eastlake. Hull (2003) refers to the period 1890-1910 as the [...]
Ugly Things Done to Old Houses or “Old House Atrocities”
Posted in Ugly Things Done to Old Houses, tagged Angelbrick, antique doors, Arts and Crafts, cheap paint, Edwardian, Mission Style, open space, Parged brick, popcorn ceiling, porch, stone cladding, Toronto, Victorian, vinyl siding, vinyl windows, wall-to-wall carpeting on December 13, 2008 | 9 Comments »
Take a walk in any urban neighbourhood and you are going to find old houses that have been “destroyed” in any number of ways. Here is my list of some of the worst offences, that is not meant to offend, but will. Feel free to disagree or add your own old house atrocity. This list, [...]






