Refinishing an Antique Door

The original door on the house is a Queen Anne style that was unfortunately painted with the cheapest grade latex paint. This style of door can be found on many late Victorian Queen Anne styled Bay-and-Gable homes in Toronto. After some research, Tung oil seemed like the the best possible finish. Stripping layers of paint [...]

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Victorian Trompe l’oeil Wood Graining

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 [...]

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Finding and Restoring Antique House Hardware

It is always exciting finding old hardware in your house that has been forgotten under layers of paint. Intricate Victorian designs in cast iron, brass and bronze give a house an incredible sense of character and it takes very little effort to refinish these antique pieces of your home. Paint strippers can be used to [...]

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