an Old House Studio
See our HomeTalk Page here
What's Happening at the Old House
Transforming a Mess
With winter fast on our heels, we've begun to learn a technique called 'parging'. Parging is applying a topcoat of cement to a wall -- in our case both plywood and antique cement block -- to create a new surface.
See all those cables? Picture a stucco-like wall with climbing ivy made with silk leaves and paint. And why not some faux brick work also made with cement?
Don't miss this transformation! Subscribe to our YouTube Channel.
Progress on a Very Old Wood Floor
With a house full of antique floors, we've got a lot to say about restoring them. No giagantic floor sander for these beauties. We wanted to keep as much patina as possible. We worked by hand and used some amazing products and LOVE the results.
Don't miss this transformation in an upcoming video! Subscribe to our YouTube Channel.
Make a Pendant Light from a Table Lamp
You may never look at a table lamp the same way again.
Imagine a table lamp upside down as a pendant light. We did!
Easy DIY Leaded Glass Mirror with Metal Tape
We've added a mirror over the window on the stone porch. We used the same Pebeo Vitrail lead tape used on the window below, and it was easy!
The final look was beyond everything we hoped. Super pretty! Read more here.
Paint that Stove — We Did!
We used a chocolate brown on our gas stove and it was so easy!
Gingerbread-ing an Old Porch
We got rid of a big eyesore when we painted this fibreglass gable a dark green and added all this gingerbread.
We made the door gingerbread from children's toy blocks!
Our 60-year old porch addition is getting a makeover to match the Victorian side of the house.
So far we've spent just $30 and done so much! Read more …
You can make your own!
How to Get Just the Right White on Stone Walls
Time Lapse
More Old House World
This is the nailer we use for all the DIY projects around the old house:
The master bedroom of the old house is still
an unfinished storage space for now.
It looked 'haunted-house' for a time, but we've been
able to paint around the bay windows which you can
see reflected in this mantel mirror. That lightened the mood
a lot! The dried rose craft is here.
Three huge red dumpsters, two hundred plus
contractors bags, and we can finally see parts
of the floor in the buildings behind the old house:
the barn, the shed, the cottage.
nice things keep turning up in the clutter of the barn
A previous owner was a hoarder. The rooms hadn’t
been emptied in probably forty years. But now
the outbuilding floors have just few inches of
mystery mulch.
Take a look at some of the progress we've made
over the years at our Old House …
Our Old House Projects
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The rehab of this gingerbread porch has been pretty
much continuous since we've owned it.
Weathering takes it's toll. But the ombre colors are so
cool, we're planning on adding a third tone to the
"harps"
so that the effect is a little more obvious.
The back of the house has a summer kitchen area with a
bay window that was falling apart. It took weeks to
patch, paint, and replace the glass. Here's a before shot:
Here are the same windows put back together and
matching the new faux green marble floor. To see
how we painted these marble tiles to fool-the-eye
click here.
an album
Our project house is over 200 years old and has 17 rooms plus
a building with 5 rooms which we call
"the carriage house."
