Old House

Our Old House:

An amateur’s stab at breathing life into a 6,000 ft2, 100-year-old building

My husband and I bought an old house in Washington DC two years ago, a little before we got married.  It was a “deal” considering its location, size, and age.  It was also in pretty good condition, considering very little renovation had been done to it since it was built in 1912.  In 94 years, it has only been occupied by 2 families, we are the third.

This section attempts to tell the story of our house and how we are very lovingly and very slowly making it our own.  I’m posting this on my blog because I am the first to admit that I know NOTHING about architecture or design and I am hoping that those of you who do will give me a hand.  I enthusiastically welcome input, ideas, and suggestions, as I tackle my house room by room.  Actually, I’m begging for help!  The house- all 6,000 ft2 of it- is overwhelming and intimidating, and nothing that I do seems to look quite right… So I’m pleading for some help, information, and inspiration from my readers.

I’ll start with a history of the house, or at least as much as I’ve been able to uncover.  Then I’ll share a few before and after pictures.  We haven’t done much yet, we kind of overstretched our budget with the purchase of the house and some things that just needed to be done- like the removal of thousands of square feet of wallpaper, which took a 4-man crew the better part of a week.  We painted all the walls neutral colors, but didn’t touch the living room or kitchen.  As far as the kitchen goes- its going to need a whole lot more than a coat of paint to make me happy- so I didn’t even try.  More on our initial renovations later.

Following is a list of topics I’d like to address and what I’d like to start with:  

History

Initial renovations 2010

Features I love

Floors

Ceilings and molding

Lighting

Features I want to fix

Exterior

Room by Room

Deck

Design Ideas

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