New Rooms for Old Homes / Great Book

This is another favorite coffee table book that is in my collection and is currently off the shelf and at hand. 

NEW ROOMS FOR OLD HOUSES

Beautiful Additions for the Traditional Home

by Frank Shirley

Published by THE TAUNTON PRESS

"Inspiration for Hands-On Living"

All of the books by this publisher are wonderful.

Back cover. Mine has the dustjacket. 

The hardcover binding is plain.

Retail $40. My used copy from local bookshop $15.
Gold Seal on front dustjacket from

NATIONAL TRUST FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION

I did not know the term "monitors", did you? Such an interesting architectural detail for raising the roof and getting more light into a room without adding a skylight.

The pleasing addition is on the far right. Note slight color change in roofing material.

Have a great weekend. By now you know how to order used books, right?

xo

More about Monitors and Cupolas. Unknown left a comment about a monitor barn in Shelburne, Vermont. I couldn't find it but found a 1903 barn in Richmond, Vermont that was moved and beautifully restored with the monitor spanning the entire roof ridge and a cupola too! It's fabulous as is the article by KNOBB HILL JOINERY Preserving New England's architectural legacy for future generations with photographs of the entire process.

Read the article and see the amazing photos HERE. 
The barn is home to the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps.

Isn't this barn beautiful? Everything old is new again.
xo

Circa 1700 Former Laundry & Dairy Renovation

Former winner of Period Living's home of the Year award, this beautiful family home was once a neglected outbuilding

Every part of the house needed attention, from the chimneys down. You can still see the marks in the brickwork where the doors and windows were moved. New windows and a front door were made by RM Jones Joinery. The couple also added a bootroom (left of first picture).

The back hall, with wall-to-ceiling cupboards made by Gwyn Dowell. The flooring is limestone, which works well with the underfloor heating, and the walls and cupboards are painted in Farrow & Ball’s Oval Room Blue(opens in new tab) (Image credit: Kasia Fiszer)

Click HERE to see the fabulous kitchen and the rest of the in house Denbighshire, Wales. The building was in the husband's family for 5 generations. The article is fantastic and so inspiring. I know you will love it.

xo

Before & After Renovation in Raleigh NC

I just cannot get over how wonderfully this renovation turned out. Found on @christiandawdesign on Instagram. There are 4 photos for you to see and you will truly be amazed. The owners must be thrilled beyond words.

It's beyond wonderful.

xo

Wonderful Restored Estate in Wales

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House & Garden UK has a great article about Penny Morrison's country house in Wales and a house tour. 

The designer Penny Morrison's magical Welsh home 

She is a London-based interior designer and you will love all of the rooms featured in this article. I found the bathroom photo above elsewhere and love the draperies. The scalloped cornice and the beautiful draperies have tiny ball fringe trim if you look carefully. Love them.

Enjoy the house tour.

xo

17th Century Welsh Cottage in The Cotswolds Restoration

No, this isn't the original kitchen sink. 

It was purchased on Ebay.

The living room is perfection, isn't it?

The perfect cottage garden was created for this 17thC cottage.

This article in House & Garden UK is a fascinating read about the authentic restoration. I learned a lot too. New stone floors and new wood floors were made to look old by rubbing in layers of wood ash and linseed oil. I need to read the article again and see what other tips I can absorb. Enjoy.

xo

Converted Barn Home

♡So.Fabulous♡

My favorite feature is the sliding barn door shutters. This clever design has one cutout so you can still see outside when they are closed. I also like the enclosed steps and railings leading to the front door. I spy a screened porch too. There are many other barn homes to view here but this one is my favorite by far. Have a great Sunday. xo

Crooked Cottage Charm: Renovation

Read the article in Maine Home & Design Magazine

click on above link

Robin McCoy grew up in spending every summer in this house and she wanted to maintain all the quirks when renovating from a summer retreat to a year-round residence.

Please read the article. It is a PDF that can be enlarged. 

Click on the + sign next to 100%. 

Best viewed on a computer. 

More photos to love including interiors.

Enjoy!

xo

Boot Room in A Regency Country House

Boot Room

Flower / Mud Room

Great article and more photos here.

Just.Wonderful

xo

Florida Beach Cottage Renovation: Lots of White Paint

I thoroughly enjoyed this article in Southern Living about the renovation of this Florida beach cottage. You know how much I love before and after photos. Read more here. Each photo in the slide show has a long description too. Enjoy.

Handyman Coming Today to Attach My Ceiling Projects

I repainted the Regio Register air conditioning vent covers yesterday, just in time. This afternoon at 4:00 my young handyman is coming to put them back in place. He wasn't expecting the project to be so advanced and I'm sure he was secretly thrilled I had done so much by myself. The two very large ones are for a vertical wall in the attic. The rest go in the ceiling on my main floor. They are heavy and I thing I will somehow have to help holding each one in place while he drills them. I got a tube super tacky construction adhesive that "grabs" in 30 seconds but I'm not putting much trust that it will work but maybe it will. I have a long telescoping pole with a lambswool covered blade on the end for washing windows outside. Maybe I can hold these in place somehow if needed. Wish me luck. Will post photos later.

For anyone who hasn't been following this project, click the link for the complete history. 

https://contentinacottage.blogspot.com/2022/05/my-tools-of-trade.html

xo

It was definitely a two-person job and all 7 vent covers are back in place. I had everything very organized and we were finished in an hour. 

My telescoping window washing pole came in very handy. I pushed the rod with the lamb's wool cover against each ceiling mounted vent cover after the construction adhesive was applied while my handyman screwed them in place. It's dipping down to 45° tonight so I have no need for air conditioning but when it gets hot, I'm ready with all the louvers in the open position. In the fall, it will be a snap to close them. Another project completed successfully. I am thrilled. xo

Morning after in my bathroom. Nothing fell down from 5 ceiling-mounted installations during the night😂 The two large ones in the attic were wall mounted and were a snap to put back. The only hard thing about those two was turning one in another direction so I could get my screwdriver inside to open and close the fins of he louvers. Luckily it was square so the placement of the screws didn't matter. Believe me, these things took a lot of engineering and I had to orchestrate every step. I think my young handman appreciated all of my prep work and he probably learned a lot in the process. I have already shared him with one of my girlfriends who needs window boxed installed.

My Tools of The Trade

Doesn't everybody's kitchen counter look like this? I am in the midst of one of the hardest projects I have ever undertaken. Think trying to fit a square peg into a round hole! All of my central air conditioning ducts are in the ceilings and they don't have louvers behind the grilles and are always ON. In the winter all the warm air escapes making my house colder than it should be. I ordered the louvers and am in the midst of retrofitting them behind the decorative grilles made by Reggio Registers. My ceilings are plaster from the late 1930s and it took me over 3 hours on one hole yesterday chiseling out the ragged edges to get one louver in place. You know I don't admit defeat easily so I am all caffeinated and ready to attack the one over the other French door in my living room. 

My Grilles are in this design, 

painted the same color as the ceilings.

https://www.reggioregister.com/

Louvers look like this.

Wish me luck. Sometimes I wonder why almost nothing in my life is easy and ordinary? Is this because I live in an old house or do I just look for seemingly impossible projects to make my life easier that actually make my life harder while the work is being done? That is the question. xo

Workin' wear. Yesterday I didn't have a hat and didn't put on goggles or a mask until well into the project. Today it was all about Safety First.

Today's louver was inserted in 15 minutes. YAY!

I have ordered some white pliable clay that will air dry in 24 hours and be hard enough to drill thru (fingers crossed). I thought that would be neater than spackle. I want to encapsulate all this stuff that looks like crumbling concrete. It should be delivered today. I still have to scrape all the gunk from behind the grilles that stuck when removing them. To close the louver, I have to attach the grille in the proper direction so I can reach thru one of the openings with a screwdriver to close the louvers for winter. This can only work in one direction so I have to make sure it's correct before screws are inserted. 

The DAS clay is made in Italy! 

It looks like a block of Cream Cheese.

It initially looks a little gray but dries bright white

This clay comes in a terracotta color too.

Would be great for flower pot repairs.

Here is my first encapsulation after a overnight drying session.

It's not pretty but functional. I had to rebuild an area behind the left screw hole because material behind it fell out and I had to completely rebuild the right-hand screw hole because the chunk fell out. All of this unsightly mess is completely covered by the grille. 

Larger view of the construction site.

xo

Great Before and After Renovation

This is so fabulous, isn't it?

I do love a great Before & After photo.

I found this cottage on Instagram

Christian Daw Design

Enjoy this larger photo and the weekend. xo

Ranch House Renovation: Amazing!

I love before and after photos, especially this one! 

Isn't it fabulous? Found here.