How urgent is your need to buy a house? Could you move into a rental while you look for something that meets your needs? There is a serious misapprehension about old houses that many people get stuck on. It's not an either/or proposition to live in an old house Tthere is no need not to have modern conveniences if you want them: this means electricity, running water, central heat, indoor plumbing, etc. You can often re-designate rooms to more modern uses; i.e. small rooms adjacent to bedrooms can become baths and former sitting rooms can become kitchens, for example. In a general way none of this is harmful to old houses, because it is reversible. However, what really is unfortunate about many remodeling projects, though, is the relentless desire to turn buildings that were orginally made up of distinct rooms into the vast, trendy, spaces that define the modern open plan house. You can see this playing out in the large room in the pictures with the fireplace and the tuructural members exposed by the gaping loss of the partition wall and the four windows in the ell which is a clear - and glaring - example. On one hand you have the lovely fireplace, with its (likely orginal) fireplace surround with delicate Federal-edging into Greek Revival period detailing. But by tearing out the wall and exposing the wooden structural pieces you have a jarring style collision. Exposed (and now empty) mortice pockets and rough hand hewn beams while they look old-timey to our eyes were not intended to be seen, ever. Even on very early houses, exposed structural beams (like summer beams or gunstock posts) often had careful dressing, and even carefully made beaded molding profiles. And then there's the bank of windows in the ell. That room is likely a much later addition (late 19th, early 20 or even later) and may even have had that bank of windows when it was orginally erected. But the look of an array of windows like that is not a match with the rest of the now-combined room. And keep this in mind: houses weren't "thick" as they are now in an era where day time light was mainly provided by windows. So while there were often rooms extended backwards in wings, the massing was often only one room wide, or just two rooms wide on either side of a stair hall. You don't have to choose against modern functions, but you ought to think twice about any impulse to turn an old house into a facsimile of a modern house that is vaguely styled to look like old houses. In other words, you need to understand that old houses, especially really old houses like this one, were always divided into smaller, distinct spaces. If you want a modern, open-plan house, then buy a modern house and decorate it with details that harken back to former styles. As for how you train your eye: well, books like the McAlesters' is good for classifying housing periods. The Midwest has its own set of building traditions, but keep in mind that early settlers to there were likely immigrants from NE and the Mid-Atlantic regions who brought their building traditions with them. At first, of course, they lived in settlement-period houses which were often small and primitive, but as soon as practical they built themselves better housing, an example of that style is this house. It may pay to study housing styles of NE and the Mid-Atlantic regions. Do you have access to a public library? I'd start there by borrowing - and sending via inter library loan- as many of the glossy- picture books showing houses from the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Look at the size of the rooms, and study any floor plans. If you want to do this I could offer sme suggestions for titles that are especially useful. Another (though not with many pictures) excellent resource which every old house owner, including people who are considering buying an old building, should be familar with is the set of Preservation Briefs from the National Park Service. This series of essays is about caring for old buildings, from those of great historical significance (Presidential birthplaces, for example) to just ordinary old houses that are have become extraordinary simply by their survival. (I'll attach a link, below to this series. It will give you a working understanding of the issues surrounding older buildings which will put you light-years ahead of many old house buyers.) You do not have to live without modern conveniences; you do not have to spend endless amounts of money on a money pit; you do not have to live in an unaltered museum piece. But you really should think twice about buying an old house and promptly obliterating those distinctive characteristics that make it a cohesive example of an older building. If you want a modern-style open-plan design then, please don't choose one of the remaining old plan houses to impose this on. Now, the house example you have linked to has had a good deal of this destructive choice applied to it, already,so in some ways it may be a lost cause. But if you buy it supposing it to be an example that has not been enormously altered, you may be disappointed when you encounter its reality. As a starting point, and to begin to learn the vocabularly of old houses, start with reading the Preservation Briefs linked below. There is even one on inspecting old houses and inventoring their conditions, which will help you at the home-inspection stage. This house still has a good deal of "character", but has lost a lot of it in its updating. You shouldn't kid your self about that fact. Some of that character may be easily replaced (you could re-erect the partition wall in the fireplace-room, for an example. Or perhaps even compromise in some way to conceal the the newly-exposed structural pieces, and retain the larger room. But things like getting rid of the grossly out-of-proportion eyebrow windows make take a significant amount of money to un-do. (Well, not hundreds of thousands, but maybe up to 5-10 grand to make that change back. And as I alluded to above the size of those windows mave have been driven by modern fire-codes requiring certain amounts of square feet of escape windows in bedrooms. So changing back might require interior changes as well to allow smaller windows to be installed, boosting the tab.) See if your local historical society has any pictures of this house, or closely similar ones to see what has been changed. There is one other thing I want to point out: Old houses reuire an above-average amount money or time, and sometimes both, from their owners. Their owners get a great sense of personal delight and satisfaction from them. But you can't realistically expect to reap those benefits without also expecting to pay those costs. Perhaps if you have no time, and don't want to make up for that lack of time by investing more money in having someone else do things for you, this is not the right time in your life to own and old house. There is no shame in that. Post back if you want a list of books to help you train your eye to see what's old, and what's just styled to look old. Liriodenron Here is a link that might be useful: Preservation Briefs, Technical Bulletins on caring for old houses

This is such an interesting thread. my children condsider me an OCD person when it comes to housekeeping. I am the person who is very uncomfortable with dirty dishes overnight. Even if the last person didn't leave the party until the wee small hours of the morning. I seriously don't like clutter. I moved to this little townhome in Charleston last October. Just me and my little dog. I brought very little with me from California. A queen bed frame and mattress and the artwork I collected over the time of my marriage. I furnished completely from online sites. I don't buy anything that doesn't have a place. Very very little knick knacks. There are "vignettes" on a few surfaces. I only buy white flowers and distribute them around the house. I love pillows, lots of texture. And throws. I do patterns but not hugely busy ones. I try to bring something from one room to the next for continuity but this is a small home so that is pretty easy. I feel accomplished that there are so many empty drawers and cabinets here. I could never have done that when I was raising my children clutter I am a 2. Decorating, a 5/6.

You've got a great space so far. As for matching the fireplace tones, I would focus on working with your countertop and floor. On my monitor there seems to be a disconnect between the color families in the fireplace and your kitchen with the fireplace more pinks and greys and your counter more golds and creams, but I know pictures don't tell the real story. Someone else just posted pics of Architerra tile and it could be a good match with your existing tile. Also, Seneca Tile sells crackle tile with more of an old world feel in a variety of colors, sizes and decos. I'm no decorating guru but from an old house standpoint, tile tended to be smaller in size than many of todays offerings. Try to keep the scale in line with your fireplace - what is it 3", 4" squares? Good luck! Here is a link that might be useful: architerra tile

Shee, I have found that my kids really like the music and movement with mobiles. We've had the same Tiny Love mobile for the last 10 years, and all 5 kids have loved it! In fact, when I want to put the baby down upstairs, that is one of the only times I use the crib. The mobile keeps 'em happy for a little bit! However, it looks like they no longer make the one we got in 2002 and the new version is not as nice, so maybe there is something better. I am not sure why so many of them do NOT have high contrast (ours does). Weird. My friend gave us a mobile for the car seat (Take-Along by Tiny Love). Not something I would have bought, but my 10 week old is entranced by it. If she is fussy when I get her in the seat, the music and movement makes her stop! I was amazed watching her today, with her watching the mobile. This may be something you put on your registry if you are doing that. Not a need, but it's nice. Here is a link that might be useful: Mobile