1940 house (colonial) need period lighting advice
Carolyn
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Hi!
I'm really trying to stick with lighting
that would be period appropriate, yet I keep thinking that maybe I'm
going off track. Our house is a rectangle colonial with equal windows
on each side of the front door and a fireplace in front.. I don't know
if that helps with your light recommendations or not. Unfortunately, nothing is
original as far as lighting goes. The previous owner did a terrible job
"updating" this house in the 90's. It's all pretty awful.
Here are the lights I am drawn to. Which ones say "1940 house"?
Thank you!
1) Middle of the kitchen (flushmount - currently the main light):
2) Over the dining table (separate room from kitchen):
3) Over the banquette (in kitchen):
4) Over the peninsula:
(I would do 3 of these pendants, possible in white instead of black)
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Comments (14)
Carolyn
9 years agolast modified: 9 years agoRelated Discussions
Advice needed: how to add on to a Dutch Colonial Revival?
Comments (16)kirkhall - what a brilliant idea!! talk about not being able to see the forest for the trees! the lower left room with the sunporch is our master, so it wouldn't mean any switch in that regard. and would make the two other bedrooms the same size. this is a great alternative if building over the sunroom just isn't an option. i just wish i had posted this before we renovated those two bedrooms!!!! ha ha. one question though (because i'm hesistant to lose an entire wall in the bedroom we'd be shrinking to a reach in closet). if we were to put the closets for the two upper bedrooms back to back on the exterior wall of the house, would 6'x6' be enough room for a small bathroom with a tub? i was thinking the tub could be placed along the wall with the closets, leaving a 6' x 3 1/2'-ish space for toilet and sink. is that just too small? would we have to give up both closets for those bedrooms for a total bathroom footprint of 9'x6'? the tub in our current bathroom is about 30" from back wall to apron front. This post was edited by aliciaandbilly on Thu, Jan 23, 14 at 10:25...See MoreRethinking building to buy old 1940s Colonial (link to tour)
Comments (4)Capedude, you bring up our exact concerns. We definitely know we'd be getting much more bang for our buck with this home and property versus building. We love old houses and breathing new life into them but we don't want to take on a sinking ship either. What we do know is the current homeowners have lived at the property for 41 years which we like. He is a retired general contractor for a pretty big regional firm and it seems that no corners were cut when updating through their tenure. Electric is 400 amp, windows all replaced but for the front storms in living/dining rooms for historical purposes. The hvac was updated and the home has central ac and forced hot air. New roof with tear off in 2008. We need to find out about the insulation. All doors closed and the house felt solid and straight when we toured it. The part that took the wind out of our sails a bit was the basement. It was a typical 1940s unfinished basement. The seller's disclosure admits to sump pumps running infrequently and the homeowner says if they have very heavy rain for a few days there are a few areas where a very small of water may come up through the slab. He further stated that they have not had water in several years. This makes us hesitant since we know water can be a home's worst enemy but it may also be able to be remedied to have a finished playroom type area in the basement for the kids. We've owned a 1920s and a 1980s home before (both with various issues not found by home inspections or contractors coming through prior to buying) so we know that ever house has its own issues, even new ones. We'd like to do our due diligence in feeling that we are getting a home with good bones....See MoreNew, Open-Concept Colonial Needs Fab Wall Color. Advice Needed Please
Comments (26)Here is the problem - you are looking for a paint color based on 2 inch square swatches compared to huge expanses of the colors already in your home. If you have a sample of the countertop that you can take outside - that it the ideal answer. If not you will need to make do with a gerry rigged method using the counter top in place. Get a large white sheet. Gather samples of the colors that must stay ( a drawer front, a sample of flooring that closely matches if an actual sample isn't available, a sample of the granite. Gather as many colors as you can from the neutral and heavily muted colors at the paint store. The lighting in the paint store will confuse your brain - pick up everything even if it doesn't seem good in the store - you may be suprised by what works when you get them home. If possible, take all the colors outside and cover a table with the white sheet. Lay the samples of the colors that must stay on the sheet and place one color sample at a time next to the colors that have to stay. If it works in natural daylight it will work anywhere. If it is not possible to take a sample outside cut a hole in the sheet and let a small section of the counter show through the hole in an area near a window. If that is not possible get a good lamp with a 5000k lightbulb and place the lamp so it shines on the hole in your sheet. You can limit the amount of any sample of the things that must stay by doing cutouts on the sheet. Typically one or two colors will feel right. This is going to be the hue you want. More than likely when you purchase a sample and paint a large section of wall it will read more vivid than the color you picked from a tiny sample. More space- more color. But you will know that you are in the right ball park and can use tools like EasyRGB to discover similar colors that are slighly less saturated. I worked with Miller Paint when I first discovered Devine. They were amazing. Don't know how they are today, as it has been 20 ish years ago. If I were in their service area I would work with them again in a heartbeat. Hope this helps narrow your choices :-)...See MoreTiffany lighting in neo-colonial tract house
Comments (6)Paul, I think that's why my husband and I like the British Colonial style. Although, we don't try to repeat what a civil servant would have collected "back then", we use it to display the mish mosh of items we have collected in our travels, past homes, or from visitors. We have tried organizing them a little. There are many items of a Central American or Southwest North American Native history. There are items from our favorite East Coast beach community, mostly photos my husband took. And there are pictures of the plants we love. Some of these seem to group with each other, like corn item with the American peoples items. The Hawaii paintings don't have the same feel as the East Coast beach items, so I keep them separate. My iris items don't seem to go with anything either. Family photos go with location but also get mixed. I am learning though and would really like to hear how you incorporate your keepsakes into your British Colonial style. I might even start a second post on it, but would still like to hear your story....See MoreCarolyn
9 years agoCarolyn
9 years agolast modified: 9 years ago@crickmay crickmay - my style leans towards vintage/simple/casual/traditional/happy. All of our chairs, buffets, dressers and a couple beds are old (purchased from antique shops or craigslist). I don't know if I'd say truly antique, but we do have some stuff that is 80+ years old. Our stove in the new kitchen will be a 1950 4 burner white chambers that we have sitting in the garage. We have a retro inspired white elmira fridge to pair with the chambers stove, and I plan to buy a refinished farmhouse sink.
I love this. We plan to do blue/gray cabinets with white honed marble counters and brick herringbone flooring.
DYH
9 years agoDYH
9 years ago
This is my current kitchen to show you how a frosted glass chandelier with a pewter/charcoal metal finish might look with painted cabinets . My cabinets are sage, rather than the lovely color in your inspiration. Anyway, my fixture resembles that 1940s chandelier. It's been 10 years since I bought it, so I'm afraid I don't remember who made the fixture. I have the same one over my dining table and a larger version in the two-story foyer.
PROOld House Guy LLC
9 years ago
renovator8
9 years ago
Tina White
5 years agowritersblock (9b/10a)
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoK Sinibaldi
5 years ago
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