1950 Super utilitarian house
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7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoteeda
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Roses appropriate to a 1950's era garden
Comments (14)Yes, Peace was very popular at the time. Ophelia, Mme Butterfly and their sports was still very popular and commonly available. It was also the era of the floribundas, rows and larger plantings of them, like Alain, Allotria, Red Favorit, Poulsen's Pearl, Iceberg (but at least here Irene of Denmark was more widely grown for decades, Iceberg was introduced as late as 1958), also of HTs. Dainty Maid was very commonly grown in the 50's, and Orange Triumph (1935) was and is still very much used where hardiness is an issue. Aloha quickly became a hit and still is one of the best, as did Coral Dawn. Elmshorn, Alchymist and Fr�hlingsduft did very well too, and all still worth growing. Leverkusen was introdused in 1953 as the first double flowered yellow repeating climber, very healthy leaves. The HT Hanne is still sold here, probably for the fragrance and hardiness. Crimson Glory (1935) was very commonly grow at the time, a brand name when it comes to fragrance. A lot from the preward decades were still popular in the 50's, varieties that are not that much used anymore. Lots of varieties are still available and widely grown, there should be varieties for any need. Best of luck with your search ;-)...See Morewhat kind of clear finish in 1950
Comments (8)Okay, just want to clarify a few things, folks here obviously have no clue what they're talking about, just want to try and sound smart (particularly brickeyee and Bus_Driver). (1) Shellac is available in a lot more than "orange" and "white" (clear). It comes in over 20 different shades, all tones of brown and red and orange and yellow and combinations thereof. In terms of pre-mixed usually-expired-by-the-time-you-buy-it shellac sold at big-box stores like Home Depot and Lowes - they usually only sell two, "Amber" (waxy orange shellac), and "Clear" (slightly yellow, but not enough to be noticed over wood). (2) Color has nothing to do with quality. Darker shellacs are not lower quality than lighter shellacs. Shellac is a natural resin oozed by insects onto the bark of trees in India and Thailand (but mainly India). The color is determined by when it was collected from the trees, what the diet of the bugs was, etc. If anything, the opposite of what you said is the truth - "clear" shellac (i.e "platina", "blonde", "super ultra mega blonde", etc.) gets that way by being chemically bleached...which, in the lightest grades, leads to the finished product being less durable. (3) There is one - and ONLY one - historically accurate shellac: waxy orange shellac. If you're a guitar- or furniture-maker who's into shellac for modern pieces, great, have a blast with the other colors. But if your task is historic restoration, only waxy orange shellac is appropriate. This is what was sold at hardware and paint stores for decades before varnish and lacquer displaced it. The Zinsser/Bulls-Eye "amber" shellac sold in cans at Home Depot and Lowes is exactly this stuff - 100% waxy orange shellac. ANY place which sells shellac flakes (i.e. Woodcraft, Shellac.net, Homestead Finishing Products, etc.) will sell basic standard run-of-the-mill waxy orange shellac - that's what you want. Not any other color, not dewaxed, just good old-fashioned waxy orange shellac. Back in the old days, if you wanted your woodwork a dark color (i.e. mahogany or ebony, the two most common), you "mahagoanized" or "ebonized" it by using waxy orange shellac tinted with DYE. Unlike today, where you put on a coat of STAIN, then a coat of polyurethane - back then, it was a few coats of tinted shellac over the bare wood, that's all folks. I recommend using TransTint dye (available online, and at almost all woodworking stores) - add some of the appropriate color TransTint dye to some waxy orange shellac, put on 3 or 4 coats mixed at a cut between 2 and 4 pounds, and age it using the process I'm about to describe, and PRESTO - perfectly matches the original woodwork BECAUSE that's how it was done - you're not imitating or faking, you doing it the actual correct accurate way. (4) There is a technique for making shellac look old (or, more specifically, making NEW shellac look older, to make new shellac match old shellac, i.e. renovations in a home match the original woodwork). Rubbing it with a rag soaked in some denatured alcohol will NOT accomplish this. While I am an expert on shellac, most people know zilch about it, but here are some pearls of wisdom for you from my vast knowledge base: Old shellac - go look at the surface of the solid wood doors in a historic building - does something called alligatoring. Basically: when shellac is new, the surface is smooth and flat and shiny. But over time, it alligators, leading to it being dull and bumpy and sort of pitted. This is a beautiful look, and if you're trying to match it in an old building for the sake of aesthetics or historical accuracy, the only effective way to do it is the way it happened naturally: heat. Shellac alligators in response to heat. Buildings finished with shellac were built before the days of air-conditioning, and the summer heat year after year causes the shellac to alligator over time. New shellac, if it will alligator on it's own at all, will take several decades, and you don't have time for that. The solution - and this is what I do in my business as a shellac restoration and matching expert - is to use a heat gun. Go to Lowes or Home Depot, look in the paint section next to the paint sprayers, and find yourself a 1000-watt heat gun (looks like a hairdryer, puts out a WHOLE lot more heat). Before you go trying this on your actual woodwork, learn how to do it right first by PRACTICING (there is a technique to this) - go buy a piece of cheap wood (i.e. a small section of white pine 1x6 board), cover it with shellac (3 or 4 coats at a 3-lb. cut works nicely - thicker shellac does much better with this high-speed alligatoring process, especially if you're new at it) - let the shellac DRY (wait 24 hours between coats, then a week after the final coat). Then practice your alligatoring technique with the heat gun on the full 1000 watt setting. You want to get it hot enough to start bubbling like you're caramelizing the top of a creme brulee. But DON'T burn it; that causes the shellac to discolor and thus looks terrible. It's a fine line. Don't be afraid to hold the heat gun close and in one position for a while - it takes some considerable heat to get the shellac bubbling. Just don't burn it. You'll figure out how with practice. When you get it just right, the new shellac will match the old shellac perfectly. More questions? Email me at shellacexpert@gmail.com...See More1950s Kitchen Update Cabinet Color Crisis!
Comments (24)Current Resident - Very true on the stains...I considered sanding (sanding, and some more sanding) then trying a liming wax over the pine to tone down the orange a bit while still keeping the wood features. I didn't even consider that Sherwin Williams could match a stain to the steely blue I was thinking of for the lower cabinets. I will chat with them this weekend about that process, so thank you! Maybe it would be best to just have my contractor do the floor, butcher block counters, etc. and leave the cabinets until all possibilities have been considered. And the house has a mix of original finishes and updates. When my grandfather started to decline in mobility, the 1970s upstairs bathroom was completely renovated (we're talking white with gold vein floor tiles, yellow and green flower wallpaper, his custom built cabinets, etc.) were torn out for an accessible roll in shower to make it easier for us to bathe him. So that update is more modern (black granite, mosaic and subway tiles). The downstairs bathroom was renovated by my grandfather in the 70s, and has the harvest gold toilet, sink, ceramic tiles, etc. all still intact. It had pink and black tiles from the 50s before that. The den still has pine walls, cream and brown checkered tiles, a huge brick fireplace, and a wall of built in bookcases and cabinets. The entire upstairs (sans kitchen and bathroom) are oak floors with early american stain from the 70s, and the entire downstairs was some version of bright blue, orange or green shag carpets over checkered tiles in concrete. All the tiles have been covered with carpet - we have a split level ranch so the downstairs is rather chilly without carpet. The dining room is going strong with the Pickwick pine panels still... The four bedrooms have all been updated - one had panels and had been painted, the other three are plaster walls with swirls and have just been painted in neutral colors. Stairwells have pine all over and an orange and yellow glass pendant in the main one! So it's a mix!...See More1950s bathroom help
Comments (2)I'm not a designer or anything, but I personally think it's adorable. For resale, you might find out that you have a lot of other little projects to do around the house, so maybe put this one lower down in the priority list. If re-grouting is needed, do that. Then for resale, make sure it's super clean, buy new bathmats, fluffy white towels, and hang a pretty shower curtain, maybe a white one with some style to it like tassels at the bottom or a subtle tone-on-tone white, or pick up on one color other than white in the room. Adding some wall art above the towel bar and toilet would be nice too. Editting to add: If you want to do something related to the tile, I think it's less expensive to change the floor tile rather than the tub/shower surround because you don't have to re-do the waterproofing. You could install a calmer floor tile that looks good with the current peach and blue. The shower looks cute IMO, and it will be covered up or framed with a shower curtain anyway....See MoreFun2BHere
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