There must be a billion photos online of upscale boutique hotels. Pick what you like. Will you be putting wall to wall carpet on the bedroom floors? Will you be carrying the same carpet into the hallways and throughout — or bare wood floors + rugs?

Upstairs will do high end looking vinyl (wood looking.. don’t want carpet and tile is too heavy). Keeping original hardwood floors downstairs with rugs. Just not sure what the design I’m looking for is called. Like a chic not too cluttered aesthetic.

Beautiful house! Are you planning to occupy this home, or turn it into a B&B? If the latter, having different room themes might be appealing....

One thing you might want to consider is sound issues on the second floor if you have a lot of people living in the house, you might want rugs or carpets upstairs to cut the noise. Also, colonials from the 1920s tend to have a lot of millwork and trim and paneling, so if you want an unclutte red look, you might think about monochrome and neutral color schemes rather than wallpapers (and spend the money you save on luxury bedding)

Thanks! We will definitely do rugs upstairs. This will be an airbb that is rented as a whole house. We will use white IKEA duvets on each bed so that they can be washed in hot water after each stay.

you might want to look up Lark hotels. they purchased bunches of historic inns through out the east coast and transformed them into boutique hotels .

https://www.larkhotels.com/

Wow!!! Thanks so much for the info! Exactly what I’m looking for:)

Full wall murals can be an inexpensive but impressive way to invidualize bedrooms while otherwise keeping everything neutral

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Love these. Thank you

Agree. The upstairs is all old carpet. When we tear it out, hopefully it’s original wooden floors. Upstairs vinyl will be a last resort.

Also please let us know you won't be painting the newel post or banister and will "modernize" the house mostly in furnishings.

Exciting project! What a beautiful old home. But when you said “vinyl” my heart fell a little; I hope you don’t go that route. I agree with ABC’s comment. This house deserves better.

If you're doing white bedlinens, consider looking at rugs for the 6 bedrooms first, then choosing other textiles, art, etc. to complement them. Might be easier than trying to find large rugs to go with established decor. I hope you'll post pics of your finished rooms!

Great advice! Seems to be less overwhelming. Will post Picts! As far as the floor- first floor is all original hardwood. We don’t know what’s under the gross carpet upstairs. Ideally it will be original hardwood we can refinish. If it’s not, our carpenter says we can’t do tile. Fingers crossed:)

Talk to a person who makes his/her living finishing floors. Most likely the floors upstairs are okay, but might need some boards replaced. Have someone who is an expert take a look.

Will do! Thank you!

No wood-look-alike vinyl. It will downgarde the experience instantly.

What would you suggest for upstairs if the floor is not a nice original hardwood? We can’t do tile.

Cool house! I think it's better to change the room color to an art wall! Just changing in some room and remain unchanged other. It will make those rooms outstanding and charge higher price

Do the same hardwood that is downstairs

If you can’t afford hardwood, at least do a good engineered wood floor that is similar to downstairs look. No vinyl please.

If you haven’t already, remove that ceiling fan from entry hall and put a semi flush fixture in a similar look to entry pendant. Of course we coming rugs at the door and runners will warm up the space. This area is key statement to house experience. Not sure where you are located but find a map of the area of the year the house was built and hang in entryway over a small hall table with a Guest Book for guests to sign in and out and share some key part of their visit. 📖

“Welcoming” rugs. This auto correct is causing so much rewriting!!

CARPET WALL TO WALL upstairs! The acoustics in a house full, will be a nightmare if you have anything else.

I would replace the chandelier -

with something like this art glass piece.

https://www.lampsplus.com/products/amber-scroll-35-and-one-half-inch-wide-art-glass-chandelier__66491.html

My focus would not be on modernizing the house, but rather complementing what is there. House looks to be in pristine condition, at least the visible areas in these pics appear to be. And yes, you might want to really consider new, good quality wall to wall carpeting upstairs. There is a reason why it is used in many hotels. Sound absorption, etc.

My daughter owns a home over 100 years old and they have kept the integrity of the house too. They do have carpet upstairs, however, I think that there’s a lot of engineered flooring that’s designed with barriers to help with the acoustics.

Yes decormyhomepls, good quality engineered wood has properties to help with acoustics. Worth the investment. Most people staying away from home want surfaces that are cleanable not carpeting. Allergies being one reason. Just get good quality materials. 22 mil wear layer for example. Get to a good local flooring company. There are 5 or 6 very good products out there. Best if the local has their own installers and stand behind their installations. No big box store installers.

Chances are the upstairs rooms will be wood, too. There will be a good chance that some of the floor will be replaced flooring in spots. It could even be plywood in places. Get a good flooring person and a carpenter in to assess conditions after you pull out the carpeting. Then, you can formulate a plan.

Above all, respect the architecture and the house. It's not a farmhouse or suburban tract house. Don't try to make it a period that it isn't. It will be more effort, but you can find a lot of appropriate period and transitional used but in good condition furnishings at Charish, Etsy, Craigslist, and Ebay. It's worth making the effort.

What is the space above the closets? Are the doors upstairs original?

I second the recommendation to respect the history of the house, but don’t be surprised if you find out the history is pretty typical for the what happened in America after World War i – which is that a money boom and the building of commuter rail lines by private railroad companies meant that a lot of small farms near cities got bought up by property developers who sub-divided them up to build upscale family houses, in a mix of styles, with center hall colonials being one of the mainstays. There was an entire philosophy of building these towns — they are planned a certain way, with many trees — and while we don’t think of them as ”suburban”, that is what they are. They very often have incredible hardwoods in them because it was cheap and easy to use them. Sometimes an original farmhouse was left standing, but usually these 100-year old houses from around 1921 were built at the exact time as all their neighbors in what had been strawberry or corn fields..

That construction boom ended with the stock market crash of 1929. It wasn’t until after WW2 that much family housing started into construction again, but this time it was the private automobile that spurred new development, and a different kind of house for a different class of home buyers — newly married couples without a lot of money beyond a GI loan who wanted a modern home near schools and other young families.

Don, just high closet ceiling. ital, thanks got your historical information. Very interesting:)

As homechef59 notes, there is most likely wood flooring under carpet upstairs. if it is in good condition, I would not replace it with engineered wood.

Folks have been staying in carpeted hotels for a long time... and still are... It is what it is. And you can get good quality carpeting that is also eco-friendly and cleanable. Green cleaning, without noxious chemicals is best. Nothing worse than walking into a place that has used noxious chemical cleaners and horrible air fresheners. If you are planning on using area rugs - it is really the same type of situation with rugs and some people’s allergies, etc. - except area rugs will not be as effective in controlling the noise. You get good vacuum cleaners that have hepa air filter, vacuum regularly, and open windows.

I had a hundred year old house, and the plain cheap at the time pine wood underfloor was by modern standards high quality. So double check the floors upstairs, even if they are pine, anything solid wood in good condition can be refinished fairly easily and coated with poly to protect long term. Then area rugs. Much better if you are planning on renting. Or you can even paint solid wood floors. Not saying don't replace, but take a look at the quality of the sub floor, you may be surprised. Not in a modern house, no way, it will be particle board. But 100 years ago their cheap wood is our high end stuff now.

And if you do go with carpet, I agree with Freedom, get something low profile, made for high traffic and consider the replaceable carpet tiles, great if you end up finding stains, etc. you just replace the section that's damaged, don't have to redo the whole room over and over. Avoid the plush and pile carpets like the plague, they will end up harboring a lot of sins. Ask me how I know . . .

I second the idea to look at FLOR carpet tiles. Some patterns definitely seem better suited than others to minimize showing wear and the potential for swapping out one section. https://www.flor.com/get-inspired/

The site does note that FLOR is not suitable for use on "vintage varnish" floors, so that's a question that would need to be addressed.

Would really want to see the floor plan; especially where the plumbing runs are and how the baths align to serve the bedrooms. 100 years ago, ensuites were not as ubiquitous as they are today. As a vacation property manager since 2003, I would highly recommend attempting to add baths to the two bedrooms that don't have them. I have used carpet tiles in a rental and they were very convenient to switch out when a drunk guest threw up and ruined one. Always keep extras on hand. However, they won't feel as high end as you may be looking to install.

Extra Picts

Open concept is seriously overdone and overrated and I cannot believe that you actually think this is a good idea for this 100 year-old house.

@Corrin Wilcox great to see the extra pics but take down the ones that include the address of the house

100 years old ain’t nothin’, but seriously most of the houses you see in Houzz pictures with renovated kitchens that are blended with dining rooms are 100 years old! The original suburbs of America — the entire NYC metro area, which extends into New Jersey and Connecticut, all around Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Chicago — all the major cities of the eastern half of America — are filled with towns that have nothing BUT 100 year old houses that have been renovated over and over. And dining rooms are gone in most of them, blended into kitchens that have islands — etc etc. it’s totally typical. There is scarcely a person posting on Houzz who would know how to cook a meal inside an unrenovated 1921 kitchen. Ever seen a 1921 refrigerator?

I owned a 103 year old center hall coloronal like this one (minus the exterior balcony) with a separate formal dining room which I never used. Previous owners had confiscated the mud room and added a bump out to the kitchen to make it ”eat in” and that is where we ate. The house had two pantries separating the kitchen from the formal dining room. The most recent owners of the house have busted through the 2 pantries and thus made one half the house a continuous food-centric space for cooking and dining. Normal for the neighborhood. Nobody thinks they’ve committed a crime against historic architecture. The design of the house probably came from a Sears catalogue, and it was hacked to squeeze into an avaiable (narrower) lot.

Will be fun if someday people get scolded for violating the architectural integrity of McMansions.

No big chandelier as the ceiling is only slightly more than 8 ft tall. Can you find a chandelier that is only 18" tall?

I hope we can find one that fits the space. Taking down all of the ceiling fans in weird places.

As a former owner of a 1900 Victorian, hope you have deep pockets because I see a good bit of work and restoration. Renting the whole house seems challenging at best. Porch looks like there might be some wood condition issues. What budget are you planning for? Will you upgrade plumbing and electrical and sewer lines. These infrastructure items can eat a budget fast and must be done. Big undertaking. We had a 10 year plan and the house was owned by one person. Year 10 we got job transfers and second redo of kitchen got handed off to new owners. I wouldn’t tear down any walls. If people come, they are looking for a 1920 experience. Not a modernization. We sold our house in hours. At asking price. So think things through. Research what renters want.

Art glass was very popular at that time and not all of it is the awful stuff you see today hanging over pool tables in basements

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Please do not make it open concept. It's a bad idea in a historic house.

Flo, fortunately all of the plumbing is new, same for electricity and all new windows. Siding is not old. We are budgeting 50k because we feel a lot of it is cosmetic. We were lucky that the seller did a lot of updates as far as the non-cosmetic stuff.

That is huge bonus! Then just get the porch rehabbed and redo lighting. I
It’s a great time to snag some period furniture because the antique market is low so should be fun shopping for furniture needs. I would do fairly light downstairs and warm tones upstairs. Going to be a fabulous project.

Thank you so much for the advice!!!

Please Baby Jesus, if you do "modernize" and take down any original fixtures or mouldings, put them in the attic or some safe on-property storage for future homeowners to return to the house when they restore to original! All the original pocket doors and light fixtures and outdoor gingerbread trim were missing from our house - and we curse the "modernizers"!!!

I did a double take — I’ve seen this house! Congratulations! It’s a wonderful place and I think it’ll do great as a vacation rental there.

No groundbreaking advice … I just 100% agree with keeping the antique charm of it. It’s a unique property in a unique town, nothing like ital mover up there is comparing it to.

Maybe research some other area properties, talk to designers, talk to historians, etc. That area is very big on history, and most visitors go there looking for that experience.

Hope you update us! Good luck with everything. :)

Hi Corrin - just FYI, I very easily located this house online. Please do remove your information! That said, the pix show lots of updates of a few different eras - perhaps less than half the house is original?? Maybe that info will help those pros to help you incorporate the old with the not-so-old.