Old House Journal

The Original Restoration Magazine for people who are passionate about old houses to repair, rehabilitate, update, and decorate their homes; covering all classic American architectural styles,—from the earliest Colonial-era buildings to grand Victorians of every variety to Arts & Crafts bungalows and mid-century ranches.

Old House Journal

look and see!

the quest is always HOMES WITH CHARACTER • FOR RENOVATIONS AND NEW BUILDS ALIKE, TRADITIONAL, TIMELESS ELEMENTS BRING LASTING QUALITY TO THE PROJECT.

A 19th-century life of COMFORT • Serial restorers take on a big, brick Victorian in St. Louis, Missouri. They were moved to furnish it as if the original family were here.

kitchens & revival baths

SHOP TOUR

Choosing Countertops

EARTHY COLORS, NEW LAYOUT • Textured tile and quarter-sawn oak make it a handsome revival kitchen.

the kitchen budget

IN CRAFTSMAN SERVICE MODE • In re-imagining a 1980s ranch, owners extended an Arts & Crafts-era sensibility to bathrooms.

A Bathroom from Salvage

wall & floor tile

SHOP TOUR

METAL ART TILES

lighting+hardware

True Chandeliers

SHOP TOUR

curtains to carpets

Dress a Simple Window • UNFUSSY TREATMENTS MAY BE USED ALONE OR AS AN UNDERLAYER.

furniture & decorative accessories

SHOP TOUR

To Start Furnishing

KITCHEN RENOVATION IN KEEPING • Built in 1790 by Quaker farmers, the stone house is a vernacular example.

walls & ceilings • WHATEVER THE PERIOD, once you have discovered the decorated wall—time-honored paint techniques and printed papers, embossed surfaces, ornamental plaster, carved wood—white walls may come to feel like the absence of finish. Even early interiors before 1840 used colors including brilliant yellow and Prussian blue as well as stenciling and murals. The tripartite treatment was fashionable in the Victorian era: walls divided into dado (or wainscot) below the chair rail, fill or field section, and frieze at the top of the wall. Ceilings, too, were decorated. Just a generation later, Colonial Revival rooms featured off-whites and grey.

Wallpaper in the Kitchen • Wallpapered kitchens were rare before the electric era, for obvious reasons: kitchens were historically smoky, greasy rooms to be kept spare and easy to clean. During the Victorian era, urban kitchens were often out of sight, in the rear basement, to contain heat and smells and to provide easy access to deliveries. No one would have thought to wallpaper such rooms.

SHOP TOUR

flooring

Painted Floors

house & garden details

A VIEW TO MID-CENTURY GARDEN DESIGN • A renowned collector of all things Mid-century Modern lets his motifs spill into his landscape in Hudson, New York.

good old windows

SHOP TOUR

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GOING UP • Do you long for private office space, a guest retreat, or a kids’ bonus room? The solution might be right over your head: no need to leave the neighborhood, or even put on an addition.

profressional services • A selective list of designers and consultants serving the old-house and period-homes market, specializing in both restoration and traditional new construction. These firms work in a large region or nationwide.