IVORY & IRON

A quick stairwell update. A tough, small and tight space, I knew it needed to stay light and bright, but it needed texture. We have two sets of stairs that head to the second floor, but the front stairs were made for mini feet back in 1790, so this still-small-for-today’s-jumbo-feet, but better than the former is the main path to the second floor. Here’s what we did…

1. AUTENTICO VENICE LIME PAINT in the color Linen was the answer (if you aren’t lime painting your walls, you should be!). I originally painted this an earthy, deep sage green, which was a lovely color, but I just didn’t feel it suited the house. Autentico was the PERFECT choice!
2. Short steps make it tricky to protect from wear and tear, so BRASS KICKPLATES were the perfect solution – one of my favorite, easy and cheap accents. You will see in posts to come that I use these everywhere!
3. Custom IRON RAILING for a slight industrial and nod to the blacksmith days (we’ve been finding old blacksmithing tools on the property!)
4. Downloadable ART in $1 gold frames – an art wall under $50!

From dingy and sad to classic with a touch of flair that will stand the test of time and hold up to traffic.

Old house = inefficient. They kind of just go hand-in-hand. I could get into how old homes are actually super efficient compared to the sad boxes we build now, but that’s a rant for another day. As lovers of old homes and buildings, Adam and I go in knowing we are paying double to heat and cool our properties. Sad, but this character isn’t cheap. Some of our windows are original, some were replaced quite some time ago. ALL are insanely drafty single-panes that could use a lot of help. But we love the look and aren’t ready to invest (nor would be change the originals) in new windows.

This property didn’t have any storm windows hiding anywhere, so we knew we needed to find a solution, and quick. We are so thankful that this past winter was pretty mild, otherwise we would have taken out a loan to basically heat the outside (remember when your parents yelled at you about that and you thought they were being dramatic? Yeah, they weren’t.). Adam started extensively researching storms for the house. Most are not cute, that was my criteria, of course. But for Adam’s sake – 3 stories high juggling with an expensive piece of glass was not something he was interested in. Understandable. So “storm window alternative” was the google search.

He stumbled upon Indow Windows and we quickly contacted them. It was super easy to see the appeal. Acrylic (not super fragile glass), cut to size (old house windows and their crazy random sizes), easy to install/remove/re-install, easy to clean, INDOOR STORMS. Freaking genius, it kind of makes you mad you didn’t think of it, right?

My favorite selling point was that you couldn’t even tell they were installed in the photos on their site. Seriously, they so perfectly blend into your window frame – it’s almost like they add a little extra trim accent. And they are so pristine, even more so than glass, it’s unreal. Adam may or may not have hit his head on them a few times because they are so crystal clear. Adam’s favorite aspect was the whole not fumbling on a ladder situation. After a quick chat about options, we decided to go with the standard grade, which stops drafts and reduces noise by 50%! Being right on a state road we get a ton of street noise, so that noise reduction was huge to us!

We decided to install the Indows in 2 of our 3 guest rooms, the second floor foyer, the living room and the future parlor on the main floor… to start. The guest rooms for obvious reasons – it’s all about a cozy atmosphere and we wanted to be able to control the temperature and airflow. The two guest rooms we installed in have 3 windows each, two of them street side and have a lot of harsh sun coming in (great for the natural light, not so great in the dead of summer with the heat blaring in). And the noise reduction has been astounding, you barely hear cars flying by doing 50 mph (even though it’s 35, people!), it’s that amazing.

The front foyer (the first photo) gets basically no traffic at all. However, over the winter, that one little window was constantly frosted over and it was crazy hot in that tiny space. The window was so drafty, it was pulling all of the heat from the bedrooms and main floor and sending it right outside. No more! That one single Indow insert made a huge difference in the temperature on the main floor. So definitely think about the airflow in your house and where the path of destruction is coming from!

Silicone compression tubing makes it easy to create a perfect seal because it’s flexible. So as the old windows shift, so does the tubing! So smart! And that little silver ring on the right photo makes it easy to pop it right out for a bit of cleaning (or in our case, never ending painting of trim).

We quickly made the decision to keep the indoor storms in year round. If it’s keeping the heat in during winter, it must keep the air in during the summer, obviously. And I can say that they have done wonders this Summer! Plus, because they reduce UV, the plants LOVE their spots next to the windows and they aren’t getting those hot sunspots/burns you often see on delicate leaves. All around, a must for every home! We can’t wait to order more for the rest of the house.

I’ll let you pop over to their website to see the amazing and accurate stats on all of the advantages. Whether you THINK you need new windows are are just looking for savings/sound reduction, Indow is seriously your next phone call! We wouldn’t rave about it if we weren’t obsessed. Here’s a video about our install.

INDOOR STORM WINDOWS: Indow Window

The first project we started in the house was the mudroom. Seems a bit low on the priority list, but there’s a few reasons why we made this priority.

1. It’s our main entry into the house from our driveway.
2. I really like doing laundry in my own home and not hauling everything to the laundromat.
3. Most important… there were FIVE doorways in this little space. Seriously… FIVE. And they needed to go.

I am NOT an open concept person. I like each room having it’s own space and the ability to close it off, but this mudroom/utility/laundry area was a bit ridiculous. Impossible to capture a photo of the entire space as one, the combined area is only 8′ x 12′, so to have FIVE doorways seemed a bit absurd. Adam started demo and saw that each door had been shrinking in size over the years. As in, framing in smaller doors multiple times! Why were they making the doors smaller over the past 230 years?! Two of them were only 25″ wide. Some things we will never know.

And all but two doorways were unnecessary – the actual exterior door and the door to the in-law suite. Oh, and we couldn’t fit our washer and dryer in, or the existing washer/dryer out (and they were small), so there’s that. Aside from being filthy and impractical, it was a matter of redoing some structural, plumbing and electrical, all new drywall, new tile, paint – you know, everything. What lies beneath was a lot more involved than what we expected, which is kind of what we expected. There is a crawl space under this area that had zero insulation and it was clear the plumbing pipes had frozen several times. No more!

We weren’t looking to make this space super fancy, nor did we really have the room to expand. But it had to be practical and clean looking considering it’s on display from the kitchen. Adam removed all of the plaster so we could add insulation into all of the exterior walls. The window by the washer and dryer was shortened so part of it wasn’t stuck behind anything. We left the brick of the kitchen fireplace exposed and sealed, which I think is a nice earthy touch.

We added a gorgeous black slate tile in a straight herringbone pattern. My favorite pattern, but the space was too small to keep it on its traditional angle. Adam designed the perfect compromise by keeping it square, which is a little more traditional for the house as well. Yes, I will spend my entire life keeping it clean, but it’s all in the name of more black in my life!

Adam also added plumbing into the cabinet next to the washer where the dog’s bowls will eventually live (rather than in the kitchen fireplace currently). There are still a few more finishing touches ( antique shopping!) like a pretty umbrella holder, and some small touch ups that we will add. And knowing me, the space will evolve over time.

It was fun to find some cute wallpaper and other treasures – keys, the gift tag labeled wiring, though Adam was not impressed, animals (well, that wasn’t cute). Other than that, I won’t bore you with the details and just share some fun photos.

BEFORE

AFTER

PRODUCTS CREDITS –
WALL & TRIM PAINT: Sherwin Williams White Tail
DOOR PAINT: Benjamin Moore Twilight Zone
CEILING LIGHTS: IKEA
WALL HOOK: IKEA
WASHER/DRYER: GE
MIRROR: VINTAGE
TILE: Home Depot
ROMAN SHADE: JCPenney, Microchip Gray
CABINET HARDWARE: Home Depot
WALL PLANTER HOOK: Crate & Barrel