Our First Restoration

Bill and I met while he was restoring our home in Hopewell; emptying mud insulation, re-framing and siding with an addition. He bought this house having a cracked main beam, walls bowed & separated from floors, no windows or front door and chickens living in it creating a near foot of manure. He had a hammock, electric burner & blanket, a hose outside and outhouse to use. His down vest was covered in duct tape and I made mine in the seventies from a "revolutionary" Whole Earth Catalogue kit. Christian wears it now. While staying home, I am cleaning closets (finding old photos etc.) and making a new office for Bill here.

My Go-To White Paint

The kitchen, coatroom and mudroom here will all be painted Benjamin Moore's "Decorator's White"... and old thin beaded trim Benjamin Moore's "White" which will be a shade lighter to stand out. Cool "Decorator's White" has always been my go-to white paint since the seventies and I started painting rooms. It is considered an architect's white, great for showing off art and architecture.

Christian has decided to leave the very old framing and insulating bricks exposed in this kitchen nook and soon the old; small doorknobs newly polished will be added back to the stripped and repainted doors.

The old brass hardware was cleaned with 0000 steel wool and then buffed on a wheel with Tripoli compound.

Restoring A Crystal Chandelier

The many faceted and sized ball crystal beads in this chandelier date it to the 1800's and of a high European quality. I bought it with a dish of loose beads to replace the gaps and few missing swags with thin wire. Only one ornamental glass flower is missing which I've found on Etsy. After replacing I'll start buffing the brass parts with a Dremmel, Red Rouge and White Diamond compounds while Christian will rewire it with eight new electrical sockets. Finally, I've found a bottom brass finial to hold the pieces together, and already it is remarkable in the sunlight!

A Belle Epoque 1890's French Crystal Basket Chandelier. Above: basket repaired.

We'll bathe clean the body of crystals in "Simple Green Pro HD" which is safe for a project like this when water solutions could be a problem with thin wire in its' assembly. At 22" wide it is an impressive; dazzling light dating back to a time of lovely cut crystals, design and brass work. Sometimes lighting is everything and patina is something else.

Kitchen Rennovation I

We decided to vent the stove hood out the front of the house through 15' of 8" round duct with one 45 degree and two 90 degree turns mostly along the original brick insulated exterior wall frame. A few no longer insulating bricks have been removed.

Only two brands 27" double wall ovens fit the cabinet space here; GE Cafe and Kitchen Aid. I found the latter at a scratch and dent store in RI with a replaced broken glass door and dents to it's interior frame. It is new, 1/4 the original cost and will look great after installation. We picked it up on the way to visit Old Farm, in Bill's Volvo 940 wagon.

New Kitchen Ceiling

We are installing "Roxul Safe 'N' Sound" insulation in Christian's kitchen ceiling before sheet-rocking. This is fireproof; sound-deadening insulation inspectors love, made of lava stone from Canada. It will insulate below the master bathroom and dressing room above in the old addition to the main house structure. Both floors of these rooms have Runtal cast iron wall radiators, hydronic floor heat and forced hot air which will be cozier with Roxul insulation below them. Having Alex here to help is great.

Two-by-four braces were built to hold sheetrock boards in place after securing with glue and then screws.

Installing A Plaster Ceiling Medallion

Alex and Bill installed this very fine 3 ft.; 13 piece plaster acanthus leaf design ceiling medallion, together this weekend. The mold for this medallion is from an antique found in a 19th century brownstone in Boston's historic South End, circa 1850. Alex first fashioned a metal apparatus behind the center piece to allow for easy access to the electrical box with parts from Home Depot. He then used an electric disc sander to make the backs of all pieces flat before brushing smooth and priming fronts with a spray coat of "Cover Stain". The next day Bill painted the fronts with Benjamin Moore latex white ceiling paint to match the surrounding sheetrock ceiling. The first exterior pieces were glued with "Loctite Power Grab" along a centered parallel line to the long wall of the room. By laying out the medallion on the floor first, the spacing and positioning between parts was noted. Light: Tom Dixon Etch Web.

 

A 45th Princeton University Reunion

In May of 2020, our Princeton University Class of 1975 will celebrate it's 45th Reunion and the planning for this 5 yr. major event has well begun. Since Bill and I helped with the 25th (I designed the fabric for Class blazers to be worn) housing families and contracting food, beverage and bands; while continuing as chairs for the next ten years....we will be involved with costumes and libations only. Whew. Above is a teddy made from Class of  '58 Reunion fabric "Hand Print" by Lily Pullitzer and a gift to me from a wonderful '75 classmate... which inspired several stuffed animals below of '75 Class Reunion jacket fabric.

I used a vintage McCalls pattern sold on Etsy which originally cost $.35, came without sewing instructions and smaller in scale compared to their inspiration. They do have squeakers I stuck inside and real diploma ribbons though. Below is the fabric on "Prade".