The one and only time I tried a raw diet was a few years ago. I stayed on it for about 4 loooong irritable days, consisting of mainly fruit and vegetable juice, before I caved and went back to “normal” cooked and solid food.
We’re going raw again, but luckily for me (and those around me), I’m not talking about food this time ’round. 🙂
The purchase of the property came with lots of character, including the original hardwood doors and hardware. Grandma did good in keeping those intact and somewhat untouched throughout the years.
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| Upstairs hall, circa 2015 pre-demo |
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| Upstairs East bedroom, circa 2015 pre-demo |
Below, to the right of Gabe and Dad, there the stack of original doors, which we carefully removed from the house before demo, sit happily stacked against the wall waiting patiently for their turn for some attention. There are 25 in total!
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| Doors and frames stacked in the shop |
My inspiration for the doors, like most other aspects of this house project, was a lofty goal. Everybody asked why not just give them a fresh coat of paint and call ’em good?! My answer – because they can be made great!
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| Door inspiration Source |
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| Door inspiration Source |
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| Ignore the gorgeous tub, I’m lookin’ at the doors! Source |
With a gallon of Zip Strip, goggles, gloves, mask, plastic scraper, and drop cloth, I set out to make it happen. After two days, and still not one perfectly stripped door in hand, I turned to Craigslist for help… (At this rate, it was going to take me 3 years to strip all of the doors!)
Fortunately for us, we found somebody to do the work who was just as passionate as us about revealing the raw beauty these doors held behind layers of old paint. Check out his work!
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| Under layers of white paint was the original brass hardware |
Please never paint hardware – especially a beautiful living finish like unlacquered brass!
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| An original glass knob |
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| Off to a great start in his workshop |
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| Full circle – Beginning to end |
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| My heart skipped beat – that’s what we’re going for! |
This kind of work is detail oriented and slow going, understandably so. Our craftsman is doing amazing work on the doors and I can’t wait to see his finished work in-person. (He’s been sending us picture updates of the progress, so we haven’t seen the final product yet firsthand.)
I plan to add a layer of clear wax to them prior to install. Any readers have recommendations for a clear wax product? Please leave a comment below, I’d love to hear your suggestions.
Now, if I can only talk the hubs into raw wood floors. 😉
They are beautiful Mir!
Thanks sis. xo
These are so beautiful! This is my brother, Matt Yates, who's been restoring them – I'm a proud sister, ha 🙂 What a wonderful thing you're doing by restoring these old doors for new use – our family are all suckers for southern Illinois history and appreciating and restoring beauty. I'm sure he's been glad to have such a cool project to work on!
Hi there Matt's sister – thanks for reaching out! We're really excited about the work he's doing! I know it's been a challenge and is likely testing his patience. 🙂
Beautiful!
Thanks T.M.!
That is going to add a ton of character. The pictures you have for "door inspiration" are really incredible, you are lucky the underlying wood and joinery looks so good!
Thanks Jackson 🙂 I can't wait to get my eyes on them and see the details!
My husband ^ Jackson told me about this project and I had to check it out–what a great idea starting this blog. I LOVE the door and think using the real-deal glass knobs is the best way to pay tribute to your grandma's house.
Can't wait to see what you do next!
Hi Andrea, thank you! I really love the old glass knobs too! Unfortunately, only a few of those came with the house. The rest are plain old brass, which I think will still look pretty once the paint is removed from the hardware. 🙂
I worked for Hannah for many years. She was a joy to be around, always had a funny story and a smile for me. She always sent me home with something, a dozen eggs or fresh tomatoes from her garden or a portion of a meal I cooked for her. I always loved being in that house and am so pleased you have purchased it and are restoring it. You are doing a great job and I hope to come visit when it’s all done. Hannah would be so proud!
Hi Tena! I hope you do come visit the house again soon; come by anytime!
Thank you, I can’t wait to see it!