A warm and cosy parlour made even warmer with incandescent bulbs. Twin Gables, Calgary Alberta

Change your Lightbulbs before Painting Your Walls this Spring

I have written a couple of posts recently about how the new lightbulbs affect our antique light fixtures but there’s another aspect that you might not have thought about – how the light bulbs affect the colour in your home’s environment. If you, like many people, are still using incandescent light bulbs, the colour of your walls, whether paint or wallpaper, is given a warm … Continue reading Change your Lightbulbs before Painting Your Walls this Spring

Painting a clapboard and shingle house isn't something you want to do too often!

The Art of Painting Houses and Graffiti

I was at Home Depot this week picking up some paints and glazes to restore a trunk for a customer. While I waited for my paint to be mixed I rifled through a magazine that I had never seen before – probably because it’s a magazine for professional painters of the house type. The magazine is called “ProPainter”. In this Fall 2013 edition I found … Continue reading The Art of Painting Houses and Graffiti

Paintable Wallpaper a Good Option for Heritage Homes

Here’s an email I received for information about paintable wallpaper for old houses: Dear Johanne: Several years ago I attended one of your courses about Heritage Houses.  You showed us how you had renovated your bathroom, using paintable wallpaper.  It was gorgeous. Was it a difficult product to work with?  Some of the reviews that I have read indicated that there were adhesion issues.  Was that … Continue reading Paintable Wallpaper a Good Option for Heritage Homes

Millwork connects rooms.Lougheed House in Calgary.

What Wall Divisions Say about Your House

In a previous post I talked  about the interesting things that old house owners often find inside their walls. But the story doesn’t end there.  Walls, if they are original, say a lot more about your house than any newspaper fragments. Original walls tell the viewer about the type of construction that was used, and the kinds of materials that were in vogue at the time your … Continue reading What Wall Divisions Say about Your House