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.

Isn’t it all arts and crafts?

SIDE NOTES

Old House Journal • VOLUME XLIX, ISSUE 1

Bungalow Bound • Essential comforts for Arts & Crafts homes.

Fire and Hearth • Keep warm this winter, anywhere around the house.

Shingled Houses • From Maine to Oregon, a shingled house is typically informal, but shingles don’t point to any one style. These five date from 1780 to 1915.

ARTS & CRAFTS DO-OVER • With generous living space yet a focus on the outdoors, an undistinguished cottage is rebuilt in the Craftsman tradition.

CLOSETS & MUDROOMS • Use historical precedent for smart, elegant solutions to the problem of inadequate storage in an old house.

from Closets to Mudrooms • OLD HOUSES NOTORIOUSLY LACK STORAGE SPACE

MAKE IT USEFUL above all

AUTHENTIC INSPIRATION • Period manuals, magazine articles, and millworks catalogs offer a wealth of design ideas for closets and built-in storage.

CLOSETS OF OLD • Variants offer insight for designing today

Designing closets and storage for an old house • requires ingenuity, akin to finding stowage on a yacht. By comparison, the modern master “walk in” seems downright clumsy.

CLOSET DOOR, or a curtain? • A door hides clutter. It fully blocks UV light that might fade clothing, and it keeps household odors away from clothes. A portière (full-length door curtain) is a good option when a door swing would be awkward or impossible in the space. The portière also adds a decorative element. Hang the curtain from rings on a sturdy rod so that it’s easy to open and close.

built-in closets

Schematic for a Stair Hall • From the 1902 Birch Catalogue of the Paine Lumber Company, Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

Glasgow School in the Bathroom • A tutorial in bracing color and geometric, stylized forms.

ARCHIBALD KNOX RUGS

MILLWORK REPLICATION • CROWN MOULDING, A BASEBOARD, CASINGS & TRIM: missing or damaged? Answers here. + OLD-SCHOOL MILLWORK AT DRIWOOD.

MATCHING INTERIOR MILLWORK • If one lacks professional expertise, installing crown moulding, replacing missing bits of casing or trim around windows, and retrofitting lost baseboards may be an exercise in frustration. Especially when nothing in an old house is square! First learn about the role of trimwork, building up profiles, turning corners with mitered and coped joints, and what tools to use where.

cutting corners • “Turning the corner” is easily the most challenging part of any moulding installation or repair. It helps if you aced geometry in high school. For all others, learn to use a miter box, preferably one with a clamp. More experienced? Upgrade to a compound miter saw.

Two-Part Crown

match for a Patch

SHOPTOUR: DRIWOOD MOULDING CO. • For a company that turns out architecturally correct mouldings by the houseful, Driwood is an astonishingly compact business. A mere seven employees make all mouldings from scratch. Each piece of trimwork “goes into the moulder rough and comes out the other end as a finished piece,” says manager Mitchell Powell.

moulding KNOW-HOW

Wood Working • Five handy, high-quality devices make carpentry jobs go smoothly.

The Tradition of Burnt Wood • An ancient Japanese method for finishing woodwork was adapted by bungalow builders, and it’s back in style.

On Weather Stripping • This simple upgrade for windows and exterior doors increases comfort and saves on fuel...