Trees: The good, The Bad and The Ugly

Trees:

I spent a lot of my childhood learning about trees. This knowledge has helped me when it comes to the landscape around our home.  Growing up we heated our home with a wood burning stove in the basement. Most Saturday mornings my father would wake me up before dawn so we could cut a load of wood. In the process my father taught me all about trees.

When most people look at trees they typically see the trunk, branches, and leaves.  People may enjoy a tree for its size, its beauty, its shade.   I often find peace in nature especially when I'm around trees and water.  I found this on the Power of Positivity site and it reminded me of how many great lessons we can learn from trees.

I took this photo below at Voyager Park a few years ago.  I sat on this bench for awhile to relieve some stress and suddenly felt a feeling of peace coming over me.  As I walked away I turned around and took a photo of the changing leaves with my cell phone.  It wasn't until I downloaded it onto my computer that I saw the ray of sunshine through the trees pointing right at the bench where I was sitting.  

Although I really do have an appreciation for trees and nature; after owning several homes, I now look at a tree and I think of the problems it may cause my home. The root system underground is at least as big, if not bigger, than what you see above ground.  I also think about the type of trees in a yard.  Do they lose their leaves? How much raking will they require? Do they lose anything else? Crab apples? Walnuts? Do the tree branches need trimming? Are there any dead branches that may fall down or do damage in a storm? Are there branches touching the house, wires or gutters? How old is the tree? Will it get bigger? These are the questions I now think about when buying a home or planting new trees.

The Historic District has a specific list of trees that they want to continue to flourish in the neighborhood. Although I plan to respect this list when we add new landscape, I am more concerned about which trees need to be cut down.  My priority is making our home last.  When we moved in, only a foot from our garage stood a giant black walnut tree.  The root system already damaged and busted the concrete in the garage.  Concrete has nothing on live tree roots. A tree will always win no matter how well your home is built. The walnut tree made great shade in our back yard, but also dropped golf ball sized walnuts.  These walnuts can cause damage to a roof and can even put dents in vehicles. Once the walnuts land they crack open.  If it rains before you can pick them up, they turn into a black stinky mess all over the yard.

Years ago black walnuts were soaked in water and used to make wood stain.  The walnuts themselves can be eaten and the wood from the tree trunk can be sold and made into high end furniture. The original owner of the land on this block (According to my neighbor Claire - Her father owned this land) planted a walnut tree in each lot. I'm sure he hoped to make money on them, but in my eyes these trees are nothing but problems. For me it was an easy decision-the tree had to come down.  We hired professional tree cutters to remove the tree piece by piece. We kept most of the wood for our fireplace, but sold the trunk to offset the cost to cut it down.  I don't feel too bad because Claire cut down the walnut tree in her yard too.

We also took down a crab apple tree in the front yard because the red crab apples landed on our sidewalk.  The movers unknowingly got them on their shoes and stained our carpet. The tree also prevented light from coming in through my favorite window. Despite its beautiful flowers in the Spring, it had to go. Finally, we trimmed the pine tree in our front yard so the branches weren't touching the gutters. We have been slowly making progress on our yard, but I plan to do more research before I plant anything new.  I apologize if our yard looks a bit bare at the moment. Hopefully, if I make the right decisions, I can make this home last and prevent issues for future home owners.

Thanks for reading about my thoughts on trees: the good, the bad, and the ugly. Do you have problematic trees in your yard? I would like to hear about them.  Also, please post a comment about your favorite types of trees so I can research them and see if they are on the Historic District list.

Mixing Hardware and Lighting Finishes

Mixing Hardware and Lighting Finishes:

This is from an article on Houzz.com
Go Ahead: Mix Your Finishes

When people say all white kitchens look alike, I can't disagree more. Just changing the finish of the hardware completely changes the look of a kitchen, even when the hardware is exactly the same style.

Depending on the other finishes in your kitchen, you may consider satin nickel, polished chrome or nickel, or oil-rubbed bronze. Don't feel like you have to match the cabinet hardware to the lighting or plumbing fixture finishes. I like to mix finishes by using antique brass light fixtures and polished nickel pulls to give a kitchen a more collected-over-time feel.

Who knew that my house, with all its varied lighting and hardware finishes, was so trendy! Ha! I hardly believe that my old home is setting any trends, but I like to think the hardware and lighting finishes have indeed been collected over time.  I actually don't believe much thought has gone into this "collecting". As far as I can tell, each homeowner replaced lighting and hardware with the trend at the time instead of what was original to our home.  I am guilty of this myself.  

Lighting

This foyer light is original to the home.  The glass in it is incredibly heavy and has a painted brass finish that matches the original door knobs.  It is rare and I would probably cry if something happened to it.  Some people have told me to replace it with something new, but I just don't have the heart to take out any original light fixtures.  It will stay in our home as long as it works and as long as Dan and Benjamin don't throw a football into it. 

These 3 fixtures are fairly new and all have a bronze finish. I added Edison bulbs (circa 1910) to the dining room fixture and removed the candle globes that were around the lightbulbs.  It's a bit of a current trend, but at least it nods to the time period of the home. I haven't decided what kind of fixture I want in the dining room yet, so for now this will have to do.

            

The bronze school house light is in our hallway upstairs.  It is a nice addition to this home and looks old even though it is new.  I found the bronze powder room light on clearance at Menards for $30.  I love a good deal.

            

I am not a fan of ceiling fans.  We have one in each of the bedrooms upstairs and they all have different finishes…bronze, white, brushed nickel, and brass.  We added the white one with the medallion to the nursery.  At least the medallion makes it look old.  They do help the air circulate upstairs, so I understand why previous home owners added them.

            

             

Hardware

These brass door knobs are original to the home.  They are tarnished and have paint on them from someone who was too busy to unscrew them before painting the doors.  I often wonder why someone painted all the doors.  I'm tempted to have the doors sandblasted or strip all the paint off them just to see what they look like.  All of our trim and 5 panel doors were painted long before we moved here.

            

We added these new doors handles and locks when we moved in.  I promise to remove them when I paint our entrance doors.

            

Here are some of the other door knob finishes in our home.  Brushed nickel and 80's brass.

            

Now, my dilemma is what do I do with all of these finishes?  Do I work to bring everything back to the original antique brass look?  Do I keep adding to the collection?  With the upcoming kitchen remodel I keep debating over what kind of knobs and pulls to order.  Right now I'm leaning towards Bronze and Glass knobs and bronze pulls.  I don't want to introduce yet another finish into the home.  I think if anything I want to get the home down to the original antique brass and the bronze finishes.  That would look deliberate without looking matchy, matchy.  It would only require replacing a few door knobs and eventually the ceiling fans and dining room light.  Anyone know of good places to find old looking hardware and lighting?

Memories in Our Home

Memories in Our Home:

I am very interested in how our home has transformed over the years.  What did it look like when it was first built? Who lived here? How did they decorate?  What memories do they have in our home?

Well, thanks to a folder of historic documents that came with our home I was able to get some of that information. Also, a special thank you goes out to Mr. Joe Seroogy who knows the daughter of the Ray Hein family who moved our home in the 60's.  She found these old photos and sent them to us so we could add them to our historic documents folder.  How wonderful! Thank you, thank you!

It makes me smile to think of all the memories this home has witnessed. 100 years of holidays, family get togethers, children, and grandchildren. I really wish my home could talk.  It could tell me all about the people who lived here. What would it say to me?  Maybe..."Sadie, it's really cold outside. Please add some more insulation to my attic." Or "Paint my porch already!" I imagine my home as this omniscient being who could correct me, tell me how it is supposed to be done, and then kindly tell me the history behind why things were done that way. 

For example, one of the photos below shows wallpaper in the foyer.  Was the wallpaper original to the home or added later? Looking at the same walls today I can see that someone painted right over the top of this wallpaper.  Wouldn't it be great if my home could tell me why?  Maybe they didn't like it. Maybe it was coming off but was too difficult to remove without having to also repair the old plaster.  Without knowing the "why" I just make my best guess, research, and try to do it right. Not that I'm going to remove the paint and wallpaper and repair plaster…that would be crazy!

Take a look at these photos. I have no idea who these people are, but I feel that living in this house connects us all. I wish I could meet them so I could give them a big hug and tell them how much we enjoy their home. They sure look like they had some fun here. I bet they would have a million stories to tell. 

I'm going to show you the photo and attempt to get the same photo angle of our home today.

Living Room:  The fireplace wall was chocolate brown when we moved in (see fireplace remodel post) and I wanted to bring it back to a lighter color that showed off the built in bookcase.  I just couldn't bring myself to cover up that beautiful window with lots of curtains.  I wanted to let in as much light as possible.  There was carpet in our living room in the old photo, but I love our hardwood floors!

Kitchen:  I think the kitchen was new in this old photo.  Three women doing the dishes together…I want to hear their conversation, don't you? The cabinets have been since painted white.  We are remodeling our kitchen in May so watch for an entire post on that! New cabinet doors, hardware, countertop, sink, faucet, backsplash and pulling up the vinyl and restoring the hardwood floors.

Here is the kitchen after the remodel project.

Basement Bar:  Ray Hein used to bartend at the Union Hotel here in De Pere.  We have heard that he had some great parties in this house.  The basement was finished off with this knotty pine and a bar after the house was moved. We have nicknamed the basement "The Supper Club" as it just has that feel to it when we hang out down there.  We often watch movies in the basement and Ben and his friends  have a big space to play when they come over to visit.

Foyer:  I can still see the pattern of the wallpaper behind layers of paint.  I like the paint better, but I know wallpaper was the big trend in these old homes.  Our good friend and former neighbor Rick Kolb made that foyer table for me.  I still need to paint/stain it but can't decide if I want to paint it white or stain it dark like our fireplace mantle.  Any suggestions?

Living Room/Dining Room: Dan and I have joked that we should reenact this photo.  Wouldn't that be fun?  Who wants to see Dan with glasses and blue suede shoes and me holding Maddie?  I really do love that old chair and ottoman by the way.  I lost the recliner battle with Dan.  Ugh.  Well, he works hard and deserves to watch TV in a chair of his choice.  He graciously lets me do just about anything I want with the rest of the house, so I'm grateful for that.  We also really like our bench seat in the dining room.  We put another long table up to it for the kids when we entertain.  You can see lots of curtains in the old photo.  Again, I just love the sun pouring into our home, so we just have some basic wooden blinds on the windows.  It is hard to see from these photos how tall our ceilings are.  They stretch to 9 feet.  The space is quite impressive when you walk into the foyer.

Thanks again for reading my blog.  I hope you enjoyed the then and now photos.  I would love to hear your comments!  Next I think I will spend some time blogging about the light fixtures and hardware.

Take care,

Sadie

Our Old Windows

Our Old Windows:

Spring-like weather at the end of a long winter is wonderful. The sun pours through our large windows and fills our home with warmth. One hundred year old windows are beautiful! Why would anyone want to replace old windows?  When we moved in I cleaned them and attempted to open any that weren't painted shut. Most of our windows are original rope-pull windows.  You can hear and feel the weights slide down the sides of the windows when you open them.  Ahhh…the sounds of old homes.  :)  When properly cleaned, painted and maintained, these windows last forever.  Two of our original windows have leaded glass, one of which has beveled leaded glass that really sparkles in the morning and leaves rainbow prisms all over our living room when the sun shines through it.

Two windows were added during the 60's after the home was moved. We couldn't figure out why the upstairs was cold. The two windows from the 60's are in the master bedroom and are the newest and worst windows in the house.  They are drafty, small, and require plastic in the winter months. I'm researching how to bring back the original sized windows and large trim that was taken out and replaced with these cheap little bedroom windows.  People may think that old windows make a home cold, but I would argue that bad/cheap windows make a home cold.  The original 1910 wood windows are the best in the house! Instead of spending money on replacing perfectly good original windows, I looked at other ways to improve the efficiency of our home.

One thing that we did right away was insulate the attic and have the attic door sealed. What a difference!  We were told that old homes were built to breathe. If the attic isn't properly insulated the heat will escape right through the roof. There was some insulation in the attic, but not nearly enough to meet today's standards.  Adding more insulation and sealing off the attic door helped to prevent precious heat from escaping through our attic.  Now our home is nice and toasty in the winter.  The original plaster walls also keep our home warm in winter and cool in summer. We rarely run our air conditioning.  In fact, I want to add the old wooden screen doors on our front and back doors for summer so the house can breathe and create a nice cross breeze.  It's amazing how much air we can get to flow through this house with the windows open.

All this talk of windows makes me want to get out my favorite window cleaner.  The best thing I have found to clean windows is called Invisible Glass. It is better than windex products and even better than the old newspaper trick my grandma talks about.  Invisible Glass in the aerosol can is found at most stores in the cleaning aisle or at auto parts stores.  I first found it and used it on my car windows.  Best product on the market for cleaning windows.  Check it out!

http://www.invisibleglass.com/Products/household/aerosol

Disclaimer...No, I'm not getting paid to promote this product.  

The History of Our Foursquare Part 2

The History of Our Foursquare Part 2:

In my last post I mentioned that our house was moved down Broadway in De Pere to its current location.  Here is the newspaper article.  Thank you to the people at White Pillars here in De Pere for helping me find this. "Ray Hein moved a house from 319 S. Broadway to 615 N. Broadway."  I believe it was S. Broadway by mistake.  I found other documents showing lots and house diagrams that puts our house originally at 319 N. Broadway near where the current Library is located.  If my home had to be moved for a library and future businesses, I'm okay with that. We really enjoy downtown De Pere.

I like the original grey paint color and grey roof shingles. Foursquare homes back then were simple and understated.   I also plan to bring shutters back to the front of our house.    Here it was (below), I believe in the 80's, white with black shutters.  Simple!  This homeowner had great taste.  The metal porch has since been replaced with wood…I know, I know…we need to paint the wood porch railing.

When the time comes I may just go back to either white or classic grey for the siding.  The only problem with white on a busy street is it needs to be power washed to keep it clean.  Tan is a great way to hide dirt.  For now we live with the peeling 8 coats of paint until we make a decision on the exterior.  We should, according to the historic district suggestions, keep the wood exterior and continue to properly scrape, prepare and paint the house.  This process lasts 8-10 years when done correctly and can cost up to $15,000 or more.  

Replacing it with vinyl or a different type of siding would be a more maintenance free option, but is looked down upon when it changes the historic appearance of the home.  We need to find out more about this.  I do see several other homes in the historic district that have vinyl siding, so maybe I need to knock on some doors and find out what their thoughts were when making that decision on their historic homes. Over the years our home's exterior has been painted many colors including grey, white, light salmon, and its current color tan.  I can still see that horrible salmon color under the tan.  From what the painters tell me it wasn't properly prepared, scraped or primed and more coats of paint should have been applied.

When we moved in the storm doors on the house and garage were still dark salmon and yellow. Some of you may remember (before we purchased it) when the entire home was light salmon, dark salmon, and yellow.  Yuck.  Again, I don't try to understand why people do the things they do to old homes.  I think they were trying to match the brick.  The owners before us painted the home tan.  Amen for a neutral color!

Shortly after moving in, I purchased a can of black paint and quickly covered the salmon color on the doors and metal railing. It screamed "Paint me!" every time I went in and out of our house.  Much better.

Now I just have to paint the yellow doors and porch railing this summer.  Not sure what color to use yet.  I was waiting to see if we were going to keep tan or go back to the original grey color for the siding.  Any suggestions for my doors?  Antique Ivory like the trim? or a statement color…I'm a bit hesitant to do a statement color after that yucky salmon.  

Stay tuned for Part 3 where I talk about our original windows.