Enhancing the Architecture of Your Home
Our Restoration Process Includes Enhancements that can Make Your Home even more Beautiful
Period Appropriate Enhancements Intensify Beauty
How is it possible to restore something to a condition that is better than the original yet still be historically appropriate? By offering enhancements that are consistent with period design. We offer decorative finishes that intensify the aesthetic appeal of your architecture. To enhance the appeal of these windows while maintaining period design, we suggested our restoration process include finishing them with the same stain color that has been applied on the stairwell treads and the bannister. This choice had the desired effect of making the windows “pop” with “This choice had the desired effect of accentuating, hence celebrating the original windows while simultaneously integrating the various architectural elements in a unified design scheme.
Skilled Craftsmanship with Decorative Arts Training
Our training in the decorative arts painting tradition enables us to reach beyond restoration to enhance elements while still maintaining architectural integrity.
Consider something as basic as solid color paint choices. Most people aren’t aware of how much paint colors are expressive of current trends and fashions. Selecting paint colors that are appropriate to the age of a building can enhance architectural integrity.
For instance, consider the trim and windows on this bungalow. In the “before” photo, no attention was paid to choosing period colors. And it shows! As dramatic as this wall of windows is, it disappears behind lifeless white paint!
But the house comes alive when a period appropriate color is chosen! We found this color, “Oak Moss,” in an Arts and Crafts period paint chart,
Historic Paint Colors
Every major paint company maintains a selection of colors that were common to the period and any given architectural style when the home was built. And there are whole books dedicated to cataloging the colors that were characteristic of any given architectural period and style.
Period Colors and Stain Formulas Are Used to Enhance the Interior of the Home
Here’s the interior of this same house. As was the case with the exterior trim, white paint had been hastily (and sloppily) applied on the interior window frames and trim. We removed the paint and refinished the wood with a stain color and type of varnish–a tung oil varnish–that are resonant with the Arts and Crafts style. Importantly, while not all bungalows were constructed according to this style, this particular bungalow lends itself to being restored in the Arts and Crafts style. We stripped and refinished all the trim and window frames with a stain coat and varnish that were consistent with the original period style.
The wall color, “Birdseye Maple” came from the same period color chart that included the exterior “Moss Oak”. We consulted an article that provided formulas for reproducing stain colors which Gustav Stickley, the most noteworthy designer of furniture in the Arts and Crafts era, had used for the furniture he built. The ceiling fan was also chosen for its compatibility with this architectural style.
Before
After
Decorative Plaster is Both Restored & Enhanced
Here’s what once was a dramatic enhancement of this arched foyer–this decorative plaster arch with an organic leaf pattern suggestive of vines. Many layers of paint, though, had obliterated the relief design.
Instead of covering up the plaster with more paint, we got inspired by the organic patina of the raw plaster. We decided to embrace the Wabi Sabi appreciation for the organic by, rather than covering it up, enhancing this organic patina. We did so by applying an antiquing glaze, then finishing it with several layers of acrylic varnish. The effect was to infuse the plaster with an ivory-like patina while simultaneously amplifying the organic, vine-like motif.
In addition to this project, we also restored twelve double-hung windows for this client. Here is one of several notes of appreciation she sent us, this one on a sunny, winter morning:
“This morning, snow-reflected light was shining through the restored windows and onto the foyer ceiling. It was especially beautiful. Thank you so much for all you do.” – Debra Hammond
Stairwell Restoration & Enhancement
When we restored this stairwell, the client asked if we could transform the patina on the birch treads to match the color of the walnut handrail. We remembered an ‘old timer’ method of soaking steel wool in vinegar to create a liquid which, when brushed on raw wood, causes a chemical reaction with the natural resin to alter the patina of the wood. Having stripped the treads to bare wood, we applied this liquid causing the birch to darken to a color very similar to the color of the walnut handrails.
This embossed wall covering was a common choice for decoration in homes built around the turn of the century. In high end homes, it was rendered in leather. Copper was the choice for middle income homes. Low end homes were finished with linoleum. We “upgraded” this stairwell from low to high end by applying a “faux leather” finish on top of the linoleum.
Stained Glass Enhancements
We did extensive work in this room, including plaster repair, paint removal and application of a stain coat and varnished finish on the wood. We also restored the windows.. But notice the transformation of the window with the AC unit in it. Because this window opens onto the brick wall of the building next door, it does not offer much of a scenic view. When we restored it, we suggested the client install stained glass in the frame.
The client found an antique stained glass unit that is consistent with the architectural period of their vintage condo. unit. We took the unit to our art glass expert. He repaired the original stained glass panel, also adding glass to make it fit the daylight opening.
Decorative Paint Techniques are Used to “Articulate” the Original Design
One sure-fire way to enhance original elements while maintaining architectural integrity is to employ decorative arts painting to articulate the architecture; that is, to emphasize the distinctness and interrelationship of each element. The articulation of a building reveals how the parts fit into the whole by emphasizing each part separately. We accomplished this task in a variety of ways when we worked to enhance the original design of the Lasalle Street Church sanctuary.
The pillar in these rib vaulted end caps was base-coated, then stippled with glazes mixed in several tones of blue to create this stone-like texture. Bronze powders were used to create the gold patina on the capitals.
The rhythm of the rib vaults was enhanced by applying a thin gold wash on the rounded portion of the ribs.
Bronze powders were applied to the rosettes in the ceiling to distinguish them from the adjoining ribs.
Restoration Can be Creative
We tend not to think of restoration as a revitalization of existing design, hence, not a creative endeavor. But this is not the case when it comes to the enhancement of architectural elements. What is important is that the enhancement contribute to architectural integrity and be consistent with the historical period of the original architecture. But there is plenty of room for creativity while remaining within the bounds of these constraints.
As an example of period consistent creative design, consider the treatment our founder, Jeff Ediger, rendered in the foyer of his own home, a 1923 Chicago Brick Bungalow. One of the first projects he undertook was to remove the 1960’s baby blue wallpaper with its garish silver lining that covered the walls. What a surprise he encountered when he began removing it! Layers and layers of much older wallpaper began to appear. But not just one kind of paper. Fragments of at least four or five different designs emerged like sedimented layers of soil from different eras. As the layers of different, vintage paper came into view, Jeff called to mind the Wabi-Sabi practice known as Kintsugi.
Kintsugi, meaning “golden joinery,” is the Japanese art of repairing broken vessels by piecing it back together with gold lacquer. It reflects the wab sabi aesthetic [Hyperlink: Wabi Sabi page] of celebrating the beauty in imperfection and aging rather than removing anything that is not in mint condition. The practice involves piecing back together a broken vessel with “golden joinery” to emphasize an appreciation for imperfections rather than hide them. Both the practice of Kintsugi and the Wabi Sabi tradition encourage us to appreciate the unique history of objects and people rather than to strive for a mechanistic, manufactured “perfection.”
While the art form itself is limited to the use of golden joinery to repair objects, the principle informing it is about embracing brokenness and decay along with the history that produced the object, viewing flaws as part of an object’s unique character. Inspired by the practice of Kintsugi, Jeff decided to preserve and enhance what was emerging beneath the top layer of paper–an archeology of wallpaper dating back to the 1920’s. In a modification of Kintsugi, then, he decided to compose a collage of these layers of paper. With the aid of an upholstery steamer, he began recovering segments of these original wallpaper designs that had delaminated from the wall but were stuck to the back of the blue wallpaper.
He then repasted these fragments back onto bald spots in the wall. After as many fragments as could be recovered were reattached to the wall, Jeff mixed shades of colors that matched the coloring in various layers of wallpaper and painted in, then painted over the remaining bald spots. Here, then, is the final result–a Kintsugi wallpaper collage!
Sometimes decorative finishes can be used to transform awkward spaces into celebratory space. For instance, how do you integrate a 40 foot long hallway with a vaulted ceiling into an Arts and Crafts style?
This was the challenge our clients faced in their spacious, vintage condo unit.
Most definitely not by painting it gloss red!
The client, a retired owner of a landscape business and his garden-loving wife, were delighted with the idea of making it feel more organic, closer to nature.
We started by replacing the color on the wall with a limewash finish that had been tinted to match a color Frank Lloyd Wright had specified for use in Taliesin West–“Desert Sun.” This organic finish was consistent with the Arts and Crafts preference for natural materials. And the burnt orange “Desert Sun” is a composite mixture of earth colors. The matte finish and natural appearance of limewash was a favored wall treatment in this era because it created a calm, rustic backdrop that suited the movement’s preference for simplicity and handcrafted elements. The natural ambience of the space was further enhanced by painting the vaulted ceiling blue.
Because of its rustic, handmade appearance, stenciling was also a favored Arts and Crafts wall treatment, especially if the design was something drawn from nature. Fond of oak trees, the client asked if we could render an oak tree stenciled image on the hallway walls. I said I would be happy to stencil this image on their living walls, but not on their hallway. Living rooms are for dwelling. Trees are images which encourage dwelling. But hallways are all abour movement. And that is how we decided on the dragonfly stencil, the dragonfly being, a favorite Arts and Crafts insect. This is an example of the design guideline whereby finishes and furnishings are chosen to articulate the architecture.
Two stenciled images were incorporated, one which accentuates the structural features of the space (by being situated at doorframe corner) and one which emphasizes movement.
Suggestive of the temporal movement of the day, we directed the flow of the images from east to west.
While the practice of restoration recovers original design, enhancement of architectural elements that is consistent with the historical period and the building’s architectural integrity can inspire an even richer revitalization, one that is infused with newness while still honoring the past.
More than A Quarter of a Century of Experience Restoring Enhancing Architectural
As these samples indicate, having the techniques and practices of the decorative arts painting tradition on hand, enables us to offer a wide range of embellishments which, while also remaining consistent with period context, can enhance architectural gems while maintaining consistency with period design.