Parties > Pigtails

So yeah, I had a party! I had a post drafted about it but it was boring, so here’s the tl;dr version. I invited 120 people on Facebook. I panicked. I cooked for 30. 15 showed up. It was nice. I think the Crooked House could accommodate 20 or 25 comfortably for this kind of party, or 10 for a sit down dinner. Here’s the living room at the end of the night, still messy after an hour of me and the roommie washing dishes.

Now on to the light fixtures (and yes, you just saw one of them.) Remember the cute little pan light for my bedroom? It had non-original shades and there was an odd gap between the shades and the bells that cover the bulb sockets.

I figured out that it had been a bare bulb fixture and that whoever redid it in the 80’s discarded the bobesches and clamped on globe fitters. Once I saw this I wanted to turn it back, but was nervous to buy bobesches online sight unseen. It also shorted out because the paper insulaters around the bulb sockets are gone, the polarity of the wires is backwards (which is fine as long as I know) and my lighting circuit has a ground fault interrupter breaker.

Then my flashy chrome chandelier needed a longer center wire and a new chain and canopy.

Anyways, I went to The Antique Lighthouse in Fishtown. They had brass bobesches that looked good to me. They’re a little too big but they screw on the bulb sockets and I don’t think anyone will notice that I cheated. The lighting shop is attached to a metal finisher, so they also polished and lacquered them to match the refinished fixture. And they replaced the insulators and fixed a crack in the ceiling canopy. So now it’s up and working!

Rewiring the other chandelier was gonna cost me a lot more and I balked. They sold me 10 paper insulators and good chain and I decided to tackle it myself. Luckily, the wiring was in good shape so I didn’t have to fish anything, just put on a new center wire. I bought a ceiling canopy online. It’s not perfect. The canopy is kinda flimsy and the Irishman cut the drywall too big around the electrical box. But it’s up!

 

and boy does the room look more finished with it.

Also, my fears about this not fitting in with my décor were completely baseless. I feared that it was gonna look oddly flashy but it turns out to be pretty understated. Trading in the country dining furniture for Danish modern might make it fit a weensy bit more too. Like I said before, it was made to have 30 crystals hanging from it and though I’m curious to know what that would look like, I’m not too eager to spend a lot of money restoring a feature that I may not even like. The stars are a garland my roommate had that I hung from ornament hooks through the holes for the crystals.

So this means that the pigtails are gone and every room in the house is now outfitted with presentable lighting. Except the 2 bare bulb fixtures formerly in the basement that are up in the bathroom. The price was right. Maybe I’ll find a suitable replacement soon?

 

2 Projects for the Fall

2 big life changes since the beer tour. First, I’ve been eating those vegetables for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day. And second, the joy of NOT working on the house isn’t strong enough to get me to shrug off certain glaringly unfinished pieces anymore. An aside, the Philly shrug is an important part of this city’s identity. I’m not sure if I can explain why it’s endearing at the same time when it also gives us trash strewn streets, a grand city hall with window unit air conditioners, and a robust transit system that still uses tokens. (Okay, that last one might also have something to do with rabidly anti-urban state legislators.)

So as for what I don’t want to shrug off anymore? Did you notice the marble I was ignoring just to the right of the steps? Yikes.

I let this go because the whole façade needs to be stripped and there’s only 7 ½ feet of sidewalk separating it from parked cars and I need to save up for somebody with liability insurance to do the deed. But now that the steps look so good and the rest of the marble base looks so bad… I went out for the masonry paint stripper the GSA recommends for historic masonry. So yeah, maybe my house (left) won’t look so gross anymore. (But remember, the brick to the right was not restored correctly.)

Yep, that goes against all of my old sensible plans. I decided that this is happening Saturday, and I’ll just have to find a way to protect the stranger’s car that will be parked right out front of my house. The idea of splashing harsh chemicals terrifies me. I’ll probably put a tarp over the cars.

I called the Irishman asking what to do about this. He told me, “Don’t worry about it. I put the most caustic things there are in the street just yesterday. If anyone gives you shit about it, come to me and I’ll take care of ’em.”

So wish me luck.

Then there are 2 pigtail lights in my house even though I’ve owned real light fixtures all along. Neither is usable right now but I’m eager to get them working. I’m having some work done to this pan light, so the next time you see it, it’ll be actually be safe to use and I’ll tell you more about it then.

Then, do you remember this chrome chandelier?

I bought it early on and it’s been at my parents’ house until this week. I knew from the beginning that it needs a new chain and ceiling canopy and that the center wire is too short. At the lighting place I went to, the lady also straightened out the bent arms and sold me nice chain and the paper insulators it needs. This was great but I balked at the cost of having it rewired and took it home to do it myself. I felt a little bad not to give them the job after she was very nice and helpful, but decided that it’s good enough that I’m already spending good money on the other one.

And plus, I have a lingering fear that this chandelier will never be my style and will stick out like a sore thumb in my house. We’ll see though – I’ve played it safe with most of my decorating choices and maybe something jarringly blingy and modern will be fun.

Speaking of blingy, this piece used to have 30 crystals hanging from the arms that don’t have lights. What do you think about these?

Atlantic City again – Preserving the Interiors

Now that I’ve scrutinized every detail  of the exterior let’s have a closer look inside. You’ve seen the magnificent hallway.

Critically, I can’t see any water damage in here since I imagine that helical curved plaster would be especially hard to replace. The only big job to do with this plaster is make sure the electrician doesn’t rattle it off the lathe with a Sawzall. (Ask me how I know.)

Then let’s proceed to the living room. It’s massive. It has fantastic original light fixtures. But you see the 2 holes in the ceiling? There are bathrooms up there. (You may want to enlarge these panoramic shots)

I wanted to get a better look at the polychrome paint on the chandeliers, so I wiped one off with a damp cloth. The paint came off with the dirt, I recoiled in horror, and that was the end of that. If this were my house, I’d immediately take them all down for restoration.

Then there are these built-ins. My friend’s grandparents bought the place and did some light remodeling around 1960. I want to like the weirdness of mismatched styles, but I just can’t come around liking these. Plus, to make way for this bookcase they got rid of the cross set on the left side of the door trim (which is replaceable).

And a sconce, which may or may not be. Paging Ross. Though they put a lot of original bits in the basement when they took them out. The original could still be around.

Then in the dining room, once again part or all of the ceiling has to go. And once again the really bad spot is underneath a bathroom.

You need a better look at that chandelier.

Then there’s the den. In here we have another fantastic light fixture. Some of the oak paneling is warped from water damage, but I believe just a few panels of good oak plywood and a careful staining job would undo the damage. (This photo was from the listing and can be found here on Old House Dreams.)

And mandatory ceiling light closeup.

Also this fantastic desk.

Then off the den is the conservatory or breakfast room. This room is a blank slate. The French doors were boarded up and covered with paneling to make room for record storage, the floor covered with the type of asbestos tile that reminds me of school, and then it got lots and lots of water damage. I’d try to clean up and reinstall the casing around the doors because it wouldn’t be cheap to replace.

Then because this post is already long let’s look at the bedrooms. There are 10 of them. Of those, 4 have very little wall space thanks to fantastic French doors everywhere.

Some of these also have circa 1960 lights that I’m totally on board with keeping.

Then there’s what my friend’s little sister called the spook floor. She had a point.

All I can see is fantastic irregular shapes from that Mansard roof. But she does have a point.

My sister’s boyfriend did this epic house staging.

I also love that the original 1919 furniture just got shoved up here in the 1960 remodel. And yes you read that right. They have the original owners’ stuff from 1919! Given this light fixture, it’s clear that this was a servant’s bedroom.

Then there’s this gem. A closet of light fixture globes!

But where are the fixtures? I bet they’re around. Here’s one!

We’re still not done, so see you next time.

2 steps forward, 1 step back

The doors are done! But I’m holding out on you. Next post you can really see them. For now here’s a bit of the process. I already said I’d be using General Finishes High Performance top coat in satin gloss with TransTint dark mahogany dye mixed into it. I applied this with rags. My parents have an abundant supply of old rags, but my dad gave me even older rags that he was hoarding in the garage. I could tell from the size of his underpants that these rags were REALLY old. The idea was to make a stain that would sit on top of the wood and even out all the different colors. Which means I had a few moments of truth.

I used a walnut colored wood filler in those big holes. I figured it would be dark enough to blend in and disappear. Was I right?

Yup, it blends in pretty well! Then there were the edges of the doors that were cut off exposing new wood and the one door where the Irishman spliced poplar onto the bottom of a pine door. 

That doesn’t stand a chance, does it?

But then I have another type of a story. You remember this vintage light fixture I put up in my front bedroom?

Well here’s the deal. The paper insulators around the bulb sockets are toast. I found pieces of them falling out before. But everything still worked so I decided that danger or not, this can wait till after Phase 1. But here’s the deal. My electrician put the upstairs lights on a ground fault interrupter. I don’t know why. But I took a door off a set of saw horses and smacked it into this light, and enough insulator fragments fell out that now the ground and neutral are shorted out and I can’t use any of my upstairs light fixtures. This also means that if I were using them this light would be live, but worrying about that is just splitting hairs. Anyways, I have a new priority 1 item added to the punchlist.

Anyways, the doors are done. I’ll be tackling small jobs and definitely owe you some pretty reveal photos soon.

Electric is done! Come see my fixtures!

The electric is done! Not only do I have outlets but there’s a new level of prettiness all over the house. And also a lot of questions since everything I do is convoluted. So here’s what we’ve got.

Remember that light from my parents’ upstairs hall? Well my mom never liked it much, so now it’s mine. It is more appropriate for my high ceilings anyway. She asked if it’s nice enough for my vestibule. I think it’s fine, though I’ll upgrade if I find something awesome that’s also cheap in the future.

It has kitschy frosted designs on the glass that belie its 1950’s roots.

The dining room light is still just a pig tail. I bought a very modern chrome chandelier from the 60’s with a friend ages ago. I wasn’t sure about it then, and I’m even less so now. But since I own it and I don’t own anything else, I think I should invest in the missing parts, hang it, and get it in shape to resell for as much as I can. Or maybe I’ll decide it works after all. I do believe in mixing styles.

Then in the kitchen, one of the ceiling fan blade brackets broke… the brackets aren’t quite the same size as the replacements at the Home Depot, so I’ve got to figure out if it’s feasible to get the replacements. And also if I even want to.

In the upstairs hall I’m thrilled to have lights. Thrilled! But I think they’re a little bulky for the space. They were a Christmas gift early on, and they’re from IKEA. And again, although they’re one of the most attractive $30 light fixtures I’ve seen, I’m second guessing the idea to mix in these very modern things. Still they’re a huge upgrade from the old one, which made scary buzzing noises and flickered when I touched it.

Then in the back bedroom, you remember the big plywood canopy I made to cover the open top of the fixture?

It worked as intended! You can’t tell it’s there. I do wonder if these bulbs are too small. But soon there will be attractive and cost effective LED replacements and all bulbs like these will go byebye.

And in the front bedroom, I have a small chandelier. It’s funny because the scales of the two bedrooms are backwards, but I used what I could get where they fit the ceiling heights.

At some point I want to find replacement bobesches for around the bulb sockets. This started off as a bare bulb fixture then had globe fitters clamped on later. I’m really tempted to buy this set on eBay. What do you think? I’d obviously need to strip, polish, and re-lacquer the brass to make it match my fixtures shiny restored finish.

In the bathroom I have bare bulb fixtures that I took out of the basement. I was sad to see that they don’t match and that only one is porcelain. If I’m gonna have crappy temporary fixtures, I’d like for them not to be plastic. But I’d also like for them to be free.

And speaking of the basement, I can actually see down there now! It might have been better when I couldn’t. I have a vintage Lionel train set with Plasticville houses that I’d like to set up down here. Remember, there are 4 children next door. The Irishman and his 3 kids. Can you see there being room for all that in here this Christmas?

And when it comes to the current season, it’s kind of great that I was longing for a breeze out back all summer and got the fan as soon as the heat broke. This one is definitely boring but definitely useful and definitely staying. I even bought it new.

So there’s the effect. Next time I owe you something about the experience.

We interrupt this productivity: Boob light phaseout complete!

Flooring progress has been slow and mostly more of the same. I decided to take out a few more damaged floorboards in the front bedroom; we’re better at it now. And reinforcing them from below, a two person job, hasn’t started yet. Instead, I did a floor reinstallation dry run in the back bedroom to see how much more I needed. And even though it’s all pretend, I can totally see the after in my imagination. Just squint a little until the spray foam looks like walls, the floor looks sanded, and the sawhorses look like a dresser.