Decorating & Design
September 9, 2024
5 Designers Share Tips On What To Keep — And What To Ditch — When You Renovate An Old House
When preserved properly, heritage homes offer a unique lens into the past. And when it came to restoring these historical properties — including their own homes — these designers expertly mastered the mix of new and old. Find out what Lynda Reeves saved in her century-old lakehouse, the surprising object Jaime Polan Zimmerman preserved in her city Victorian and Tommy Smythe‘s best advice for restoring a heritage house. Scroll down!
Original Stone Fireplace
Designer: Lynda Reeves
“There is no point in buying a beautiful century house or cottage if you aren’t going to preserve the charm of it. I saved the original fireplaces — just added new solid oak hearths.”
French Doors
Designer: Lynda Reeves
“All the original wood French doors and panelled doors were saved, sanded and restained.”
Stone Terrace
Designer: Lynda Reeves
“The whole stone front terrace was saved along with the chimneys — although we did need a new roof, doors and windows throughout the house.”
Interior Fir Walls
Designer: Lynda Reeves
“My instructions to our contractors were to not touch the interior fir walls found throughout our house — except for extensive sanding and re-staining. This meant that all the winterizing, electrical, plumbing, insulation and new exterior siding had to be done from the outside of the house.”
See more of Lynda’s century-old lakehouse here.
The Little Things
Designer: Tommy Smythe
“When restoration is an aspect of a renovation I think it’s just as important to include the smaller elements as it is to focus on the bigger, more obvious ones like fireplace mantels and staircases. Certainly this Victorian house had both in abundance and I love restoring all of it, but to my surprise and delight, it was a charming little forgotten sink we found in an ad hoc attic bathroom that has seemed to strike a chord with the readers of this magazine and the folks out there on the internet. After rescuing it from the attic’s shadowy corners, it was given a lot of love. We re-plated the pretty metal legs, restored the marble and gave it new plumbing fixtures before finally giving it pride of place in the handsome house’s main floor powder room. It’s an underdog come-back story with a happy ending and who doesn’t love one of those?! So, before you replace those original door knobs and hinges with a simpler solution, ask yourself, ‘would a bit of polish and WD40 afford those faded beauties a second act?’… You can bet your bottom baseboards on it.”
See more of this beautiful Victorian house here.
Stained Glass Windows
Designer: Jaime Polan Zimmerman of JPZ Interiors
“The stained glass windows were a must and what really drew me to the house. We knew what we were keeping from the get-go and didn’t make any surprise changes. But I will say that I wanted to make all of the new details feel like they could have always been there.”
Brick Walls
Designer: Jaime Polan Zimmerman of JPZ Interiors
“The brick walls were a must. We kept some of them as is, but we painted the powder room and wall to the basement white.”
A Found Object
Designer: Jaime Polan Zimmerman of JPZ Interiors
“One cool thing we found during the demolition process was a postcard inside the walls that was written in 1912. It was actually addressed to a Bloor street address, but we kept it and framed it. It’s currently on display in our dining room!”
See more of Jaime’s Victorian home makeover here.
An Original Staircase
Designer: Jack Creasy
“We made it a priority to pay homage to the home’s character and heritage by preserving original elements like the staircase, newel post, and railings, despite their need for repair. We maintained the home’s integrity by keeping walls with wide doorways to delineate spaces–avoiding the trend of open-concept spaces that would have been out of place in a heritage setting.”
See more of this heritage house here.
Stone Hearth
Designer: Natalie Tredgett
“I believe a home whispers a mood, a sentiment subtly conveyed through its walls and spaces. This is further shaped by its context—in our case, a Victorian townhouse in central London. Whether taking a traditional or contemporary aesthetic, the historical context and inherent mood of the home offers a foundational framework for its design. When approaching the renovation, I was certain that the original fireplace, with its stone hearth, had to be preserved. It is a quintessentially Victorian feature, original to the house, and perfectly suited to its character.”
See Natalies London Victorian house here.