My Old House | From Times Past Blog

Revamping a Front Yard

April 24, 2012 By Johanne

Well as far as I can see my husband and I have one more major project for our house. Since we moved in five summers ago we have landscaped the back yard from scratch, built a gazebo and new double garage, turned an empty concrete basement into a media room with laundry facilities and new bathroom, and finally redid the 1912 kitchen as well as built a new addition and wrap around deck. So now we get to tackle the front yard. As you can tell by the picture at left, there used to be an open porch. It was enclosed in 1927 by the people who lived in this home for 80 years. I appreciate … [Read more...]

Filed Under: My Old House Tagged With: Johanne Yakula, old house decor, Old House gardens, old house restoration, Old house yards

Don’t Hide that Front Door

April 5, 2012 By Johanne

Antique doors should be seen, not hidden!

Each spring the City of Edmonton holds a series of educational workshops that are designed to help owners of heritage properties learn how to restore and preserve their heritage homes. Last night we discussed floors and mill work. Both of these are extremely important aspects of the charm of a heritage home interior. Mill work especially is what links one room to another and it's important to ensure that their visual treatment is consistent. Many old houses also have beautiful exterior doors but often they are hidden behind ugly aluminum screen doors. Now I … [Read more...]

Filed Under: My Old House, Restoration Tagged With: Antique doors, decorating an old house, front doors on old houses, Johanne Yakula, old house decor, old house millwork, Victorian decor

Decorating an Old House at Christmas

December 14, 2011 By Johanne

There's nothing quite like an old house at Christmas. In my last post I mentioned that many old houses are winter houses. This owes a lot to the fact that they have millwork, often dark in colour, and the windows are not often large which makes the rooms feel a bit darker but cozy too. This is a corner of our dining room. The fabric on the left of the picture is what I used for our "portiere". Portieres are traditional curtains that separate two rooms and they typically were made of very heavy tapestry - like fabrics (unlike window treatments which were usually … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Decoration, My Old House Tagged With: Christmas decorating in an old house, decorating an old house, Edwardian house at Christmas, Johanne Yakula, old house decor, Victorian decor, vintage Christmas decorating

Do You have a Winter House?

December 8, 2011 By Johanne

There's nothing quite like an old house at Christmas. Sometimes during the warmer months of the year I find myself yearning for some light colours and white woodwork but at this time of year I am so happy that the house is the way it is. In my library I have a book written by Charlotte Moss called "Winter House". In her book the author discusses the details that make a house most welcome during the cold winter months. I have come to accept that our house is truly a winter house. This I have to admit is a good thing given where I live in Canada! Do you have a Winter … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Decoration, My Old House Tagged With: A winter house, Arts and Crafts decor, decorating an old house, Decorating an old house at Christmas, Johanne Yakula, old house decor, old house restoration, Victorian decor

Edifice Magazine for Old House Owners

November 29, 2011 By Johanne

In a previous post I was lamenting the changes made to This Old House Magazine. Now I'm sure they are doing what they have to do to maintain readership but I'm disappointed that what was previously a good magazine for old house owners has dissolved into a "one size fits all" format. Apparently this Old House is not the only magazine doing this: Here are a couple of emails I received: Dear Johanne: I can't speak about "This Old House" magazine since I've only ever seen a few old issues, but I am experiencing the same feeling with "Victorian Homes" magazine. I am so disapointed! … [Read more...]

Filed Under: My Old House, Restoration Tagged With: decorating an old house, Johanne Yakula, old house restoration, old houses, THis Old House Magazine, Victorian decor, Victorian Homes magazine

This Old House Magazine Disappoints

October 21, 2011 By Johanne

I have been a long time buyer followed by subscriber of This Old House Magazine. When I first started buying this magazine it was at a time that there was very little information on anything to do with older homes. This Old House had pages full of relevant information for the problems and issues that owners of heritage homes face. Recently I have noticed a change. Although the magazine is clearly geared to DIY (do it yourself) types of which I am one, the examples they are using in the magazine are moving further and further away from old houses and into DIY territory. Perhaps they … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Decoration, My Old House, Restoration Tagged With: decorating an old house, Decoration, Johanne Yakula, old house, old house decor, old house restoration, old houses, Victorian decor, Victorian homes

Designing a Heritage Style Kitchen

October 14, 2011 By Johanne 2 Comments

I have received many emails from readers asking me questions about the design of our new kitchen pictured at left. It seems like a good idea to answer some of these queries and give you a few tips along the way in case you are thinking of "updating" your old house kitchen. First of all my disclaimer. I am not a restoration purist. Although I applaud the efforts of those of you who meticulously search to replace old with old it just is not as important to me. What I care most about is preserving what there is if it works and recreating the feeling of the original if it … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Decoration, My Old House, Restoration Tagged With: decorating an old house, Decoration, designing a kitchen for an old house, Johanne Yakula, kitchens in old houses, old house decor, old house kitchens, old house restoration