hey folks,
renovating a property which has had a house fire and been burnt… looking for a very modern, “clean” finish and will most likely go with ‘grey pebble’ half strength on the walls, as used it in the last reno and loved the look. Most of the house has jarrah floorboards which will be sanded and polished for the first time. 2 bedrooms will have carpet and 1 lounge will be tiled.
I had previously assumed I would paint the doorframes and skirting boards white gloss, as per last reno. However today when scrubbing the smokey walls and cleaning the door frame, I removed all the black grime and restored the gorgeous timber. Got me thinking… should I keep the Jarrah instead of painting over it? Does dark timber door frames/skirting always look old-fashioned and dated? or is it possible to tie this in and keep it looking modern? Will need to decide ASAP before buying more trims etc for rest of the house.
Cheers,
EmmaMy PPOR still has original varnished cedar et al doors, door & window frames throughout from 1972 and I have continued to ignore any thoughts of painting over them. They are brilliant as they are maintenence free and are a great offset as opposed to totally whitewashed modern style that seems to be everywhere at the moment. Walls are easy to re-paint every few years, but doors, frames and windows are a nightmare when updating every few years becomes a necessity.
Timber should be enjoyed for its natural beauty in my opinion.
If you got original features .. keep them.
I just did up a place in North Melbourne .. beautiful older style 1890s place .. and because of the way it had been allowed to run down, it had boards on the floor you could polish. Thing is .. some of the boards were flimsy and dissected and needed to be removed ………. What to do???
Problem was solved by going to the wrecking yards and piece matching the timbers to similar. Never going to get exact but you dont want it to stand out then either.
So .. having replaced the missing floor timbers with similar .. the whole thing got a sanding and a stain (to keep all timbers a consistant color). Result after three coats? MARVELLOUS !
Lets put it another way .. the missus turned to me when the carpets came up and said .. lets remove them all. I'm more creative than that .. and having a real wood floor thats nearly half an inch thick … is wonderful. The extra coats after the staining makes it look like a ballroom floor .. and the protection to the timbers from the extra coats means i can almost park a car on it without damaging the timbers.
Unless you can totally match a kitchen though .. try to renovate to an acceptable standard of 21st century. Most people HATE older style kitchens to work in unless they were good to start with.
I should also comment that i stained the timbers because they were DRY. When you sand back dry timbers you get a flaky old looking result which is very gray. I needed the timbers to show a lot more life in them as well as color match them. If you have a natural color you want to keep .. get a clear coat for them.
thanks bonham for your thoughts, it is certainly worth considering
xdrew, though i appreciate your comments, its not exactly answering my post as we most certainly are keeping original floors. my query was about whether to keep natural or paint over jarrah skirting boards and door frames…
Hi Emma,
Can you post a photo? Love to give you some help with this one!
Maybe take a photo of the exterior of the property too so I can get an overall impression?
Dulux, Grey Pebble Half is a great choice for an interior – have used this a number of times myself and it is a very clean, light, modern colour. It will look great with either white or Jarrah trim.
Regards,
JaneJane – Hotspace | Hotspace Consultants
http://hotspaceconsultants.com/home
Email Me | Phone MeRenovating for Profit specialist
Hi Jane, This property will be the one I discuss u with in my 20 min consult… so looking forward to all your ideas, just need to get sorted first
You’ve commented on the outside before, its a red brick with some weatherboard. Needs a good facelift!Thanks for your comments that Grey Pebble goes well with Jarrah, thats what I wanted to hear
I guess it just means I have to decide whether to buy some jarrah trims for the few bits that need replacing, as I had instructed handyman to go with MDF and paint the lot white.What about internal doors? if going for natural jarrah trims I suppose I had better replace with wooden doors rather than painted, would look odd to have painted doors and natural trims wouldn’t it?
Yes it would look odd! If you need to replace doors, then maybe better to stick with painted finish. White trim will really freshen up the property. From memory the exterior was quite tired and dark. All the more reason to use white trims.
Sorry to confuse you. Will give you specific advice about your renovation colours etc when we chat over the phone and I can see your photos.
Perhaps get pricing on both options so I can get the full picture before making a recommendation to you.
Jane – Hotspace | Hotspace Consultants
http://hotspaceconsultants.com/home
Email Me | Phone MeRenovating for Profit specialist
You’ve commented on the outside before, its a red brick with some weatherboard. Needs a good facelift!You must be logged in to reply to this topic. If you don't have an account, you can register here.
