Outsider's Eye

My parents finally popped in and got a look at the progress of my current home. They haven't seen it in a several years and back then, the kitchen had no walls and the entry ways were all covered in plastic sheathing. Before that, it was shortly after we acquired the house.

My wife was very happy to see my parents seemed to really like the house. I think for the first time, they understood what my wife and I can do; rip it down and put it all back together.

My little brother just bought his first house. We got a gander at it just after he took possession. It is a 1920's modified bungalow. It still has its original hardwood floors and an interesting walk-through bathroom between the two bedrooms. Kind of like some hotel suites. Anyway, it has some great potential to be a very nice home.

I brought that up because my parents commented on the hardwood floors in my home. The floors, and most of the original moldings and trim work, were all worn, faded and dried out in a lot of areas. Most people would throw their arms up and cover it all up/replace everything with paint, carpet or linoleum. Bad, bad, bad! My wife went around and found all of the bad areas in need of attention and then re-hydrated and re-stained-to-match all of the woodwork. Following this was applying the final topcoat to protect all of her work. I generally like to use brush-on polyurethane or spar varnish/urethane as I did on my previous home and the new mahogany exterior front and screen doors. She settled on Wipe-On Polyurethane. Wow! A lot of time consuming work, but the results are spectacular. 3 complete coats on the first floor and stairs and everything has shine and depth. My parents commented that my little brother should see our floors and follow suit with his own. To be honest, his floors are in much better condition than what ours were. At worst, have a crew come in and take the top layer off and lay down several fresh coats of polyurethane. And, as we did in our home, get some great rugs and lay them into the space. It will keep the beauty of the hardwood, absorb the sound and best of all add flavor to the rooms that can be changed around if needed. Actually, the best of all is that you take that investment with you when its time to go. Not so with the other alternative I heard getting thrown around... carpet.

Anyway, may parents liked the finished new kitchen and the (finished a couple of weeks ago) small bathroom. We took them around and showed them some of the art we have collected and our Persian "fish" rugs, etc. Overall, a big thumbs up.