Victorian Revival and I Mean Revival

This project was completed in 1991 for a young couple with two young children.  The children are grown now and the old Victorian belongs to someone else.  When the couple bought the house, it had a make shift kitchen in the upstairs quarters.  At one point years ago the kitchen was outside the house to protect the rest of the house from fire.  The downstairs bath was also limited as an outhouse was used.  First task at hand was to install a completed bath downstairs and a completed kitchen.  There was a space at the back of the house, probably a service porch that would become their kitchen.

This is  a photo of the island we had custom built for the new kichen.  The wood counter top served as a place for eating meals and a prep area.  I love the exposed brick flu we left with the peeling paint.  Quite shabby chic before shabby was chic.

This cupboard was built between two existing windows.  Even though we desparately needed cabinet space we did not want to eliminate the natural light.  The glass fronts created a more open look mimicing the windows and allowing the client to display her colorful dinnerware.

This photo is of the sink area which was directly across from the glass cabinets.  The dish drainer was actually used on a daily basis even though we modernized the kitchen with a dishwasher.

This photo shows the exposed brick flu wall which gave us the opportunity to use the antique bamboo bookcase to add additional ambient light to the kitchen.

There existed a strange space between the kitchen and dining room.  We carved out a butler's pantry wet bar area out of half and a bathroom vanity out of the other half.  This photo is of the wet bar which provided much needed storage as well.

This is the half that became the master bedroom vanity area.  We used an antique sideboard to drop the sink into because it was exposed to the master bedroom and the mirror with the double wall sconces added much light to a dark corner.   As most Victorians are dark we spent much time and energy lightening up wherever possible.

This is a view of the second part of the master bathroom suite.   It contained the toliet and the original clawfooted tub.  Lamps were used wherever possible because the high ceilings distorted ceiling light.

Another view of the second part of the master bathroom suite.  The modern metal stand was used for a towel bar.  The walls in the entire house were old batten board.  To save expense we applied heavy paper over exposed batten board and then painted.  The only alternative would have been to tear out batten board and sheet rock or to replaster.  Replastering is a dying art in the south.  It is still done on the eastern seaboard and laborers are available there.  The process is time consuming and expensive so the heavy painted paper was a good alternative.  Because we chose this route hanging anything that required anything heavier than a nail was a problem.  Therefore the standing towel rack was necessary.

The old footed tub is pictured here.  A flokati rug softened the hardwood floors and made the master bath more inviting.  You will notice we hung metal mini blinds throughout this house.  There were numerous huge windows in this Victorian and the blinds were inexpensive and unobtrusive.

More later about this Victorian revival.  There were so many beautiful features in this house; moldings, fireplaces, etc.  Look for Victorian Revival and I Mean Revival Part II for more photos and information about this 1991 transformation.