Every time we remove something not original to the house, it feels like the house is breathing a happy sigh.  During times when the contractor has been in a holding pattern, waiting for materials or for changes in the weather, the crew has started to strip the paint from some of the moldings and doors.  When we first looked at the house, the moldings over the doors seemed a bit cheesy and over-elaborate as our taste tends toward simple and classic.  Over time they have grown on us and seeing them without a hundred years of paint has really added to their attraction because  you can now see the detail of the design.

The question is now: to paint or not to paint?  It seems a shame to cover all that wood with more paint but at the same time we’ve never been a fan of exposed wood molding.  The vision we (or I) had for the parlor floor is light and white.  The other consideration is whether they are in good enough shape to stain or has stripping many years of bad paint jobs and door repairs damaged the wood so that staining would merely bring out more flaws.

It is always a great feeling (because there are so few in renovation) when something turns out better than you thought.  The crew stripped the old door handles, hinges and doorplates and we love how they turned out.

When they are all done we will do a test patch to see how they look stained and then decide.  Hopefully, by then, the extension will nearly be complete and we will get a sense of how the light is going to hit all the rooms.