A Home in College Hill

Tags for A Home in College Hill: tudor diy design gardening 1930s renovation restoration

A Tudor revival renovation by newlyweds with a bit of experience, a few tools, lofty ambitions, and eyes bigger than their wallets.

College Hill Renovation Realities

Authors: CollegeHillRenovation

I haven’t posted about the basement for a bit, because, to be honest, it was starting to dominate the blog. Basement updates with trim, carpet, and more will be back next week. In the meantime, I thought I would entertain you with some humor. We do not move seamlessly from one project to another here [...]...

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Early Spring Flowers

Authors: CollegeHillRenovation

Flowers are blooming and trees are leafing out in Michigan, and with the upcoming week of warm weather I expect to see some more blooms. Along with the flowers  the bees, mosquitos and that mysterious thing that lives in the hole in my backyard have all woken up. Also, I need to check on my [...]...

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What lives in there?

Authors: CollegeHillRenovation

I was doing some yard clean-up this weekend and transplanting some ferns and mums when I found these two very suspicious holes  in the garden bed along the back fence. What are earth lives in there! Am I looking at an entrance and exit, which mean there is a whole maze of tunnels under the [...]...

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The good, the bad and the ugly….

Authors: CollegeHillRenovation

This week was a mixed bag of issues and progress in what has become the basement remodel saga. THE GOOD: Geoff installed the cat door for SoCo which means that the litter box has been banished to the far corner of the furnace room. I am so excited about this, you have no idea. This [...]...

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Choosing Doors for the Basement Remodel

Authors: CollegeHillRenovation

One of my most favorite things about living in an old house is buying antique furniture to fit the surroundings and restoring the original woodwork. We lucked out on the purchase of our home because all the original woodwork is untouched – never painted – and in great shape for 80 years of wear. The [...]...

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Tutorial: Refinishing Antique Doors

Authors: CollegeHillRenovation

 STRIP THE PAINT/STAIN FROM EXISTING DOOR Supplies: Brushes (the cheap-o one use kind, not foam – foam will melt in the stripper) Chemical resistant gloves Cat litter ( weird and optional) Dremel. or brass wire brush. 4″-6″ Spatula Glass jar (old pasts sauce jar or something like that) Heat gun (if...

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Adding Nail-Head Trim to Upholstered Furniture

Authors: CollegeHillRenovation

I did a guest post over at Renewed Upon A Dream a few weeks ago and I thought I would share it with you here today: I took a break from all the work on the basement project to tackle a fun furniture update I had been thinking about for a while. Last summer we [...]...

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Getting Shellacked: Preparation

Authors: CollegeHillRenovation

The doors are hung and stained. I used Minwax red mahogany with a natural bristle brush. You know the routine: Sand door smooth with successive grits of sandpaper: 80, 150, 220, 240 Remove all dust Condition (more on this in the tutorial) Stain (brush on and wipe off) So this is where the process halted…..what t...

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Hanging A Door

Authors: CollegeHillRenovation

When you buy a door from a big box store, most likely it will come “pre-hung”.  This means it comes with its own frame, hinges, etc.. It’s all set to be installed in your new construction. If you buy a slab door (just the door itself without any frame or hardware) like we did then [...]...

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Antique Door Hardware

Authors: CollegeHillRenovation

I stopped back by Materials Unlimited with the excuse of returning the bungee cord which strapped the antique doors for the basement renovation into my car – but with the intent to spend money…hehehe. I did need door hardware after all….which is something to think about if you decide to buy salvaged...

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