Three Step Paint Stripping & Wood Restoration Tutorial

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If you’ve been with us for a while, you already know that wood stripping is our jam. But for those new here, let us reintroduce ourselves.

Eight years ago, we bought our first home together in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. For two guys who had spent over a decade in NYC, owning a brownstone had always felt like a far-off dream—until it wasn’t.

Back then, before we became “The Brownstone Boys,” we were simply two guys in their first brownstone. While we’d each dabbled in smaller renovations—Barry redid his condo, and Jordan helped design ice cream shops—we suddenly found ourselves immersed in a full-scale renovation of a historic home. One thing was clear: preserving its original character was non-negotiable.

This was the beginning of our wood-stripping journey. With four floors covered in layers of paint, we dove in headfirst. Over the years, we’ve tackled more than 20 historic homes across New York, and restoring original woodwork has become the cornerstone of our designs.

Whether you’re restoring intricate woodwork in a historic home or giving new life to a furniture piece, we’re here to help. This guide will walk you through everything you need to know about how to wood strip, including everything you’ll need.

Two men in respirator masks prep a surface of a stair railing to be paint stripped

Personal Protection Equipment (PPE)

  1. Gloves: Use two layers—latex gloves under cloth gloves. The cloth gives you a better grip, and the latex protects against chemical seepage.
  2. Respirator: Choose one that covers your mouth and nose. It’s essential for filtering harmful fumes from stripping chemicals and protecting you from potential lead particles.
  3. Lead Testing Kit: Always test old paint for lead before starting. If lead is present, consider hiring a professional for removal or using lead-safe practices (e.g., specific PPE and tools).

Pro Tip: If your project involves extensive lead paint, consult local regulations for proper disposal and containment methods.

Tools for the Job

For DIYers:

  • Heat gun: This will seriously cut down your scrubbing time!
  • Steel wool: Steel wool is excellent for broader areas.
  • Tarp/plastic sheets: We can’t stress this enough, COVER YOUR FLOORS! The last thing you want to do is look down to realize you’ve created another project for yourself in the middle of your first one.
  • Wire brush: A wire brush is going to be your best friend for the more detailed sections.
  • Scraper: What you can’t scrub away, you can usually scrape away.
  • Cheesecloth or sponge: Clean as you go!
  • Stripwell (stripping chemical): (Use code BROWNSTONEBOYS for a discount!)
  • Denatured alcohol
  • Paintbrush

For Professionals:

  • Everything listed above, but swap Stripwell for Benco B7 for a more aggressive stripper.

Step 1: Prep is Everything

Before diving in, get your PPE on, lay down a tarp to catch debris, and organize your tools.

Using a heat gun can save significant time on areas with thick paint or varnish. Gently move the gun over the surface to soften the layers. Be cautious—heat guns can scorch wood if left in one spot too long.

After heat-gunning, wipe away loose paint with a cheesecloth or sponge. Always test a small area with your stripper first to ensure compatibility with the wood.

Step 2: Apply Your Stripper

The stripping process depends on the product you’re using, and your next steps will change slightly depending on whether you’re using Stripwell or Benco B7.

For DIYers (using Stripwell):

  1. Spray Stripwell directly onto the surface until it’s saturated.
  2. Spread the chemical evenly with a sponge or cheesecloth.
  3. Let sit for 20 minutes, then reapply as needed.

For Professionals (using Benco B7):

  1. Apply Benco B7 with a paintbrush using even strokes.
  2. Allow the chemical to sit for 10-15 minutes.

Note: Work in small sections to maintain control over the process.

Step 3: Scrub Down

Once the stripper has done its job, it’s time to scrape and scrub.

  1. Begin by wiping away softened paint or varnish with a sponge or cheesecloth.
  2. Use steel wool for broad surfaces and a wire brush for intricate details like moldings or carvings.
  3. For stubborn spots, combine scraping tools with elbow grease.

You may need to repeat steps 2 and 3 for areas with multiple layers of paint. Don’t rush—this step ensures you reach the bare wood underneath.

Clean The Surface

After revealing the wood’s natural beauty, it’s crucial to clean the surface thoroughly:

  1. Use a sponge or cheesecloth to remove any remaining paint, varnish, or chemical residue.
  2. Apply denatured alcohol to neutralize the stripper and prepare the wood for finishing.

Dispose of used chemicals, tarps, and PPE responsibly. Take everything outside to avoid lingering fumes

Finish The Wood

Congratulations! You’ve stripped your wood back to its original glory. Before finishing, consider sanding lightly for a smoother texture and applying a wood conditioner or stain to enhance the grain. We’ll make sure to get a follow up blog post all about matte finishes and preferred stains in the near future!

We’d love to see your transformations! Tag us on Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube with your wood-stripping projects and we can’t wait to celebrate your success!

Restoring wood is an art that preserves history and adds warmth to your space. With a little patience and the right tools, you’ll uncover treasures hidden under years of paint in one, two, three! Happy stripping!

Left, a white paint covered stair banister, right, a beautifully restored wood banister with flowers and gorgeous stain
Left, a paint-covered stair pre restoration, and right, a post restoration beautiful staircase
White paint covered door slightly ajar
Man standing in front of half-stripped door with white paint remaining on top and bottom revealing beautiful wood
Beautiful open door with resotred wood, a pendant light hanging, and cherry blossoms just slightly out of frame

Introducing Our New Five Story Brownstone Renovation

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Welcome to our latest renovation project, #OnceUponAReno!

This late 1800’s beauty was once home to Laura Jean Libbey, a 19th century author whose romance novels sold millions of copies and earned her a regular spot in the New York Family Story Paper.

Now, it’s time for a new family story, as we renovate this magnificent home for a family with two young boys who have found their own love for design! This project will be a balancing act between historical and modern design, and our plan is to bring in more light to this slightly spooky space through the addition of an atrium (our first ever!), softening of bold woodwork with wood stripping throughout the home, and the addition of a double height space on the ground and first floor.

We are honored to tell a tale of both classic and modern design in this 5 story Park Slope gem, and we can’t wait to take you along on this journey with us!

This is one you won’t want to miss! Subscribe here to tune in and watch the story unfold!

Two men facing window staring out of it
If you can believe it, soon this room will be a double height space!
Dark wood window casings surrounding stained glass
The original details in this home are stunning! Our priority in this home is to bring in more light.
old photo of a property in Brooklyn, black and white
This photo of the home in 1940’s shows it in it’s original glory!

Hardwood Floor Patterns: 5 Styles for Every Home

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When you think of hardwood floor patterns, does your mind go straight to planks? Or, maybe you think of the intricate, victorian inlay in your grandparents’ home.

There are so many types and style of hardwood flooring on the market. And whether you live in a new build or a historic home, there’s no right answer when it comes to hardwood pattern.

Today, we want to introduce you to some of our favorites:

Inlay

Inlay floors use multiple tones of wood to create borders, medallions, and accents on the floor. You may recognize this style from the Gates House. We used Solid Rift & Quartered 3/4″ x 2 1/4″ White Oak on a diagonal and then a Peruvian Walnut Strip 3/4″ x 1-1/2″. We love this pattern, especially in homes with lots of character and history.

Parquet

Parquet floors are made up of interlocking, smaller wooden pieces. The most classic example comes from the place that popularized this style–the palace of Versailles. At our project Break and Reno we were blessed to have the original floors still in tact, just some sanding and filling in where patches were missing.

Herringbone

Herringbone floors are created by overlapping the corners of narrow planks. The name actually comes from the skeleton of a herring (yes, the fish). This pattern is super versatile and works in modern kitchens or classic parlors.

Chevron

Similar to herringbone, this style also features a sloped, diagonal pattern. However, with chevron, the ends of the boards are cut at a 45 degree angle and butt up against each other. Chevron is stunning in a lighter finish or a deep shade like the floor in Bed-Stuy Brownie.

Planks

Plank hardwood flooring is classic and timeless. For this style, rectangular planks of equal width are laid in a horizontal pattern. At Dream in Fort Greene, we used Stuga planks throughout the home for a Scandinavian look. When you pre-order our book, For the Love of Renovating, you get access to an exclusive discount for Stuga.

Building Custom Shelves and Cabinets- A Year in the Making

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Anyone who has gone through a major renovation might relate to having a project or 2 (…3 ‍♂️) saved after it’s finished. Our biggest saved project is the big empty blank wall across from our kitchen. We planned on installing cabinets on that wall but the old fireplace bump out complicates it. We didn’t want two disconnected cabinet units on both sides and felt we needed a design that minimizes the effect of the bump out. Over a year later we have finally tackled this project!

The Wish List

We desperately needed storage! We didn’t build a single closet on the parlor floor of our house. That left nowhere for the broom, vacuum, and or even Zuko’s enormous bag of food! We knew we needed some deep (ish) and tall cabinets.

We also didn’t have a place for our bar and ended up with bottles on temporary racks so that was important as well. Not too mention we haven’t even invested in nice wine glasses because we don’t have a place to store them.

Finally, we only have one upper cabinet dedicated for dry food storage and really just needed additional pantry space.

The Design

This was the hard part. We stared at the blank wall for more than a year before we figured it out. We made many sketches. We consulted designer friends. And we went through a lot of ideas.

The fireplace bump out and a radiator on the left side made it a difficult space.

These features always dictated the design. What helped us to figure it out was to ignore the bump out and radiator completely. Functionally we couldn’t ignore it but from a design perspective it solved the problem. We decided we would design as if it was a flat wall and then work it around the difficult features.

Overall the key elements of the design are a Scandinavian feel with flat front cabinets in a white oak veneer. There are tall 90” cabinets on the deep side, and cabinets & opens shelves spanning the middle and opposite side. The shelves and cabinets inconspicuously step back in depth over the fireplace bump out and seamlessly hide the radiator. It’s simple, but it accomplishes all of our goals. It gets us tall storage, gives us a place for a bar, provides ample pantry space, and minimizes the effect of the bump out. It’s a nice contrast to our grey shaker kitchen cabinets and white walls.

The Build

The entire wall including the fireplace bump out is all original masonry and has been plastered over many times through the years. As you can imagine that leaves the walls very out of plumb. We took a lot of measurements but also knew it was going to take a lot of tweaking during installation.

The cabinet construction is melamine interior boxes (to save a bit) and white oak veneer fronts, panels, and shelves. The hinges and push openers are from IKEA (also to keep the costs down, but we have used their hardware many times and trust the quality). We finished the white oak veneer with an extra matte clear polyurethane. The radiator has a grill at the bottom and the top for air flow.

So our vacuum and broom now have a home, our whiskey collection has room to grow, and Zuko even has his own shelf for treats! Equally as important we love the design and the way it integrates into the rest of our house. Now that this project is crossed off the list that only leaves a couple (…3…is the list growing?!) more!

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Trim & Mouldings: A Quick Guide to the Finishing Details

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Trim and moulding isn’t just the icing on the cake it’s an important architectural feature of your home and can serve to protect the walls from damage. Mouldings can bring an unfinished renovation to an almost complete space. They can also do an important job of covering the guts of doors and windows after they are installed. 

It can be a confusing puzzle to put together especially if you have original wood or plaster  mouldings. We thought we would share our tips and tricks to putting together a moulding plan that will bring your renovation from incomplete to polished. 

An example of a project where we matched original plaster mouldings with new crown mouldings

Moulding or Molding

First of all we need to discuss something that might be bothering you. Is it spelled moulding or molding? Unfortunately and confusingly the answer is…both! You may have guessed that the old word and original way to spell it is “moulding” but here in the US many words that had that pesky “U” have had it removed over the years. Both spellings are accepted, but some professionals and suppliers choose to go with the old world spelling rather than the modernized US version. Since we love old houses and most of what we write is related to them, we have chosen to stick with the old and more nostalgic spelling. Now, let’s talk a about mouldings! 

Crown 

The original reason for most mouldings was to cover up gaps where building materials come together. Over time they became more ornate, but their original purpose still holds true. Crown mouldings can bring a feeling of elegance to a room. It can be a simple feature or an ornate focal point. There are many styles but we like to use a cove that can round out the transition where the wall meets the ceiling with additional features above and below it. Some crown mouldings consist of multiple pieces built up to achieve a larger and more ornate look. The height of the ceiling and proportions of the room usually determines how big to go. Many crown mouldings were traditionally made of plaster, and many still are, but it’s an expensive (but beautiful) option. A similar look can usually be accomplished with wood. More on that below. 

Baseboard

Baseboards are installed partly for aesthetic reasons, just as crown moulding hides the area where walls meet the ceiling, baseboards hide the joint where walls meet the floor, which might otherwise be unsightly. But baseboards also serve a very necessary function in protecting plaster walls from getting kicked or scuffed. They come in varying heights and details. Baseboard trim is usually much less ornate than crown molding, though in modern houses both can be starkly simple. Baseboard comes with a large variety of styles, such as smooth, beaded, ornate, and many more styles. Many traditional baseboards consist of multiple pieces. A flat board, sometimes with beading, and a base cap on top that is usually more ornate. Simple modern baseboards may even just stop at the flat board. The height usually depends on the height of the ceilings. We like to do baseboards in the 3”-5” range for low to medium height ceilings and 7-9” range for high ceilings (and more ornate details). 

Picture Frame & Rail

Picture frame moulding can instantly and inexpensively up the character factor in a room. It adds an touch of elegance to a space. The picture rail is a nod to tradition and history and was used to hang wall decor to avoid creating holes in plaster walls. This type of moulding will always curb a modern style to traditional. We like to use a low profile wall moulding to bring in some character but not make things too bulky. 

Door & Window Casing 

Like other types of moulding, casings were originally used to cover the gaps between the plaster wall and the door or window. It’s still used for that, but now to most people a home just wouldn’t be complete without them. Again, you need to consider the rooms proportions to chose the size abs style. You’ll also need to consider how much space there is around your doors and windows. In New York, space is tight and they may end up close to one another or a wall. You should consider the space required for the moulding to understand how big you can go. Usually the door trim will extend all the way around the door and to the floor. Sometimes a plinth is used as a base to the casing at the floor. The baseboard will then a terminate at the casings or plinth. At the top corners, and sometimes even on the sides, a decorative rosette can be used. 

Matching Original Moulding

One of the things that usually draws people to historic homes are their original mouldings. Rather than rip it all out and replace it, to keep its original charm you will want to restore it. But if some are damaged or if you move a wall or 2, you may need more.

Depending on which moulding you need to replicate with determine what to do. Your original baseboards and door & window casings are wood. It will likely be impossible for find your original moulding off the shelf. You can find a close approximation if it, or you can chose to have a millworker recreate the originals. This is not that much more expensive if you go to the right place. Many of the wood product shops in New York even have the knives (the tool used to give a piece of wood the exact feature of your moulding) on hand to match the more popular styles in local homes. If they don’t they can make it for a small fee. Then it’s just a matter of paying for the wood to be cut. 

Your original crown moulding is likely made of plaster. Fixing damaged sections or recreating it will require a skilled plaster craftsman to come into your home to spend many hours working to restore them. It can be expensive work, but the result will be beautiful. Once completed you will look at it everyday and will be glad you did it!

Finally, something to consider is that all the trim in a room should be part of the same family, with similar detail and proportions. If you have elaborate crown molding and very simple door casings, for example, it’s not going to feel right. All mouldings should be in proportion to the room size and each other.

Trim and mouldings serve an important purpose and are part of the architectural detail of your home. They hide the unsightly gaps between buildings materials and protect walls and plaster from damage, all while adding character and elegance to a room. Whether you are creating your moulding plan from scratch or restoring originals you’ll appreciate putting some thought into the plan! 

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Budget Kitchen Cabinets With A High-End Look

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Kitchens are often the most expensive spaces to renovate. There are a lot of moving parts and pieces that add up quickly. Of those, often the biggest and most expensive is the cabinetry. There is a wide range of options and the sky’s the limit. Fortunately there are also ways to achieve a high-end look on a budget. Since that is where most of us are in our renovation stories that’s what we’ll talk about, although if you’re curious about custom cabinetry prices keep reading.

IKEA Cabinets and Custom Fronts

A very popular and perfectly great option to remodel your kitchen on a budget is to use IKEA cabinets. They are just fine and do a great job. There are also many ways to customize them to upgrade the look. IKEA has several door and drawer fronts that can achieve anything from a clean white Shaker look to a modern Scandinavian slab (more on that in a bit). What has become fairly popular, if not fashionable in its own right, and an even better way to achieve a higher end look, is to use IKEA cabinet boxes (the interior and frame) with more custom door and drawer fronts. If you haven’t heard, IKEA sells the boxes without the fronts so you’re not wasting money by not using them.

If you go with IKEA boxes and fronts you can get cabinets for an average kitchen for $2,000-$4,000. Even less if you don’t get the fronts. That number is deceptively low so keep in mind that there are many more components to your kitchen remodel, but for now we’re just talking cabinets.

IKEA’s cabinetry system is called SEKTION and depending on what fronts you chose they all have their own names. The SEKTION system is modular so you can even mix and match fronts for a 2-tone or multi-textural look. You can even swap out all of your door and drawer fronts with something completely different if you tire of your white shaker after a year or 2. Since the system is so modular and easily customizable, other companies now make upgraded solid wood custom fronts for IKEA cabinets in a vast amount of options. It is an upgrade so they will cost more, but it’s the part of the cabinet you see and it’s what will give you that custom look for close to IKEA prices. Check out ,,Semi-handmade and ,,Reform. You’ll find that using the custom fronts will cost about 20% more than the IKEA fronts but the payoff is well worth it to us.

Unassembled or Preassembled Wood Cabinets

For a similar price as ,,IKEA cabinets there are companies that make nice wood cabinets at a fairly low cost. You can even get them preassembled which can make it easier for you to install yourself in a DIY project. We have used the ,,RTA Store in the past and found that their cabinets were inexpensive (they often run 40-50% off sales), nice quality, and they provided free design and consultation services to piece it all together. You might pay $6,000-$8,000 for this option, including the doors, which is close to where you might end up with IKEA cabinets and upgraded custom fronts. There are many other cabinet companies with similar options. When we used them for our renovation, we upgraded the less expensive cabinets with more expensive hardware. It’s not necessary as there are a lot of low cost hardware options, but for us it added some bling to our kitchen that makes us happy and helped us justify going with the cheaper cabinets.

Custom Cabinetry

Now if you are curious how all of this compares to custom cabinetry here are some numbers. Custom cabinets are a luxury few can afford, but as the less expensive options can come close they won’t compare to the look of beautifully built millwork. Quotes we have seen for custom millwork are in the $25,000- $35,000 range. Or another way to price it out is $1500-$2500 per piece. There are also semi-custom options to explore if you want something in between. With all of the other expenses a kitchen renovation brings it can push your budget into eye-popping numbers.

Putting It All Together

We talked about the cabinet boxes but there are a few more options and components to consider for your kitchen cabinetry.

Inset vs Overlay

Inset Cabinet Doors are set into the cabinet frame and fit flush to the cabinet surface. Many of the beautiful Pinterest photos you might have seen could be inset. It’s a custom look and usually costs more than other options. Everything needs to fit very precisely, so this style usually isn’t an option in the less expensive category.

Full Overlay doors can achieve a similar look to inset since they completely cover the front of the cabinet providing that flat surface look. This is what you can get through IKEA or IKEA with custom fronts.

Partial Overlay doors are similar to full overlay except more of the cabinet can be seen between the doors and drawers. It is a more traditional and less custom look but it is also more forgiving for everything to fit together.

Door & Drawer Front Style

Shaker – Shaker furniture dates back to the 18th century. Shaker-style cabinetry has surged in popularity and is considered to have a modern look that is now becoming so common it’s moving toward traditional. It’s a clean, simple, and timeless look with one recessed panel in the center. A clean white shaker kitchen is a great option and is likely to not offend anyone. You can pop it up by moving away from white and painting the fronts with a custom color.

Slab – The simplest style cabinet fronts are flat slab panels. They are an even more modern look and current trend in kitchen design. The clean Scandinavian look is sure to be a head turner where a shaker kitchen will choose to sit in the background.

Raised Panel – You’ll find raised panel cabinets in very transitional or ornately elegant designs. Rather than the simple recessed panel of a Shaker cabinet, a panel comes back to surface level and can have various ornamentation. Since IKEA and the custom front companies will trend modern you won’t find many raised panel cabinet options there.

Other Components

An example of pre & post cabinets with toekicks and fillers installed.

Photo credit: Chris Loves Julia

To complete your cabinetry’s low cost high-end look you’ll need toe kicks, filler panels, and possibly molding. Custom cabinets will use much less of this since they will be built specifically for your space. These pieces are the key to making your off-the-shelf cabinets look built-in. It’s another area that the custom front option will greatly upgrade the IKEA version. The more substantial solid wood will have an elevated feel. Keep in mind that you will still need to get the toe kicks (custom versions fit on top of the IKEA parts) and hinges if you’re using custom fronts.

We installed low cost pre assembled cabinets in our kitchen and we love the way it turned out. At the time, we didn’t know as much about IKEA and custom fronts, and we would dare to say that if we could do it all over again we might have gone with that option. We would probably have saved some money and we could have customized the look even more. We’re certainly enjoying our kitchen (if you can’t tell!) and are happy to know that there are options for us budget conscientious folks who want that custom kitchen look.

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Choices 2020: Varnish Or Paint For Our Mahogany Front Doors

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We installed our new Mahogany double front doors over a month ago. We’ve been debating whether we wanted to paint them or finish the wood. Since then we’ve gotten a lot of rain and we noticed it taking its toll on the raw wood. It was time for us to get some protection on this wood!

Our original double brownstone doors were long ago removed and replaced with a modern single door with filler on both sides. It was an inexpensive and all-too-popular fix in the 70’s and 80’s across Brooklyn as the original doors needed work. Less importance was given to maintaining the historical features and more importance was given to practical considerations of having an efficient and insulated door. We knew we wanted to restore the original double door, but decided that we weren’t going to go as far as having a custom door built to match the original ornamentation. At a price of $10,000-$15,000 it just wasn’t in the budget. We found a 48” double door with very little ornamentation, but we had nice big double paned glass panels, and some recessed panels, in mahogany, which was likely at least the type of wood our original door might have been made of. At only $1500 including the jam it was the best compromise for us.

Since our door was going to be a little bit more modern looking we thought we might paint it a deep dark color. We really like the black and dark blue painted doors we have seen around our neighborhood. Our cornice is painted a dark blue so that is what we made our plan! We were going to paint our doors a nice dark blue.

We bought the paint and it sat untouched for over a month. We were just not excited about painting our doors. The raw mahogany tone was growing on us more and more. We thought it was just too pretty to cover up with paint! So after a month and a half of debating and even a purchased gallon of paint we decided to varnish our door to bring out the natural tone in the wood.

We discussed with several wood restoration professionals what would be the best varnish to use to protect the door. What we settled on was a clear satin marine varnish. Marine varnish is used on the beautiful wood you might see on a vintage sailboat so we knew that it would be more than enough to protect our door from some of the driving rain it can receive.

We used ,,Marine Spar Varnish. We also got a nice new brush and a medium grit sandpaper. We chose a 2-3 day period where the forecast looked warm, bright, and sunny. After taping off the hardware and painted wood around the door we sanded it to get it ready for the varnish. We carefully painted on one coat of the varnish and immediately saw the beautiful tone of the wood come alive! We knew we made the right decision not to paint it. We let the first coat dry for 24 hours and painted on a second coat to make sure the wood would be well protected. The second coat didn’t change or darken the tone we achieved and loved after the first coat.

It’s been 2 weeks since we varnished our doors and every time we walk up to them we still say how happy we are we didn’t paint them! We also know they are well protected and will be looking their best for years to come! Let us know what you think!

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Brownstone Doors – Replicating What Once Was

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One of the most distinctive features of a Brooklyn brownstone is the double entry doors. They are usually two tall 24” doors with glass panels and decorative moldings. There is sometimes a transom above them or occasionally the door itself follows a curved arch of the facade above.

If they are still there and in good condition after over 100 years after they were installed then you’re lucky! Unfortunately, as it goes with pretty much anything after that much time, they require a lot of maintenance. Since these are no a standard affair they require very specialized skills and can be expensive to repair. And even more expensive to replace. It usually runs $10,000-$20,000 to have your very own custom set of Brooklyn brownstone double built. Because of that it’s very common to see these beautiful double doors replaced with a less expensive standard single door (of the type you might see on the shelf at your local home improvement store) with wood panels on either side to fill the larger space. 

Unfortunately our original doors were long gone when we got our place. It was a big priority for us to at least restore our place with a set of double doors. If you have followed along you might know that we renovated our place with a very low budget. Building custom double doors to match something similar to what might have been original at a cost of over $10,000 just wasn’t an option. So we found a company, Midwood Doors, that could provide a more standard size double door that wasn’t especially ornate but at least echoed the original look and feel. We measured the opening from where we could see the original wood posts on either side. It was 52″ wide so we knew the standard 48″ set of double doors would fit even with the frame, which was also provided.

Once the doors were framed we added the door trim, insulated with spray foam and then added the door moulding.

After a wrong set of doors being delivered, and then our original wood choice being unavailable, we ended up with an upgraded Mahogany door. Even at first sight these doors aren’t trying to pass for the originals, but they look great in their own right. They are tall and heavy with long stately glass panels. The only decoration is a small inset panel on the bottom of each. They’re simple and clean but echo the original idea of what was. The cost? An affordable $1500.

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How To Strip Paint Off Of Original Woodwork.

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We love sharing our reno and #DIY project stories. And we love hearing from people that are inspired to take on project of their own. By far the topic that we get the most emails about is the process of our paint stripping. So many people out there have beautiful historical homes with woodwork that is buried under decades of paint. It’s a tough and messy job and people have asked how our paint stripping specialist got it done so well! Our woodwork – bannister, window casings, door casings, and shutters all look amazing now that they are seeing the light of day from under all of that paint. 

Before we dive in we need to start with a word of caution. There are dangerous chemicals involved not to mention the possibility of lead paint. The process she follows may not be for everyone, but it certainly does the job. If you do strip wood please only handle with most care. We recommend a professional if a lot of wood is to be stripped and it is probably a good idea to do it when no one is living in the house. 

We were so so lucky to find Maria, our wood stripper, who has been stripping wood for over 30+ years and has handled every sort of wood, issue, and chemical in the industry. We recently caught up with her at a new job she’s working on to get a better handle of the process. 

Here we go!

Items necessary for paint stripping: left- chemical, center top- denatured alcohol, top right- steel wool, bottom left- respirator, bottom center- heat gun, bottom right- tools

Items necessary:

– Gloves (lots and lots of gloves). We recommend latex under cloth gloves
– Respirator. You want a good one that will cover the entire mouth. Chemicals will be used and who knows the history of your paint.
– Heat Gun- a durable one
– Steal Wool
– Tarp/Plastic
– Cheese Cloth- full box or large sponge- your preference
– Wire Brush
– Other tools used to scrape, scrub and clean
– Chemicals recommended: US Government Stripper, Zip Strip, Jasco, Rock Miracle

– Denatured Alcohol

Process

1. Heat Gun the wood you will strip- this will help the paint warm up and remove some layers
2. Remove any paint that has been removed with heat gun
3. Apply Chemical- use a spray bottle-  Let chemical sit 10-15 MINUTES
4. Clean remnants with cheese cloth or a large sponge- After the heat gun, the paint will hopefully come off in layers. Cheese cloth is a good material to swipe the chemical off. It will fall on the tarp that should be well taped to the area you are working in.
5. Use wire brush or steel wool to get areas that are more delicate and hard to get in large quantities.

6. Wipe wood down with something like Denatured Alcohol and continue to clean with steel wool.

This process removed every speck of paint from our woodwork, even in detailed places with lots of crevices. We’re sure that there are other tools used, maybe even some that are safer. If something worked well for you let us know!

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Adding Character With A Custom DIY Coat Nook

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For better or worse we opted not to carve up our floor space on the parlor floor with a coat closet. We didn’t move many walls on this floor so there just wasn’t a great place to build one. Every place we considered was obviously interjected into the space. But we still have coats! And so do our guests! So one of our projects over the past few weeks as it gets colder was to build our long planned coat nook.

When you walk into our front door, you’re greeted by our amazing original staircase and bannister then beyond that are the stairs to the garden level that wrapped around behind them. Except those stairs now lead down to a locked door to our rental unit and the basement. Since this is an area that will be rarely traveled we thought it was a perfect place to create our coat nook. 

We also wanted to make a feature out of what would have been a dead space. One of our secret weapons in home renovations to inexpensively add character and create a feature are wainscoting panels. Extra molding and shelves can create even more of mudroom feel, but in this case we wanted to keep it simple since it is a hallway that will be used even if not that often. 

We went with a beaded recessed panel that echos the shaker cabinets and doors we installed but has a bit more detail. The same baseboard wraps around it with the same semi-gloss paint to create a cohesive look. 

We mounted two custom library lights angled back toward the wall. They create some drama in the lighting plan and signal that the nook is a focal point. The final essential component are the six vintage (triple prong) coat hooks screwed into the panels. It gives us room for 18 coats, and more if we double up! 

Before and After of the new paneling and DIY project

It was a fun #DIY project! We’re happy with the way it came out. It made a feature and focal point out of an area that was dead space. We love the way it looks and it has done a great job keeping our coats off of furniture (and the bannister, and the floor… ). 

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Stairway to Heaven – Finishing Off Our Staircase with a Runner

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We faced some tough decisions early on in our renovation on what to restore, what to repair, and what to replace. Our place is 130 years old and has had several renovations over its lifetime. Each one no doubt chipped away more and more at the original charm. We wanted to restore as much as we could and were very careful to save as many features as possible even if we needed to recreate some things. The last renovation before we bought it created a 5 bedroom duplex with no care given to where walls cut through moldings and sloppy paint jobs on the woodwork. No place could that be seen more than on the original staircase and bannister. 

This week we put the finishing touch on the stairs, a new runner. Stair runners are sometimes a touchy subject. Maybe they are bit too close to carpeting for some people. For us it was a good solution as we wanted to restore our original stairs but didn’t have the budget to take it further. Rebuilding a staircase is expensive!

Our stairs have a lot of character. They have definitely seen some stuff. There were multiple layers of linoleum held in place with adhesive and metal strips with screws. On top of that was a layer of carpet nailed and stapled down. All of this has taken a toll on the original wood underneath. Once we removed all of these layers we sanded the stairs to see what we were working with. We were pleasantly surprised at how nicely they came out. They were still left with lots of holes and some discoloring, but overall looked better than we thought with a lot of character! Other than some scars from past atrocities the other thing that really shows their age is their squeak. Each tread tells a 130 year old story with well every step! 

We very briefly considered the option of rebuilding the stairs but they are very solid so it was big expense we really wanted to avoid. Also, so much of the originally features we’ve never seen but know where there have already been removed we were really happy to keep what we could. Squeaks, scars, and all!

We knew we needed to finish them some way or they would have been a bit too rustic. We also have an 85 pound dog that slips and slides his way around wood floors. Our solution was to find a very attractive runner that would fit in with the era and style of the place.

Fortunately we came across Annie Selke. They have a herringbone runner from Dash & Albert in a light grey and off-white that was perfect for the space. The color, pattern, and texture fit right in with our old stairs. 

Modern construction typically has 36” wide stairs and rug companies make runners to fit. Our old stairs are a little narrower at 31” so we had to have the runner cut and bound. We found a local company to come out measure, bind, and alter the runner so that it was the right size for our staircase.

We just had it installed and all of our problems are solved! The stairs have a much warmer and more finished look, the squeaking has been reduced a lot, and Zuko (our four-legged Labrador) can run up and down without slipping or losing his footing. We feel like one of our favorite features in the house has just had the icing on its cake. 

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Walking On New Ground

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There has been a couple of things that have been a long timing coming but are things that we’ve been very much anticipating. Even though they are relatively small developments they are a big step (pun intended) forward to completing the project. And we just plain feel good about them getting done. 

Refinishing Stairs

If you’ve read some of our other posts you probably know that we have been busy restoring the the original bannister and newel post. It all looks amazing, but this entire time there has been ugly old carpet layered on top of linoleum or some kind of vinyl on the stairs and risers. It has been something we looked at and sighed almost everyday. Well the carpet, vinyl, linoleum, and the glue that held is all together is now off! 

The stairs are original so they definitely don’t look new, but we’re happy with the shape they are in. Sure, they have holes were other surfaces have been installed, scars, a couple of gauges, and a charming squeak with every step that will definitely wake us up in the morning as we stumble downstairs for coffee. They’ve seen a lot over their 130 year old lives! We’re going to extend it a little more and strip, sand, and refinish them. We’ll take the squeaks and scars as a bit of character. 

Deck Surface 

So maybe this one isn’t such a small development. You probably know that one of the things we (as we’re sure anyone else would be) are most excited about is our new deck! Well this week we can walk on it for the first time! The steel has been steadily going in over the past few weeks (with a minor set back to fix a footing) and now the deck surface and stairs are in! We need railings and a bit of finishing and we are 100% done with it! 

We did something a little different for our deck surface. It’s common to pour cement and then lay tile on top. It’s not a bad solution because it gives you an outdoor room kind of feel. But our renovation is being done on a tight budget and tiling adds a chunk of money on top of what is already a big expense. We decided to pour the concrete all the way to the top and have a concrete surface at no additional cost. We plan on painting it with a concrete paint that will give it a clean and smooth (ish) finish. 

These are small developments but big steps for us. They are still a work in progress so we’ll keep you updated.

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Finishing and Protecting 130 Year Old Wood

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A few months ago we wrote a post about the process stripping layers upon layers of paint off of our 130 year old woodwork. The bannister, door & window casings, and shutters are all original and were caked in paint. Poorly painted we might add. Drips and globs everywhere. We had it all stripped hoping we could at least get it to a point that it could be repainted without the many layers, drips, and globs. We thought if we were lucky we could possibly leave some of it natural. Well we were lucky! Or we just had a very good paint stripper. We were shocked when we saw the beautiful wood under all that paint. It hasn’t seen the light of day in decades and now it’s beauty is out in the open for all to see. Now it’s time to continue the restoration process to repair and bring the wood back to life. 

After seeing how great the wood looked natural there is no way we are going to repaint it. That left us with a little bit of a problem. There are some places where we needed to repair or replace some part of it. That means we needed to find or make matching pieces and match the wood color the best we could. 

The first thing we wanted to address was the newel post. It unfortunately had some bad repair jobs over the years. Some pieces of moulding were missing or damaged. The entire thing also had a reddish tint either from a bad paint or stain job over the years, or because it looks to be a different type of wood from the mahogany bannister and someone might have been trying to match it. We had a very diligent and skilled specialist that worked on it methodically for a couple of weeks. He reproduced smaller pieces of moulding, tediously sanded out the red color, and carefully stained the new wood to match the existing. It looks great! We can only imagine how many people this newel post greeted as they came through the front door over the 130 years it was there. It’s amazing to see it shine again. 

About 50% of our place has the original baseboards. They are in two pieces. A lower 8” board with an decorative set of groves running down it, and an upper rail. We were faced with the difficult choice of taking out what was there and replacing it all with something new. We just really didn’t want to do that. Our goal has always been to restore as much as we could. Taking out so much original detail to replace it just wasn’t going to work. So we started looking around to see if we could have the original baseboards reproduced. We went over to Adriatic Wood in East New York, Brooklyn with a couple of samples of our baseboard. We don’t think it’s very unique. It’s probably very similar to many other Brooklyn houses built around the same time. They searched what they had in stock and unfortunately they didn’t have it. We were left with only one option, having them reproduced to match. Adriatic has many “knives” on hand that can cut new pieces. If they didn’t have the knife for our moulding already they would need to make one. For this to be an affordable option we needed them to have it. We left our samples there for them to search for a match. A couple of days later we got a call and they had it! Very affordably we were able to have our original baseboards recreated!

We had a new problem. We now have brand new wood baseboards to install next to 130 year old baseboard. The wood would always be a different color. We are also aware of the amount of natural wood we were now going to have and didn’t want it to over power the

place. We decided that we would paint all of the baseboards white while leaving the banister, original vestibule door, window casings and shutters, and door casings natural. 

We were also missing a few spindles from the bannister. They were hilariously replaced with much smaller and completely different store bought versions. We knew there was a small chance we could find some matching ones that were ripped out of some other poor Brownstone at a salvage store, but Adriatic was able to spin us up some new ones on matching mahogany for a very reasonable price. We’re happy to say our bannister is now complete!

Our next step is to protect the wood that we’re leaving exposed. We don’t want to put something on it that would change the color or make it shiny. Several people recommended Tung oil as the best option. After the paint stripping process it left the wood needing a light sanding. We sanded one of the window casings and tested the tung oil to see how it affected the wood. It came out great! It gave the wood a bit more depth but didn’t change the color (or sheen). 

The next step will be for us to sand the rest of the window casings, door casings, and window shutters. Then oil them all to protect and bring it all back to life. Our work is cut out for us.

The entire process took a lot of money, time, and effort but we already see it paying off. The original wood is now one of the best features at our place. We’re so happy to see it out from under all of that paint and we know that it’s going to look beautiful for years to come. The natural way.

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New Life for our Hardwood Floors

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The hardwood flooring is one of the things that is the most important for us to get right. It’s one of the largest surfaces in the house and it can really change the look of every room.

The existing flooring was laid about 5 years ago. The original planks are under it, but they are unfortunately not in the best shape to expose. The new flooring is 3 1/4” solid white oak hardwood with a white wash finish. The finish makes it almost look like it’s not real wood. It’s one of the things we immediately knew we wanted to change. At first we thought we would get all new floors. We spent a lot of time looking at different options, some of which got very expensive. Eventually we realized that the existing flooring is actually in good condition and we could just get more if it to fill in the gaps very inexpensively. Of course it would be in the horrible white wash finish so we would sand and refinish it. This saved us thousands of dollars. Since we would keep much of the existing floor we only needed to purchase about 400 additional square feet (the place is about 1600 square feet total).

Now that the second story floor is sanded we can see what it will look like and we are very happy with it! Once the white wash finish was removed, the beautiful white oak wood shows through. The next step will be to refinish it. We have the option to choose any color and any sheen level that we would like. We spent the last couple of weeks thinking it over. Seeing what the wood looks like under the finish really helped!

We want the place to look light and airy while staying true to its history. So we don’t want to a dark stain on the wood. We love the way it looks now so we are going to keep it natural and just put a finish on that will protect it and bring out the color and grain of the wood.

The next step is to chose what sheen level we want. We’re using Bona waterbourne finish and it comes in four different levels of sheen: (least shiny to most shiny) extra matte, satin, semi-gloss, and gloss. We personally never liked the look of super glossy hardwood floors. They were more common a decade ago and we associate it with cheaply remodeled New York apartments after seeing it in so many of them. Recently the trend seems to be a more matte finish. Any house, hotel, restaurant, bar, or cafe I’ve walked into and salivated over the floors they were matte to the point of reflecting almost no light. It may not be for everyone but we’re going with the extra matte! The most popular finish is satin but even that reflects light at about a 40%. The wood will have a natural sheen on its own so we will count on the wood to do its thing and will use the least shiny finish.

Bona says that the sheen level doesn’t affect durability but we’ve heard that a matte finish doesn’t show dust and scratches as much as glossier floors. Since we have a 90 pound lab who loves to run and slide on the floors we’ll need all the help we can get! We’re going to use Bona Traffic HD, which will provide commercial levels of protection.

If the floors just looked they way they do since they were sanded we would be completely happy! We’ll be putting the coats of finish on this week so we’ll keep you posted on how it looks!

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Tiles, Counters, and Hardwood… Oh My!

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In the past 5 months a lot of demo and building has been going on, but the next few weeks are going to show the biggest transformation so far! That’s because we are now working on the stuff that you’re going to be able to see when we’re done! Work is finally happening for the tiling, hardwood flooring, and plaster.

It’s crunch time to make decisions on the surfaces and we’re on it! The last thing we want is a delay in the project if we can’t make up our mind, so here goes!

Hardwood Flooring

We bought the place with 3 1/4 solid white oak flooring with a white wash finish installed throughout. It certainly wouldn’t have been our first (second, third, or fourth) choice. We thought about taking it all out and getting something new, but it’s solid wood floors that are in decent shape. We decided to just fill in areas with the same floor (it’s a fraction of the price of any of the others we were considering), sand, and refinish them. We already sanded one of the boards that was removed with demo and once the awful white wash finish is off it’s beautiful white oak wood. We’re planning on just putting a matte natural finish on it to bring out the tone and make the place light and airy. Does anyone recommend a stain they prefer or love?

Kitchen Counters

We’ve already ordered our kitchen cabinets. The cabinets were one of the first items we ordered from the RTA Cabinet store. They have been sitting in their storage unit and are ready for delivery! The cabinets are a simple grey shaker cabinet. Picking out the kitchen counters was something that could wait, but we planned on a white quartz to contrast with the grey cabinets. Similar to our kitchen inspiration picture from Branca & Co. We found HanStone, the quartz company we wanted to work with, and noticed that their quartz with marbling is so beautiful. We’ve always been suckers for a carerra marble countertop. So we ordered a few samples and feel that we can’t go wrong with any of them! They are all in the white family but some have more marbling which gives them a slightly grey tone. We were worried that choosing one with too much marbling might make for a grey on grey effect with the cabinets…but one of them keeps standing out to us. Even though our cabinets are grey, we really like the one that looks the most like carerra marble. After a lot of consideration and asking many people their opinions, the one that we think we’re going to go with is the one with the most marbling with the carerra look: we have decided on the Montauk finish.

Master Bath

Our master bath inspiration photo sold us on this charcoal hex tile a while ago. Then we found Fireclay Tile. They have the most beautiful handmade tile. We knew we wanted to get our tile from them. We received an amazing sample package with several options included with finishes, tile shapes and the perfect sample of colors. They had the matte hex tile we wanted for the floor and the far shower wall. For the side walls, we wanted something white to contrast with darker tile. We also didn’t want something with too much of a pattern since the hex will be busy enough for the room. We decided to go with a simple 6×6 white tile laid in a brick pattern. We think it will go really well with our midcentury modern custom vanity. Especially with the contrasting grout color.

Guest Bath

Our guest bathroom is going to be brand new. There was not a bathroom at all where we’re building it. We really wanted to make sure it blended in with the rest of the house. Since our master bath has a bit of a modern look with the charcoal hex, we’re going classic in here. Maybe even a bit vintage. We’re doing matte hex florets on the floor with a matte 3×6 subway tile to chair rail height and bull nosed at the top. All from our friends at Brooklyn Tile & Design.

I’m not sure which one of these finishes we are the most excited to see go in! It’s all going to be so beautiful and we’re slowly getting packages by the day. We wish we had some after pictures to show you now. The first step of the tiling process (the mud layer) started just a couple of days ago and hardwood flooring starts this week. We can see the finish line now and finally seeing the finishes come to life. It’s going to be such a transformation. Check out our Instagram account for pictures and videos of the process!

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Woodwork Plans

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We’re at a very exciting point in the project! Over the next couple of weeks we’re going to make some serious progress on finishes that we’re actually going to see rather than pipes and electrical that will be behind the walls. Bathroom tile, flooring, and woodwork will start going in! We’re currently trying to decide how much of the original baseboard we should keep and how much will need to be replaced.

Right now the place has about 30% of the original baseboard in place. Really just in the foyer up the stairs and also below and between the windows. Much of it is missing for various reasons (kitchens & bathrooms being moved…etc). We hoped that a local lumber supplier known for stocking typical Brooklyn wood molding supplies would have it. Our woodwork is all very common and typical in old Brooklyn houses. We also have a couple of missing spindles on our staircase railing that we hoped to find there too. Unfortunately we struck out on all of them. But we have a plan!

We were told about a carpenter that can make us new spindles by copying one of the existing ones. The cost is about $100 each so an acceptable fix since we’re only missing two. We think they are mahogany, and we just match the wood as best as we can. We think two new spindles will look beautiful matching the existing ones and certainly much better than the completely mismatched ones that are there now.

The baseboards are a different story. Since they no longer stock our baseboard (although the gentleman at the store said that people have come in looking for it hundreds of times) our only option would be to have it custom made. We only have about 30% of the original baseboard so that means we would be making quite a lot of it. Probably 250 feet. It will cost thousands of dollars. Alternatively, we could buy all new solid oak baseboards for a few hundred dollars. We have made our best effort every step of the way to retain original features even when it was considerably more expensive than replacing it. This time though we are leaning toward the latter. Since there is so little of the original baseboard left, and the cost is so much more to reproduce the missing sections, it just seems to make more sense to replace it all.

Right now we are thinking that there are a couple of places where we’ll keep the original. Especially up the staircase. We’re going to wait until the new baseboard is in to make the call when we see what it looks like with the original next to it.

The good news is that no matter what we decide to do with the baseboards we’re absolutely keeping all of the window casings, door frames, shutters, and the OG banister! They are still in the process of being stripped and coming out beautifully!

It’s hard to believe that finishes are being installed and it’s making us really excited that we are so close to the end!

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