When I bought this house 18 months ago, one of the decorating details that I was keen to be rid of was the wallpaper throughout the house. I had imagined days or weeksof steaming and scraping it off the walls, but when it came time to remove it, I discovered it was attached to plywood panelling and came off very easily. Sadly I have no 'before' photos, they were all lost when I left my camera outside and it rained that night!!
There were lots of surprises under that horrible old wallpaper.....beautiful original teakwood tongue and groove boards were the best, but also gaps above the doorways where transom windows had been. These were a feature of houses built in the tropics and sub tropics, as they could be adjusted to let breezes through, and to let extra light in, as the wide verandahs, while cool shady places to retreat to, left the interiors rather dark.
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| Transoms above the bedrooms. |
Here's another original,propped open to catch a breeze.
Most transoms were panes of glass, but some were made of wood, carved into fancy fretwork patterns, like this one, below.
So.....the urgency to paint? Well I have the glazier coming tomorrow to replace the transoms, and before he does that, the frames need to be painted.....that's my job. There's 4 frames to be done.....the two in the picture above, over the bedroom doors, one above my sewing room, which was originally a verandah, back in the mists of time, and at some point in this house's life, it was enclosed and makes a fine sewing room now.
The other one is in the front hallway. This doorway would've been the original front door, off the verandah, also closed in at some point.
As you can see, not much to do, but I've been putting it off for a while for a few reasons......those frames are fairly high, and I have to stand on a table to reach, then stretch up a bit......this never feels safe.......I've had sinus/hayfever for a few weeks and the thought of being up close to paint fumes, even though it is low voc, is not a thrilling idea. Thirdly, the sun's out, there's a light breeze and it's quite pleasant outside, which is where I'd much rather be. Someone else thinks that's a much better idea too.
But there's no use putting it off any longer, I have everything ready to go, so it's time to get started. I know I'll be pleased I did when the glazier comes in the morning.
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I have seen transoms with wood carvings in old Sri Lankan houses. It's so nice that you have yours replaced.
ReplyDeleteDo you have a ladder? An A-shaped ladder would be safer than a table. I got one after falling off a bench and spraining my ankle. :)
Yes I saw some too when I was in Sri Lanka Nil, I remember a big old probably ex-British house in Newera Ellia that had them. I know, a ladder seems sensible, and I do have one, but like having the wider space to plant my feet. I'm finished now, thank goodness, and was very, very careful, no sudden moves :)
Deletelove the old styles doors & doorways of old houses, they were quite sensible in their designs & i hate it when people (renovators) stuff them up or bodgey reno works (like mine) what a bonus that your original walls were there; smart thinking people probably thought that somewhere/one in the future would like those walls back
ReplyDeleteam enjoying the little peeks into your house, can't wait to see those transoms finished.
thanx for sharing
A neighbour told me she remembers the owner of this house going out and picking peas and beans to save up to have the wallpaper put up... I think the features we love now probably seemed old-fashioned. I agree, I love all the old fixtures, and especially the beautiful fretwork arches. Do you have an old Queenslander Selina? Sad to hear you had a bodgey reno done, nothing worse and sometimes hard to fix.
Deleteno, not an old queenslander, though would love one, mine is an old workers cottage, what's left of it anyway. SiL is slowly fixing it up for me.
DeleteI think worker's cottages are pretty nice too, mine's probably more of a worker's cottage than a Queenslander, I don't have those wrap around verandahs.
Deletehmmm!! I am going to have to do some catch up reading Nanette - my time away from blogging has me very far out of date on what has been happening in your life. How nice are your dorways - can't wait to see them finished!
ReplyDeleteHello Kerrie! How nice to see you back here. I popped into your blog from time to time to see what you're up to, but see from your latest post life's been busy and challenging for you. It will be good to have the glass over the doorways, nothing fancy, but will look better than big holes,that's for sure :)
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear you're finished, I worried about you teetering around on top of a table to get the job done. You've done an amazing job of preserving and celebrating the original features in your lovely house, and the transoms are just one more example. I wish our house had a few more, but it's a rather characterless 1970s job. Thankfully wallpaper free, though...
ReplyDeleteNot a teeter in sight, the table's very sturdy, I teeter more up on a ladder. I alerted a neighbour too who came to check on me later, to make sure I wasn't flat out on the floor, but thanks for being worried, it was a pesky job. The house has come up nicely, it's good we still have these character homes around.
DeleteI love looking at your photos and being able to see how lovely your house is looking after all your hard work. Reading this post made me think of my childhood home which had a transom window over the front door and the wooden cutout ones over internal doors. I also remember painting my mum's bedroom when I was 18; I stood on 2 tables to do the high bits. A bigger table on the bottom and a smaller one on top of that...yikes! Wouldn't do it now 😕
ReplyDeleteI'm a bit envious of your childhood home's wooden cut out transoms. a neighbour was telling me when they bought their home 40+ years ago, it had those lovely carved transoms and they couldn't wait to get rid of them, so pulled them out and panelled over it all. She's sad now they did it. When you come this way again for Bruce's golf you'll have to visit and see it all for yourself. Wish I'd thought of using two tables! :)
DeleteId rather wallpaper than gloss/matte paint woodwork.
ReplyDeleteYou need some ladders woman!
But if like me your balance isn't good, even on high heels, well - you need an oddjob man instead LOL
make him a cake or chutney rather than at him - promise him ( or it could be a her ) tomatoes when they grow or a reference if he ever needs one!
Love the ornate transoms!
We have transom windows in the uK but they are small sections in a window to allow air in and not as substantial as yours there.
http://www.albionwindows.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Bow-Windows-1.jpg
That kind of thing though you can see above the front door a light only transom, they weren't designed to ever open.
Way back in a 1950s built house we had a small transom in the back kitchen window and Mum left it open overnight and some skinny scallywag youth climbed through it and pinched her purse.
the funniest thing was we were living in a police house lol
I was fine, I have good balance and I'd rather have my feet planted on a big table expanse than on a little ladder rung....I do have a number of ladders, just not for this job. Can't see the point of paying some bloke $60 an hour to do something I can manage quite well, and don't think they're into barter around her. I love the scallywag story.
DeleteGood heavens Nanette, standing like that sounds rather precarious! Take care!
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to see the renewed windows.
Hi Anthea, I'd have felt more precarious on a ladder, it was a large sturdy table, so I was fine....at least I didn't put another table on top as Maria said in her comment :)
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