A Gift from Our Old House

13 years ago

We pulled up a layer of vinyl, linoleum and tile from our old kitchen floor and uncovered what appeared to be nice hardwood floors. The floors were in such good shape we didn't want to cover them up with the planned island and we also had reservations about losing our kitchen table (thanks to a post by lavenderlass). We scrapped the island and completely changed our layout. What we didn't know at that time was the floors would become the star of our kitchen remodel.

There are days during this remodel when we wished for new construction- like the day we found out our range wall and floor had a 2" difference from one side to the other or when we realized the cabinets would not meet the walls perfectly and we would need to use some scribe molding. But then we have days like yesterday, when we came home to our new 106 year old floors. The layers of old flooring essentially preserved our hardwood floors and we are in awe of how beautiful they turned out.

After all the time, money and energy we put into this remodel, we consider these beautiful and wonderful floors a gift from our old house and are honored to be its current caretakers! (Just need BS and WT and we'll be ready for our reveal.)

Before:

After (close up):

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Comments (14)

cluelessincolorado
13 years ago
Wowza! Can't wait to see the rest!
doggonegardener
13 years ago
We have expressed those very "wish we had new construction" wishes ourselves at times but we LOVE our house and we cherish her and her history and character. God bless old houses.
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flwrs_n_co
13 years ago
Oh my gosh, that is beautiful!!! What a wonderful link to your old house!
beckysharp Reinstate SW Unconditionally
13 years ago
Beautiful floors and beautiful story!

Becky
marcolo
13 years ago
Gorgeous.

Fascinating to see the staggered corners. Was that originally the kitchen? Normally that layout was used around the border of living spaces, with a rug covering the center.
lavender_lass
13 years ago
South- They're stunning! What an unexpected and lovely surprise! You're going to have a beautiful kitchen and I look forward to the big reveal :)
lazydaisynot
13 years ago
Wow. Just beautiful. Lovely thread title, too.
beachpea3
13 years ago
The beauty of the past is the shining star of your new kitchen! What a great present! Congratualtions!! Can't wait to see the rest!
marthavila
13 years ago
Gorgeous! That's exactly the way I discovered the original oak parquet floors in the kitchen of my old house. The POs had relocated the kitchen to what had once been a bedroom and then covered over the floors with linoleum. By the time I got around to the reno, that linoleum was not just ugly, it was screaming for retirement. However, in lifting it up in contemplation of putting down tile, we discovered this incredible hardwood floor which had been protected by the linoleum layer all those years. You are so right that original floor is a gift! Congratulations and enjoy!
User
13 years ago
Yep we had the same gift in our 120 yr old home. Everytime I recover another piece of history in this old girl I am so glad that we moved in to take care of her.

If you want to see the restored bead board ceiling on the porch there are a couple threads on Home Decorating Forum showing what my GC and I are doing.

I look forward to seeing the rest of your amazing space. c
fromthesouth
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks for all the positive comments. We felt a little silly making this post, but are so overwhelmed by these floors we had to share with the only people we knew wouldn't think we had lost our minds!

marcolo: We are pretty sure this is the original location of the kitchen. We (meaning DH) tore out two marble slabs that covered the plumbing in the kitchen and the butler's pantry. (The slabs were already broken and couldn't be salvaged or we may have had marble countertops!) Plus, the hardwood floors in every room in our house are laid in this "picture frame" style. The flooring guy was amazed.

marthavila, doggonegardener: Thanks for sharing your similar stories. It's nice to know we're not alone in our love of old houses. We joke that maintaining and updating our old house is the ultimate in recycling (which sounds better than being in a money pit)!

trailrunner: I'll have to head over to the Decorating forum to check out your bead board ceiling post. We also have a bead board ceiling on our front porch and also under all of our soffits. Unfortunately, our resident squirrels seem to enjoy the taste of it so we have some expensive repairs to do to it.
formerlyflorantha
13 years ago
Such a present! And such deserving recipients!
jmcgowan
13 years ago
Your floors are beautiful. I love how the carpenter placed the boards together at the end, such wonderful craftmanship. You certainly don't see that nowaways (unless you're paying a small fortune and are attune to such detail!).

Just when we are fraught/depressed about something in a remodel, something else happens to brighten our day -- thank goodness!

Best of luck on your project, and looking forward to seeing more photos along the way and when you're finished!
Lori Ryan
13 years ago
Aren't old floors great!! I did a renovation project on a 110 year old house last fall and we were astounded to find fabulous wood floors under the ratty 30 year old carpet. The were refinished and look gorgeous. The floors had the same detail as your floors. Beautiful! Congrats on keeping them and renovating your plans.