What I Really Need...

Is an awesome article on picture railing in 1920's bungalows. Anyone have one they'd like to share?

Though the weather has warmed once more from what was feeling very autumnal, my cold weather nesting is in full force. The garden is not really winding down yet (pictures to come if I can get myself to upload them). In fact, many things are just beginning, like tomatoes and peppers. Still, I feel the gardening season winding down, and my focus is slowly shifting back to the house. The attic is almost completely cleaned out, and once preschool starts for the twins, I plan to get working on decluttering and reorganizing their rooms. Something's gotta give if we're going to fit a 4th baby in this 3 bedroom house! Cross your fingers for a boy, y'all...

Oh. Yeah, so the picture rail thingy... Since I'm planning to start work on the bedrooms, part of that work is restoration. Picture rails were standard at this time, so I'm assuming our house had them originally. The problem is, I've been in several neighborhood houses very similar to ours and not a one of 'em has the picture rail. Hmph. Most of our walls (I think all the bedroom walls) are now drywall rather than plaster, so the rail isn't necessary, but well... It's authentic! I tend to get really picky about these things though, so I'm freaking out over the fact that I don't know what the original picture rails looked like. How could I possibly choose one without having something to go on!? Um, right? Well, so far I'm loving the 2 1/4" Stain Grade Hemlock Picture Rail Molding from House of Antique Hardware the best, but I'm having trouble actually picturing it in the room. I need a sample, I think, to see how well it goes with the rest of the trim in the house.



Of course, since the picture rail needs to be stained, that means the rest of the wood in the room is probably going to need to be redone. Oy. Just to be clear, most of it doesn't "match" now, simply from age fading, and the previous owner did the most lovely splattery paint job with apparently not a bit of painter's tape in sight, so the trim really needs to be redone anyway. I'll have to get a picture of all the horrifying paint details up sometime.

Man, I'm tired just writing about redoing all that wood.