How to choose an era for renovations

[Greenwood]

I'll be finishing the interior of the addition to my 1912 American foursquare, as well as the original part of the house. The original part of the house does not have original lighting, kitchen, or bath fixtures. It has original (painted) trim and flooring that I will refinish to a light stain.
I don't want to live in a museum, but I want a definite nod to history in the fixtures. Since all the fixtures will be new (including a kitchen down the line when I've got some more money), I'm wondering how to pick a 'time period' to work toward.
Is there a standard way of choosing how to 'date' the interior? It's a simple tradesperson's house, so I'd like to keep it simple, but would I look for 1910, 1920s, or 1930s styling?
How have others chosen?

[Willa]

I think it is important to renovate(or restore, replace) in a style that is appropriate to the house itself. Like a modest cottage would have never had a extravagant marble bathroom, for example ? Although "luxuries" like central heating and indoor plumbing are now essential by today's standards ?

I guess that I sort of wrote an imaginary back-story for my house - about who the people were who lived here, and how they lived in the house. Some of this was pieced together from what neighbours told me about former owners, and what I found in the local archives. Then I imposed my own needs on top of this.

One mistake I have seen people make is that they really fancy up a basic family home. Some of this is the by-product of a too hot real estate market("resale value"), some of this happens because of gentrification and the anxiety of keeping up with the neighbours.

I don't think a person can go wrong with classic styles and materials, particularly for things like a kitchen or bathroom. I like lights and fixtures (plumbing, cabinets, doors, etc.) that are appropriate to the age of the house. BUT - many houses had young owners who upgraded as they could and their family and/or fortunes expanded. So an 1880's house might have an art deco master bath and a kitschy 1950's kitchen. This is part of the evolution and history of the house, even when it is a tragic mis-step, like the wretched 70's fake wood kitchen cabinets I had to rip out.

Things like furniture, window coverings and paint(ie decorating) can be easily changed to suit tastes, but the overall bones and layout of the house shouldn't be ? Open concept drives me nuts, and is so impractical except for super tidy minimalists.

Your house should look and feel like your house. It can take awhile to figure out what your needs are, within the house - which is why people often give the advice to live in the house for awhile before you make major changes. Ask me about bad paint color choices - I have plenty of experience with that. Sometimes what we THINK is going to be great just doesn't work for whatever reason. Unless this is a major structural modification - oh well. Dust yourself off and ask yourself what isn't working and try something else. Tastes change, too, so decor can be upgraded or made more practical.

The book "How Buildings Learn" is about how the use of a building often changes over its lifetime. I read it a very long time ago, but if you have theoretical questions related to historical preservation v.s. practical use it might be of interest ?

https://www.amazon.com/How-Buildings-Learn-Happens-Theyre/dp/0140139966/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1514864283&sr=8-1&keywords=how+buildings+learn

[heartwood]

so much to see online these days...I typed in '1910 kitchen styles' and found a lot of ideas...pinterest has multitudes of photos of original kitchens...you can ideas from the photos then develop them for your own budget...oh how much fun it is to look at photos and imagine your kitchen/bathroom/living room coming to life before your very eyes!

have fun.....
.....jade

[Mick_VT]

To me I tend to largely stick with consistency of a period in a single room so the room works together, but then also stay within a few decades for other rooms. The feel is of a house that may have been re-modelled over the decades as funds allowed. Most of my updates are styled around 1900-1930 as those are periods I like. They also extend and in some cases recreate the remodeling that I know did happen in the late 1890s. Willa's point about extravagance is a good one - it generally looks ok to take it up a notch or two but don't go twenty or it will seem at odds with the house. I guess the cutoff is where somebody doing the remodel would have more likely just moved to a more extravagant house. This allows for some flourish and bits of extravagance, but if it were all over, it would look out of place.

I have one other golden rule - I try as far as possible not to remove anything truly old or change the fabric of the house from the way it might have been - I do not always succeed with this but any such change is very long thought out and considered from every angle.

[awomanwithahammer]

I don't think you have to pick one era and do everything in that era. Look at pictures, and find things like light fixtures that hark back to one of those eras, pick one you like and go with it. No house that has been lived in stays static. Things break (or not) and get replaced with newer models. I find that I'll see something on CL that is vintage and cool, but I think, no, that's 10 years later than my house. It doesn't really matter. If you like it, go for it. You said you just want to give a nod to those earlier eras, not slavishly copy them. Most people can't tell the difference between one era and another (except maybe that 1970s kitsch!)

[Sashguy]

I keep several reprints of Sears Catalogs to help my customers select period items. This one would be appropriate for your home.

https://www.amazon.com/Sears-Roebuck-Ho ... roductions

[1918ColonialRevival]

Selecting a "period" is totally up to you, but a lot of interior decoration books of the 1910s and 1920s era emphasize traditional stylings (Chippendale, Hepplewhite, Sheraton, and even Empire to a degree) for furnishings. By the late '20s when the Art Deco movement was taking hold, new styles began to emerge. Some items in the 1925-40 period took traditional styles and gave them an Art Deco flair. Other styles, such as the streamline look of the late '30s and '40s, were completely new.

As for our house, we've tried to stick with the period of the construction, especially since it is largely original inside and out. The exception is the kitchen. It underwent several renovations in its life, the most recent being in 1969. When we finally get to the kitchen, my wife wants it done in a post-WWII styling, as that styling reminds her of her grandmother's kitchen.

Mick's advice is spot on. As a rule, don't change anything that can't be undone later.

[Greenwood]

Wow, all wonderful thoughts and suggestions! Much appreciated!
I had looked at another thread that is somewhat related to my question, which offered thoughtful comments on how we live in our old houses.
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=12113&p=126040&hilit=historic+period#p126040

Thinking about why I live in an old house, the relevance of me to it, and who the past owners and occupants were gives meaning to what I'm doing. I like the idea that I'm a steward of the house, one of many. I don't want to do something incompatible with my stewardship role, although some might argue I did that by adding on in the manner that I did. In my defence, I think the house went through so many residents because it was not suitable for family life (two bedrooms and a den, one small bathroom upstairs, and a small living room), so that my expanding it makes it more livable and 100% more likely to survive the "infill boom" going on in my neighbourhood.
Anyway, aside from the obvious change in exterior appearance, I will try to keep the exterior consistent to 1912, and want to do the same for the interior. But, 1912 is not practical. Therefore my question about how to settle on an era to strive for.
I like the idea of checking old catalogues etc., but I'd like to remain consistent throughout the house whichever 'era' I aim for.
But again, I really appreciate the feedback!

[Willa]

One last comment: scale is really important for things like light fixtures or major furniture like sofas or dining room tables. The era and style of the piece might be perfect, but if the size is wrong it just won't work.

Too large furniture in a modest room makes the room feel smaller, and small furniture in a big room can make the room feel cavernous or empty.

I recall what what was probably a turn of the century light fixture from a church used in a victorian house's 2nd floor hallway. Every single time I was there all I could think about was "that light is way too big". Or the victorian house that had been overrun by a tacky decorator, with a gigantic crystal chandelier in the livingroom that only a child could stand under.

[Greenwood]

Willa, it's like you walked through my house. I have a donated dining room table that is 8 feet long, and 10 with leaves. It fits into my dining room, but takes all the space. And in my living room I bought a wonderfully comfortable sectional sofa, which I love a lot, but that instantly made my living room overstuffed. It also cuts off the flow through the room and to the bay window.
It was a few years of living with furniture that is too big for the space before I realized that my frustration with my house was due in part to that. Trying to inch around in space causes daily stress.
Now with my addition, I can move the sofa to a larger space, but I'm stuck with the dining table. Part of my brainworks/personality is that I can't replace something that is 'perfectly good'.
but definitely all furniture going forward will be more modest in size.