The Historic District

I have also been thinking about leaving this room unfinished and just moving in. I tend to use living rooms the least of all because I'm usually working in my studio. The only issue is the floor flows into the kitchen floor and there's no door separating the two rooms.

I stand corrected- I said I wasnt an expert

One thing did strike me though when I revisted the chimney pics. That chimney is built to accommodate a fireplace, not just a stove. If it were the latter it would be the same narrow width the whole way up. Chances are there is at least a fireplace opening behind that brick, though it may be molested.

I'm definitely not an expert either! I could be wrong too.

I think there's a good chance there is a molested fireplace opening. The original hearth and surround are gone though.

you never know you might get lucky, there is an old inn near here where the fireplaces did not stand proud of the wall. They were sheet rocked over for decades until a recent renovation uncovered them. I'd lie to think thats what is behind your brick, a stone hearth complete with a cast iron arm from which to hang a steaming kettle

Oaktree, there is a better way to look for the fire place, beg borrow or steel a camera scope. Stick it up the clean out and see what you find. No need to tear into things.

Gothichome, I didn't try to take any bricks out, so a scope is a good idea.

I just finished repairing the chimney, and I think it is not going to leak anymore! I am going to put something temporary in as a hearth, hang that old beam as a mantle (carefully to not ruin it), and maybe paint the brick white. Maybe in a couple years, I'll redo it and revert the chimney back into a wood fireplace or put in a gas insert. I have more than enough on my plate right now as I have been discovering other problems that have to be fixed immediately.

Also, it looks like my flooring contractor is finally able to return this week, which is extremely exciting. Most of my painting is done, but I'm still figuring out the moldings.

After ripping up beige carpet, removing 50+ nails per step, I have nice wooden stairs like this:





The door to the stairs is in my kitchen, and I'm thinking about painting them entirely brick/barn red. It looks like there was originally some kind of brick red paint on the steps and some of my wood floors.

All my doors are too short now are not original anyways, so I think I am going to have to start keeping an eye out for doors on craigslist and the reuse store.

Floors and stairs were indeed often painted using iron oxide pigments in linseed oil paint but the colour really isn't for everyone - personally I'd paint them any colour but one of those historic shades of rust.

Interestingly these shades of brown/red/mustard were common for floor almost all around the world, I've seen them in Russia, central Europe and the US. Probably the brown was meant to be an approximation of hardwood, at least that's my best guess. I recently tore out an old painted floor because it couldn't be refinished or left alone - some boards were worn down all the way to the tongue, some were broken and flexing and there were splinters up to 4".

Thanks for the history, Texas_Ranger!

I actually like the iron oxide barn red! I might go with it and paint the entire staircase that color.

Also, I'm kind of curious what people think...I think I am going to have to go with painted trim instead of stained trim to save money because I've had to do more repairs than expected. Should I paint all the trim the same white as the walls? Or is that a bad idea because the vinyl windows (last owner) are beige? I picked out this color as a possible trim color, which is close to the color of the vinyl:



I'm planning to go with a pretty simple trim style...I have to buy rather thick trim because the gaps between the original floors and the walls are so large...there's a lot to conceal. I'm also considering that doing a contrasting trim might make the rooms feel smaller.

Some swatches on the wall: