the marion house book

I can’t remember how I first met Jenn, I think maybe she sent me an email. Anyways, it turns out she lives in the same neighbourhood as me and is in the middle of renovating a beautiful old house. This is her second home in our neighbourhood. The first one was amazing (it appeared in Design Lines a few issues back) so I’m excited to see what she does with this new house. You can follow all of her designing madness over on her blog The Interiorist. In fact, our neighbourhood is a little mecca of design blogs. You might also want to check out Roncesvalles Victorian Reno Diary.

Hi Marion House Book-ites! I’m Jenn, I guest-blog over at Arren Williams, and I’ve started my own at The Interiorist that chronicles the verrry budget renovation of our new-old house just 7 blocks north of the Marion House. I was super excited when Emma asked me to share something, but instead of blogging about what’s hot and new, I thought I’d share some of what’s old. Really old. Old like my house, and old like a lot of folks homes in our neighborhood. We’re so lucky to live in these homes that have been standing for a century bursting at the brim with histories. I spend a lot of time wondering how the original owners of my home would have lived. How they would have decorated, entertained, and celebrated, and those stories I put together guide my in how I’m renovating the house. There are a lot of clues in my house – one of the first mysteries I searched for an answer to was a small brass plate in the dining room floor.

Turns out it was a foot buzzer the head of the table would have pressed to alert the STAFF that the guests were seated and it was time to eat. I keep pressing and pressing but no one is bringing me any food so it must be broken.

I’ve also discovered the original Lino flooring in the kitchen, which lead me to search for what the kitchen might have looked like when the home was built.

Maybe this?

And finally, my laundry sinks – these huge gorgeous cast iron sinks with turned legs that sit totally unused in the basement now, but back then, would have been considered to be livin’ large on easy street! They, and this cute sink sitting in the garage inspired my choice of sink in my bathroom renovation (the big reveal will be on Arren Williams soon!).

I would love to hear and see some of what you might have found in your old house and how you’ve used it to inspire how you live now. Head over to my blog and let me know, I think it’s really important to remember these places we live in have hearts all their own.