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Whether the material they're selling is soapstone or stainless steel, quartz or laminate, online storefronts focus on the glossy 'after' images. Rarely do they tell you how the countertop of [...]

Put down that paint-color fan deck--at least until you've stopped to consider the subtleties of your house's architecture, how the house fits into its surroundings, and the mood you want [...]

Whether indoors or out, we humans like to live in temperate situations. Weather and seasons, of course, vary in the extreme: from arctic cold to Louisiana hot, from dry as [...]

The landing pad between house and front walk or city sidewalk, a 'stoop' may be as small as a single step to the front door of a country farmhouse, or [...]

One of the real pleasures of owning an old house is that the landscape around it has reached maturity. Old stone walls, terraces, and steps; such structures as arbors, gazebos, [...]

* Older houses are notorious for lacking adequate insulation, an essential for comfortable indoor temperatures. Selecting the right type of insulation for the situation--a drafty back room, for example, or [...]

What Lies Beneath The older the walls and ceiling, the more chance that you'll find old calcimine paint embedded under successive layers of paint or wallpaper; one clue is that [...]

Like hemlines and film stars, lighting fixtures tend to go in and out of fashion. Count yourself lucky if any of the pendants, chandeliers, ceiling lights, or sconces hung and [...]

To hear OHJ readers tell it, it was possible to pull Eastlake-style walnut woodwork out of a dumpster in neighborhoods like Park Slope, Brooklyn, or Seattle's Capitol Hill, back in [...]

WHETHER A HOUSE is on the National Register or is simply from an earlier era, a host of factors must be considered even before interviewing a contractor or architect about [...]

High ceilings and well-proportioned rooms cry out for ornamental treatment. Before elaborate woodwork became widespread through innovations in millwork in the late 19th century, ornamental plasterwork was part of the [...]

MORE THAN A CENTURY AGO, this artist's family from New York began summering in a town later famous for a concert (which actually took place 90 miles away). Even then, [...]

THE FAMILIAR wood panel door is a masterpiece of available materials and technology. Found in most homes built before 1950, panel doors are designed and engineered to allow the wood [...]

Everyone's familiar with the asphalt shingle roof. Affordable, easy to install, and virtually maintenance-free, asphalt shingles offer a lifespan of 25 years or more. No wonder asphalt covers a majority [...]

Homes built in the 20 years after World War II are mellowing with age. Somewhere between 25 and 30 million single family houses went up between 1945 and 1965--most of [...]

WHAT GIVES an old-house kitchen the feeling of authenticity? It's the cabinets that connect a new installation to an earlier time, whether or not you choose marble countertops and vintage [...]

The future of lighting has never been brighter. Options are more energy efficient than ever before, and possibilities range from traditional bulbs to tiny emitters that can go anywhere. Somewhere, [...]

* No matter how old the house, it's possible to tap into ingenious updates that deliver heat and hot water to bathrooms, kitchens, and utility rooms. Radiant heat under floor [...]

On this and the pages that follow, discover perennial favorites that find their way into houses of every period 1. CABINETMAKER'S HIGH CHEST The John Head cedar high chest is [...]

OLD HOUSES are filled with desirable elements, from old-growth wood to original light fixtures. Other materials and technologies may be shabby looking, in disrepair, or downright dangerous. Knowing what to [...]

Thick walls, deep eaves, and high ceilings are all reasons why old houses feel cooler in hot weather and warmer in winter than more recent buildings do. Even so, many [...]

Whether your house has a basement, a crawl space, or a root cellar, any space below grade is subject to water infiltration and its damaging effects. Let's look at how [...]

Porches are subject to the insidious force of all weathers, from driving rain and bleaching sun to wind-driven snow and high humidity. If not kept in good repair using & [...]

It's usually better to repair than replace original wood windows. They were designed to be restored, and can be retrofitted in ways that save energy and bring comfort--at far less [...]

Walk into the foyer of this 1916 Tudor-influenced Craftsman in Mountain Lakes, New Jersey, and you'd think nothing has changed here in a century. But you'd be wrong! Like so [...]

Old-growth wood trim and flooring may last practically forever, but finishes are ephemeral. They need refreshing when they begin to look worn and dirty. Flooring takes the brunt of surface [...]

A LIGHT DUSTING WONT CUT IT IN THIS MOST HARDWORKING OF ROOMS, WHERE MULTIPLE SURFACES GET HEAVY WEAR ALONG WITH EXPOSURE TO HEAT, GREASE. AND FOOD ACIDS. HERE'S HOW TO [...]

We asked favorite companies about their greatest hits and ho new launches. They responded with some surprising and welcome products. 1. NICKEL FOR YOUR THOUGHTS The 1865 from the Antique [...]

Long before crowdsourcing became a buzzword, OHJ was deep in conversation with readers, contributors, and our family of experts. Here are 50 nuggets of wisdom. No. 1 Worth repeating are [...]

BATHROOMS AND KITCHENS HAVE VERY SPECIFIC LIGHTING REQUIREMENTS, BUT WHO SAYS TASK LIGHTING CAN'T BE BEAUTIFUL AS WELL AS FUNCTIONAL? VINTAGE FIXTURES, PERIOD REPRODUCTIONS, AND SUBTLE CONTEMPORARY LIGHTING KEEP THE [...]