Congrats on the house! Bungalows began featuring painted woodwork in common areas (living room, dining room, etc.) in the late teens, around 1918. Some homes had painted woodwork much earlier. By the 1920’s, white painted woodwork was the fashion of the day and featured in many homes. People even painted over their “natural” woodwork to be in style.

Private rooms: bathrooms, kitchens and some bedrooms, usually (but not always) featured painted woodwork, even in the very early 1900s. In bathrooms and kitchens especially, white was considered clean and sanitary. Sanitation was a big focus/concern for people living in the early part of the last century.

I feel that painted or stained woodwork comes down to personal preference and budget. Painted woodwork is the more economical choice. Yet, if you really love stained woodwork and you want to keep costs down, you can use a lessor quality wood such as popular. The wood will need to be sanded EXTREMELY well. Wood conditioner is added prior to staining. It is a lot of work, but if that is the look you are going for then it is worth it.

My husband and I just moved into a somewhat neglected tri-level home built in 1983. Our hope is to gradually improve this house room by room and add some “old house” elements that will give it more charm and character. We have to be careful, though, to not do so much that we price ourselves out of our neighborhood. One of our BIG priorities is replacing the nasty doors with real wood doors and also adding wood trim & detailing throughout. We love Craftsman homes and look to homes like yours for inspiration.

Here’s a question: I like the look of white trim, but we’ve been debating going with stained wood (like your fabulous woodwork!!) to keep that warm, Craftsman feel. It would be really, REALLY expensive to do use really high quality wood, though. If we use a lower quality wood and paint it white, it won’t matter so much that it’s not perfect grain, etc. I noticed in the ads above that ALL of the woodwork is painted. Do you have any comments about when bungalows/Craftsman homes began painting woodwork more commonly? Do you have any thoughts on the pros and cons of painted vs. stained woodwork when cost is the biggest issue and you’re basically starting from scratch??

Again, love your site!! I’ll be back.

Thanks!
Jacci

Jim and I collect vintage Fiestaware and such. There are hundreds of print ads for it with the wonderful 1940-1960 kitchens. Here’s a website example http://www.fiestafanatic.com/vintfiestaeph2b.htm

By the way, we finished stripping the dining room, living room, and entry hall-including the entry hall mirror! A staining we will go!

Monica