by bungalow101 | May 21, 2022 | Paint
LET’S LOOK AT SOME OLD BUNGALOW COLORS!
Let’s see what combinations the historic paint companies offered, & combine them with what we have learned about color & color harmony. We all know about Sears kit houses-prefabricated homes that were delivered by train all ready to assemble on site, but Sears also offered their own line of paints, Seroco, which you could purchase alone, or use to make your kit house your very own.
Below is a Seroco paint catalogue from 1914. An inside pages shows the colors that were offered. There is nothing wrong with the colors presented by modern day paint companies. I greatly appreciate that they have researched & formulated these very beautiful palettes, however, they are very restricted.There were many paint companies selling paint at the turn of the century & they all adjusted their palettes to some extent, with the new A&C trend. (At the end of the page I’ll show you a few.)
I often hear people complaining that they don’t like the A&C palette, but they just haven’t seen the possibilities. I’m pretty tired of the usual historic palettes too.
Though earlier illustrations in Seroco catalogs show & specify colors, this changed soon after they began offering the paints. Sears architectural catalogs, in black & white, depict only lighter and darker parts. Of course photos of bungalows from the time show only black & white. So, what do we use as a guide? The palette I’m going to display to you reflects the full spectrum of the colors that deliver the Arts & Crafts message– the belief in craftsmanship which stresses the inherent beauty of the material, the importance of nature as inspiration, & the value of simplicity, utility, & beauty.
SOME BUNGALOW COMBINATIONS- JUST FOOLIN’ AROUND
I decided to take a look at our various standard color harmonies from Part 2, to see how the colors play out, using historic Seroco colors (check marked.) I’m choosing the top of the color wheel for all these examples. Tip it, & there are more choices still.
NOTE: The colors of the Soroco palette are not clear colors like the ones on the wheel. They are tones- each hue is mixed with grey & black to create a more muddy, muted color. You can review in COLOR HARMONY.
ANALOGOUS BUNGALOWS
I have put little check marks on the paint sample board beside the colors that are closest to the pure colors shown on the color wheel. I really like it!
The benefit of analogous tones is that they are a smooth transition from one to the next. These colors allow a great deal of wiggle room in regard to where you use each one, because they are so closely related. In cooler climates, perhaps lead with the darker ones & in warmer, lead with the lighter. I think that if you were to choose an analogous palette, you’d have a beautiful bungalow!
COMPLEMENTARY BUNGALOWS
I would never have considered pairing these 2 colors, the closest that Seroco offers me to the pure colors of the color wheel, & I love them for a bungalow! They could be used with a gray roof to amplify the cooler tone of the red & add gray as the 3rd paint color Add a brown or red roof to go warm. It’s a good base combination on which you could build a harmonious palette in cool or warm tones.
MONOCHROMATIC BUNGALOWS
This is a color combination on which you could bet money! Monochromatic tones are always a sure winner because there’s great harmony in repetition. The combo allows you to use your roof as a contrasting color, your landscaping or your hardscaping. You do not risk ending up with a hodgepodge. All it takes it one contrasting element to create interest. I would suggest a neutral or a complementary color for maximum pop.
Should you lack much confidence when it comes to color, this is the choice for you. You can use it to make your voice heard without feeling like you are shouting.
TETRADIC BUNGALOWS
Another eye-pleasing combination, in this area of the color wheel, & one not commonly used. A large variety of color proportions work in this palette. Because of my lack of choices on the Seroco color sheet, I have used only one red. If you want to lighten the green & the pumpkin, that’s fine too. Once again, you could go warm or cool with your roof, path & flowers.
TRIADIC BUNGALOWS
So here’s the bungalow/Seroco version of the primary colors- yellow, red & blue. Even in these muted tones, this combination is quite lively. Maybe not baby blocks lively, but lively nonetheless, & again offering warm & cool choices for roofing & landscaping.
LET’S LOOK AT SOME BUNGALOW PAINT SAMPLES BEYOND SEARS
LET’S APPLY ALL THIS INFORMATION TO YOU & YOUR BUNGALOW IN PART 5.
‘m still writing it. But it’s going to be great! Meanwhile, hop over to Part 6. This one might take awhile.
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by bungalow101 | May 20, 2022 | Paint
YOUR BUNGALOW COLORS EXTERIOR CHECKLIST
It’s time to make some big decisions & there are so many choices, so use this bungalow colors exterior checklist to put yourself on the right path.
I have seen people spend months agonizing over their many choices only to finally choose & be disappointed. I have driven by bungalows whose colors perplex me & I wonder how the homeowner feels about them.
So, now that you know:
A. How colors work
&
B. The philosophy behind the design of your house, let’s figure out how to blend these with your own voice to create a harmonious color scheme for your home. I’m a checklist person. At any particular moment in time, I’ve my paw in many pots. To keep myself on a linear path instead of whirling in circles, mapping out my steps in their proper sequence increases my efficiency. I love the sensation of making check marks by the DONEs!
HERE’S MY EASY-PEASY BUNGALOW COLORS EXTERIOR CHECKLIST
1. Ideally, the inside & outside of your house should harmonize- conveying the same message in a coordinated voice. Let’s start with focusing on the message. (I’m assuming that if you have made it thus far, you have somewhat of an interest in the Arts & Crafts Movement.) What do you want your house to express to the world? I’m an artist; I love gardening; I’m a mother. What do you want it to say to you? Let’s start with that.
2. How do you want your house to serve you? Is it a place of refuge where you come to heal from your battering day in the workplace or in the world? When I was battling Walgreens in our fight to save an important historic building in our town, coming home from a day of petition signings or town meetings, the details of my beautiful house were a healing distraction.
Or, is it a fueling station where you get rejuvenated for the next day? Or, both????
3. Do you work from home? Do you want your house to energize you when you hit that 4 o’clock slump?
4. Do you lead a more casual or a more formal lifestyle? When you throw a party, do your guests chat over ginger tea & gluten free cookies, beer & pretzels, or juice boxes & chicken nuggets?
5. Consider your own color preferences. What colors do you like to wear? What colors draw your eye? Which ones brighten your mood? Take a look at the colors & color groups presented in parts 1, 2 & 3. Consider your reactions to them.
6. How much sun does the front of your house receive during various parts of the day? Does it have overhanging eaves? What direction does it face?
7. Do you want your house to recede, with darker colors or to move forward?
8. How about your landscaping? If you have flowering plants, do they tend toward warm or cool colors?
9. What are the colors of the houses near you? You don’t want to choose a color that is not harmonious of too much the same. Of course, your neighbors could get inspired by you &…
10. Stepping back inside, do you have textiles that you plan to use- draperies, rugs, upholstery? It is always good to have a starting point & the colors that you are using inside your house can be a great guide. I have a rug that guided me in choosing the colors for my Tampa house. (Sorry I haven’t included an image of it for you to see but we keep the rug in storage because my cat has tummy issues.)
11. How about, artwork, pottery & other collections. They are a wonderful inspiration for your palette. They are the things that you love.
12. What are the tastes of your significant other? You might not be the only one who lives in your home & you want your partner to be happy & sweet-tempered.
It’s an interesting phenomenon in my household, that we always work it out in the end. We may start out with completely divergent favorites, but if we persist, & continue looking & searching, we are both always thrilled by our final choice. So, just keep talking.
THE PURPOSE OF THE CHECKLIST
This is not a list to just skim through.
Yeah, YOU! Put down the paintbrush & pick up a pen. Above is a list of things to examine before you even consider hitting the paint store. Painting the exterior of a house is a huge commitment. Truly huge. It’s not a paint chip or paint sample, it’s many square feet of expensive color.
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by bungalow101 | May 17, 2022 | Features
I’m a gardener & a bungalow style custom shed for me was a much needed item. I love to buy pots, tools & soil supplements & I needed a place to stash the dang stuff. With only a porte cochere & lacking a garage, a shed was also required to store my husband’s items- hardware, tools & of course, the bar-be-que.
I’m also a big fan of tiny houses, so I wanted it to look like the wee folk could live there in comfort. And, it had to be lovely. It’s plunk in the middle of my backyard so it needed to complement the plants & ideally, mimic my bungalow.
It had taken me a year to choose my exterior colors & I was in love with my clipped gable & really wanted to see those again.
When I purchased my 1925 bungalow, it had a funky old shed that totally creeped me out to enter. In Florida, things get critter filled & really disgusting. As a gardener, I had to go in it often to access my supplies. Ick!
I decided that I needed something nicer, so I started pricing pre-built sheds. They were expensive, not historic & UGLY. So, I decided to go custom & I had some plans drawn by my friend, Tampa architect, Alan Dobbs, for a shed & got some prices for all the trades I would need- carpenter, roofer, painter- for a tiny shed! It all added up to too much plus, I had just completed the restoration of a 1907 Victorian that was in terrible shape & I sorely needed a rest from herding tradespeople & breathing sawdust.
MASTERS OF THE CUSTOM BUNGALOW SHED
I called Historic Shed & was happily surprised at the price they quoted for everything! Because of their great reputation, I even let them pick the hardware & design the doors. I never let anybody choose anything for me but I was tired of making choices. I was thrilled with the doors & the wonderful hinges they brought.
The best part was that it was installed in just over a day. They custom built it in their workshop & then hauled to my backyard, completed & even painted. I am sure that it would have taken a month-long project with all the trade coordinating that I would have had to have done.
I then had a shed that is the mini-me version of my beautiful bungalow. It holds everything I could need & it is clean & fresh. It made another season of gardening quite appealing!
The new custom shed incorporates the color, siding and trim details, roof-line, and outriggers of the bungalow while adding traditional elements such as the bead-board carriage house style doors. At 12’x12′, the storage shed did not require a permit for construction, but did have to undergo design approval by the City of Tampa historic preservation staff. They loved it!
Truth is, I’d like to live in it. I adore tiny spaces. But, it’s full of stuff, which is why we built it & I guess that I’ll just need to commission a doll house to live out my childhood fantasies with the fairies.
P.S. Historic Shed has moved on & is no longer building sheds, however, you can purchase their plans from Liberty House Plans.
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by bungalow101 | May 17, 2022 | Doing it the right way
I wrote this article about restoring a bungalow the right wa-a-ay back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, around 2006 when I first moved to Tampa. I had left the little “town” of Eagle Rock, a historic neighborhood in N.E. Los Angeles, left the Hare House, a beautiful bungalow on the L.A. Historic Register which I had meticulously restored (the right way!), but brought with me new determination & a shiny new soapbox, after being defeated in the saving of the wonderful historic building, at our corners of Main & MainWe had fought a valiant fight, but greed & lack of our councilman’s foresight (He got slammed in the next election.) won out so instead of being treated to a view of one of the world’s most wonderful (& scarce) Streamline Moderne buildings on this planet, when you shop downtown, you encounter a Walgreens, sitting in a sea of parking.
I moved across the country, to one block away from a man who had defeated Walgreens, saving a block of historic bungalows & happily worked side-by-side in our neighborhood’s historic preservation committee with him until he died too soon. We had our work cut out for us in our neighborhood. Bisected by the I-275 in the early 70’s, the neighborhood suffered a sharp decline.
By the time I arrived in 2005, the neighborhood association had used its teeth to ignite a Renaissance, but what this meant was that our houses were ripe for flippers, looking to make a quick buck at our neighborhood’s expense. After experiencing a broken heart over & over in the search for my own bungalow, as I witnessed historic materials having been removed for builder grade garbage, I wrote this article for my wood flooring website. I was addressing homeowners, encouraging them to employ best preservation practices to their own historic bungalows, but hoped it would spill over to the flippers who cared zero about the neighborhood or history. A girl can dream!
RESTORING A BUNGALOW – THE RIGHT WAY-2006
Be a wise investor. Follow market trends & spend your money with an eye to the future- historic rehabilitation, rather than remodeling, modernizing or budget fix-up’s.
An older home is no different from any other antique. Would you replace the handles of a priceless Ming vase with new plastic ones in order to “modernize” or improve its use as a pitcher? Nope. It would be disrespectful to the culture & the artist who produced it & it wouldn’t be economical. You would reduce its value as an antique!
Craftsmanship has declined & the costs of both labor & materials have skyrocketed since these houses were built. You could not build a comparable house today for what you would pay for a fine old home with its antique features & wonderful character.
Here are some things I did (& did not do) & will (& will not do) to increase my home’s comfort, value & appeal, as well as lovingly preserve it for the next fortunate steward:
1. I researched my style of house, the bungalow, as well the philosophy behind its particular design, so that I could make correct decisions regarding its rehabilitation. It saved me much money & grief to learn from the experiences of others.
2. I DID NOT destroy historic materials. Where something needed repair, I gently repaired it, I did not replace it. Plaster, for example, provides a much more lovely surface than drywall & it is not difficult to patch. Wood floors can often be refinished. Do not replace them unless they are worn to below the tongue & groove. And if you must install new, use real wood. I had my lovely old wood windows restored when I painted my interior walls & they work smoothly, giving me a lovely, old world look into my gardens. It was not costly, which replacements would have been.
3. I did not remove or alter any character defining features. I DID NOT try to “modernize” or “improve” the house. I did not add odd bits of architecture, appropriate to other periods or styles of house. Consider how horrid a 60’s bathroom looks in a bungalow today. Well, 40 years from now, the currently fashionable spa style bathroom will strike the eye with the same degree of discord. Install a new “bungalow” bathroom (or one that suits the period of your old house) & it will never go out of style!
4. I handled the structural problems discovered in my pre-purchase home inspection, & I replaced the roof. Water intrusion destroys houses. I am ever watchful for signs of leaks.
5. I got my wood treated with Borates, naturally occurring mineral salts that are deadly to termites, carpenter ants & roaches. Considered harmless to humans & ecofriendly, I had all the wood that could be reached in the attic, crawlspace & everywhere, treated. I have my house inspected at least twice a year & keep an eagle eye out for signs of any & all types of nasty, wood destroying organisms.
6. Landscaped with plants that would do well in our climate & complement the style of my house. I did not use many Florida natives, instead going for an exotic tropical look, but I do recommend natives. I feed my plants with organic fertilizers & water the majority of them with a drip system which conserves water.
7. I planted a couple feet away from the house so moisture from the plants did not destroy the siding & it gave me room to do periodic inspections. I got new gutters which I had cleaned every year & put gutter extenders on them to run the water away from the house. My banana trees loved it!
8. I painted the exterior of my house with period appropriate colors. I made sure that all surfaces, inside & out, were well prepared so that the paint would adhere well & look good. If you have shingles, that have never been painted, keep them that way. Do not paint them. Just re-stain them. If some are damaged, replace those.
9. DO NOT stucco or put up siding which can become a haven for termites, rats and roaches & mold, & reduce the value of your property. If your house has these coverings, they actually can be removed. Often, the surface underneath is in surprisingly good condition!\n\n
10. I rebuilt the glass doored cabinets in the living room & dining room that had been removed by a previous owner. Prior to installing them, I photographed the areas where they would sit, documenting the fact that they were added, not original. I passed this information on to the person who bought my house.
11. I joined my bungalow neighborhood association & Tampa Preservation, Inc. I raised my voice for the built environment of our past. I encouraged others to raise theirs-LOUD!
12. Nearly 20 years later, I started a blog about bungalows, America’s favorite house. I’m hoping that my stories educate, enlighten & empower you in restoring a bungalow the right way!
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by bungalow101 | May 17, 2022 | Doors & windows
Doo, doo, doo, lookin’ out my custom made, tiger oak, square pegged, brass mesh, bungalow screen door.
Meet Mahjong the Amazing Wonder Kitten (furry face on the left) & his bro, Bukhai Thunder, on the right. When you have pussycats, it is a good idea to have a screen door so that they can experience nature without experiencing nature. We had ours at the Hare House custom made out of quartersawn white oak. We hand-picked the wood & chose where it would be placed. The bottom rail is 2 planks, heavily figured in a lose pattern. The top is 1 plank of the same heavy, large figuring. The side rails are less heavily figured. I do not like an object that has too much figuring. I feel like it doesn’t give you the opportunity to focus & can end up looking like porcupine with bedhead.
Our bungalow screen door is joined by mortise & tennon but we added decorative plugs of walnut, a darker wood. The mesh is brass, a traditional material. The screen is applied to a rabbet in the front of the door. We finished it with a oil-based poly, probably a floor finish because that’s what we do! We chose not to stain it because this type of finish ambers over time & we knew that it would get much darker.
Bungalow doors & screen doors are most often made of a higher grade wood, generally oak, & clear-coated, but sometimes both are painted. You want them to have the same finish.
My Tampa house had a Victorian looking door when I bought it & we replaced it with a pine door that I zhuzhed up with way too many colors. I then got a salvaged screen door that had already been painted, & chose for it also, one of the way too many colors on the door, as well as adding some pieces to stabilize it. It was not as heavy as my oak screen door, & was already 100 years old. The poor door was always a bit wobbly & I was a little concerned the one time I told someone, “Don’t let the screen door hit you on the a$$,” but it was really appropriate at the time. I expect the chunky oak at the Hare House one will hang in there for another 100 years.
For the oak, we chose heavy, reproduction brass hinges & pull. For a lock, I used a simple hook & eye inside. I used a vintage reproduction doorknob on the painted pine screen door, but the oak is rather chunky & the knobs tend to be rather delicate, both in look & in function. The good thing about the knobs is that they do have a locking mechanism & if you make friends with your hardware specialist, she will teach you how to keep them operational.
The hinges have a spring in them that you can calibrate to customize the strength of the door swing so that they will be easy to open, & will self-close without whacking you. You have to fool around with them for a bit to figure out the swing pressure. And then calibrate the second one so that you don’t have a wobbly door.
It is not difficult to build a beautiful screen door. My YouTube channel has many videos about the care & feeding of bungalows. You (or your carpenter/handyman) can learn how to make an authentic screen door here.
THE BEST PART OF A BUNGALOW SCREEN DOOR- THE CAT!
My elderly Pouella moved into the Hare House with us, got to see the beginning of the third millennium on the lap of a dear friend devoted to kitties, & is now buried in the garden under the David Austen roses with a little kitty-cat plaque. She had been sliding downhill fast & I asked her to please hang on until Home Tour so that I could help pull off this important neighborhood event. The day of Home Tour came. She could not rise from her little nest on the floor. She very clearly said, “Ok, Mom. I made it to Home Tour day. Now, can I go?” We zipped her over to the vet & her beloved Daddy, my wonderful husband held her as she drifted away.
At Home Tour everyone asked about her. Not wanting to ruin the committee’s day, I told them all that she was just fine. Home Tour saved me. I got to spend the day with my dearest friends at my favorite activity & the joy of the event buoyed me for going home to no Pouella.
After a period of mourning, during which I moved numbly about my house all day, crying much of the night, one day I woke up, strangely free of the grief that had held me. New kitten day had miraculously dawned! I called my friend Joanne who at Pou’s memorial service, had offered to come with me to choose the newbie and she was at my door in about 3 minutes. (One of the beauties of neighborhood activism- all your friends live real close!)
THE NEW BUNGALOW KITTY
We trotted into the Pasadena Humane society & there he was- 2 lbs. of wild man- my bouncing, squeaking (He never did develop a proper meow.) cage rattling, blue-eyed boy, who had arrived that morning from foster care. The facility was closing soon, so I couldn’t adopt him that day. We stayed playing with him until sternly asked to leave. I was emphatically told that it was first come, first served, so I should be sure to come early.
They opened at 9 the next morning. I had been there with my carrier since 7. When the first volunteer arrived at 8:59, I ran at her yelling, “See, I’m here first. He’s mine!!!!”
He truly was. I brought him home to the Hare House & locked us in the study, the smallest room in the house, so he could get accustomed to his new surroundings. This tiny bundle of fur sniffed the entire floor- rugs, chair legs, fireplace, bookcase, with his tiny super-vacuum nostrils. Satisfied, he hopped up on the desk, speed dialed a couple folks, & sent a fax. Then he looked at me, hopped down & sat by the door, craning his little neck to look up at the doorknob, squeaking. And squeaking. And squeaking.
Later that day, tired from exploring the whole house, he purred on my bosom. I told him, “Thank you for mending my broken heart.”
He answered, “Thank you for mending mine. I missed my mother.”
He had been in foster care for several weeks getting enough weight on him to be adopted. One of the great mysteries of my life is how the foster mom could have given him up.
I guess it was so that I could wake up one morning, from blocks away, hear his tiny squeaks for “Mom!” causing my grief to melt away, & fall in love with this amazing individual who enchants everyone he meets.
He inspires me every day with his joyous spirit, unflagging persistence & creative intelligence. And when we moved to a new house in Florida, he got a new bungalow screen door- one with a shorter bottom rail so he could see over it without having to stand up like a prairie dog. “Thanks, Mom.”
TIP: READ ABOUT BUKHAI THE BIGHEARTED BUNGALOW CAT HERE.
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