This article points you to bungalow resources, designed to enhance the wonderful features of your bungalow. Shopping for & owning these beautiful pieces of art is one of the most enjoyable things about stewarding your home. The hardware, lighting & decorative items of the Arts & Crafts Movement are cheerful & brilliantly beautiful. Period kitchens & baths will pay homage to the past owners & are just good design sense. Leaping about the decades is visually disturbing (Jane Powell called it “cognitive dissonance.”) & can confuse the flow of the interior. But, the goods you need to create a period atmosphere, are not always easy to find.
I am still building my resources list. I considered whether I wanted to wait until it is complete to post it, but you may be desperately looking now, so take a look at what’s here & keep coming back, It is growing daily. (Or at least weekly.)
I have also added lists of classes on old house restoration because sometimes you might need that too. I usually suggest restoring before collecting, but I must admit that I once purchased a porch set before the porch was built & had to store the set for 3 months. I have never seen another set like it, so I’m not going to discourage anyone else from doing this. And, prior to that, I purchased bookends 5 years before I even had a house in which to put them. Not sorry! They look great now!
To make your search easier, & to provide you with more choices, I have created a list of resources for you. I’ll also mention that many of the items can be found on the resale market. Facebook Marketplace is growing daily & Craigslist seems to be hanging in there too. Of course the odd piece can still be discovered at a yard or estate sale but, you have to have more patience than I do & get up with the worms.
Additionally, there are many pages & groups on Facebook that are dedicated to antique items of the period as well as goods by modern A&C masters. As a bonus, they offer wonderful information on the period. Below is a list of these groups who allow buying & selling. Some sites do not. They exist only for giving & receiving information, & for fellowship. It’s not a bad idea to join these too, but that’s not today’s topic.
The caveat here is that I have no clue as to who any of the folks are that are selling on any of these group pages. You must perform your own due diligence regarding every aspect of the offered item- value, condition, authenticity, does the it even exist?
THE BUNGALOW RESOURCES LIST
FACEBOOK GROUPS
A public community of Arts & Crafts Revival Artisans & Revival aficionados, sharing revival work that is available, or promote various events such as fairs, sales, & websites.
In the Arts & Crafts Style
This group is for the sharing and enjoyment of the Arts & Crafts era of the late 1890s to the 1920s, as well as its contemporary counterparts. Selling/trading items, sharing real estate ads for Arts & Crafts style homes are very much acceptable in this group.
Arts and Crafts Furnishings of Mission Oak, Stickley, and Limbert
The second group is geared toward beginners & intermediate collectors of the Arts & Crafts Movement & the items we live with in our homes. Focus is primarily furniture of the period, along with decorative objects, both period & reproductions of quality.
Some of the individual resource pages list Facebook groups specializing in those items.
MY CURATED RESOURCE LISTS
ARCHITECTURAL SALVAGE
From hardware to plumbing fixtures to stained glass & furniture, salvage dealers are finding it all for you. My list is about ready to grow so check back. I have gotten some great recommendations from the followers but I need to add them & I type sl-o-o-ow.
HARDWARE
Functional & beautiful, another signature craft of the Movement.
RESTORATION CLASSES
Where you can learn new skills for DIY, or gain knowledge to help you in overseeing the work done by tradesfolk.
TILE
Molded from earth, tile is both strong & versatile. It is one of the core design elements of any home.
WINDOW COVERINGS
A necessary element, window coverings compliment your other design elements, giving your privacy & protection from the sun & the cold.
Meanwhile, keep reading my blog & loving your bungalow. There is more to come! I am forever searching for more vendors of bungalow enhancing items so-
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What to do about your bungalow’s old wood windows can be confusing. I address this & offer several solutions in my article, WHY SHOULD YOU PRESERVE YOUR BUNGALOW WOOD WINDOWS, ANYWAY? which tackle the issue from both a preservation & practical viewpoint. (As well as from a human & a cat viewpoint.)
These videos too address the concerns of both species, & will give you more information to help you in dealing with the damage that has occurred to your windows as a result of decades of neglect due to the lack of education of previous homeowners.
The professionals I have included are at the top of their field & are very interested in helping. A great combination.
My site is not geared toward the DIY’er, but it’s your house so you should have some idea of how it works. I have used material from these fellows to teach a handyman how to restore a window so my fluffy kids could gaze out, & he probably enjoyed the opportunity to learn from somebody else instead of moi. We did 2 houses together & well before the end, I think he might have been weary of the sound of my voice.
5 Great Reasons to Keep Historic Wood Windows (15:32)
Brent Hull
Why we should restore our old bungalow wood windows instead of replacing them. It’s all about the $$$! Well not all, but, you know.
How to Restore a Historic Wooden Window- Step by Step (44:39)
Brent Hull
Detailed instruction on restoring windows.
DIY Window Screens (9:02)
The Craftsman Blog
Great instructions, but I recommend slowing down the playback speed!
I hope that these videos explain what you need to know to resolve your window problems!
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I’m not sure who loved our bungalow screen doors more, me or the pussycats. I was always ready to add or remove a layer of clothing for the opportunity to throw open the front door & get a whiff of my garden outside.
Having a deep porch protects you from the elements. In Florida, this meant being able to have the house open even when it was raining, letting in the breeze, the pitter patter & the rumbles. There were a few times that the wind would blow the mist in, but it was worth it to be able to hear & feel the storm.
Neither the Hare House nor my Tampa bungalow came equipped with screen doors but I wanted my kitties to be able to enjoy the world without having to experience it. When the doors were installed, both kits instantly found their places, shoulder to shoulder, tiny noses to screen, a pair of furry, sniffing sentries quivering with excitement as the occasional lizard scittered by.
I encourage you to experience the world outside, through your own screen door!
While this is not a DIY site, I occasionally slip in some how-to’s. Though I’m not a woman who enjoys getting her hands dirty, I trained my handy-man on many aspects of old house restoration with such videos. He enjoyed the education.
WATCH SOME VIDEOS ABOUT BUILDING SCREEN DOORS!
How to Make a DIY Screen Door (7:27)
Woodshop Mike
A lesson in making a simple screen door.
How to Build and Hang a Custom Screen Door (11:58)
This Old House
Some fine points of building & installing.
That Old Screen Door (3:50)
Mike Manuel
“Back when life was simple, just like that old screen door.”
You can read more about my doors & my kitties here!
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I have never acquired an old house that had its original wood window screens. Makes sense. They are rather flimsy items that have maximum exposure to the elements & over the decades, windows fail & the harnessing of electricity has made it possible to use HVAC systems to cool our houses. Opening windows has fallen out of favor as people have come to believe that a house should be all buttoned up & air tight. And with the abandonment of fresh air has come the abandonment of wood window number tacks.
Being the daughter of a gardener, I like to bring the outdoors in so I like to restore my windows & build new wood screens. My little fur friends enjoy sniffing the great outdoors & I kinda live to make them happy.
The tricky part of making these screens is that old houses are seriously out of plumb & the windows vary in size, perhaps only gently, but enough to make it impossible to install a screen to a random window. Each screen must be custom made (measuring twice!) & then it belongs to that window.
I have a sensitive sniffer so I like to have clean screens & the best way to clean them is by removing them & then spraying them with a hose. Of course it’s easiest to pull them all off a side at one time, line them up & squirt them, but how do you keep them sorted? And right-side-up?
For you folks who live in regions that require you to use storm windows, necessitating a bi-yearly swap, this little trick will save you a great deal of time & aggravation.
USE WINDOW NUMBER TACKS
Invented in 1948, these cute & handy little items were used to mark windows with their matching storm windows in winter or their screens in summer. They are little, very sharp tacks made of a metal alloy with numbers stamped on their heads. The stamping is heavy enough that you can paint & disappear them, but remain legible. A tiny barb under the head ensures that they will stay in place.
They are produced in sets that are numbered from 1-25 & second sets if you have more windows (Most bungalows do!) that is numbered from 26- 50. You purchase a set for the windows & a corresponding set for the screens & another for your storm windows, should you have them.
You can occasionally find vintage ones on eBay or Etsy & can purchase new ones from House of Antique Hardware
TIP: I love old windows & doors, so if you’d like to know more about them, click here.
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Old growth wood, from deep within the forest primeval. From fairy tales to an awed reverence in bungalow fans, the forest is endemic to the lore of humankind. Trees have been regarded as sacred in many early traditions. Since the dawn of time humankind has understood that his survival & that of the tree are interconnected- for shade, for food, for fuel & for shelter.
In old house circles, ancient wood is highly regarded for its strength & its beauty. I wrote an article about it & it is the most viewed post on my blog. That post discusses the properties of old wood, but in these videos, you are going to look at the forest & how it contributed to the wonderful characteristics of the trees & the lumber that was cut from them. 100 years ago, this lumber was used to build your house & today your house stands strong & sturdy.
You are going to hear a fascinating talk by a woman who grew up in the forest & listens to trees. She has learned the secret of how trees in the forest form a strong community, helping one another survive & grow, through communication & by passing chemicals & nutrients to trees in need.
You are going to find out how farmed wood differs from forest grown wood & why it results in inferior lumber.
You are going to see 100 year old logs pulled out of rivers to be milled into building materials.
OLD GROWTH WOOD VIDEOS
No matter how much you cherish your old growth fir, pine, oak – these videos will increase your understanding & appreciation for it immensely. The people who are speaking, are authorities in their fields & each one loves old wood. Let’s get started.
Goodwin Heart Pine on Dream Builders TV Show (5:22)
Goodwin Company
Pt.1 Introduction – Works of Heart – Goodwin Heart Pine (4:21)
Goodwin Company
Old-Growth Forests vs. Second-Growth Plantations (2:59)
Ancient Forest Alliance
What are Old Growth Forests? (2:44)
Harvard Museum of Natural History
Suzanne Simard | Mother Trees and the Social Forest (1:09:19)
Long Now Foundation
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In this internet age, there is very little that you can’t find on YouTube so I have put together a list of old house restoration videos, arranged by skill/trade/interest for you to view. Whether you plan to do a project yourself, or hire a professional tradesperson, it is wise to know about bungalow, their history, their features. It’s also a good way to educate the people that you hire who might be looking to improve their knowledge & would be willing to watch these old house restoration videos to expand their skills.
The people who have made these videos are at the tops of their fields. They are experienced & skilled not only in their areas but also are good communicators & have stellar reputations for their abilities to teach others. They are also very nice people so their videos are pleasant & easy to watch. In fact, I watch them when I’ve had a bad day just to chill!
I’m not going to describe the videos individually because most of the titles explain the content. Just click & find out!
ARCHITECTURAL SALVAGE VIDEOS
The terrible tragedy is that old buildings will be demolished, by the short-sighted, by the greedy & the ignorant. We are fortunate that there are people who come in & save the beautiful bits & pieces & offer them to us. Even if you are not involved in a project for which you might need their wares, a visit makes an interesting field, or even a road trip!
Architectural Salvage tour- TREASURE HUNT! Finding clues from the past. (10:20)
Brent Hull
Southern Accents and the Journey of Architectural Salvage (2:48)
This is Alabama
BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE!
I have curated a wonderful playlist of helpful & entertaining videos for your viewing pleasure. Bring out the popcorn & learn about everything from wood window repair to the history of the bungalow to how to take care of yourself when you dealing with the physical & mental challenges of restoring an old house.
Also you can check out my article on architectural salvage which links to some great resources.
STAY IN THE BUNGALOW KNOW!!!
Sign up for our newsletter & receive our FREE E-book, 7 VITAL Things to Do Before You Hire a Contractor.
This article points you to bungalow resources, designed to enhance the wonderful features of your bungalow. Shopping for & owning these beautiful pieces of art is one of the most enjoyable things about stewarding your home. The hardware, lighting & decorative items of the Arts & Crafts Movement are cheerful & brilliantly beautiful. Period kitchens & baths will pay homage to the past owners & are just good design sense. Leaping about the decades is visually disturbing (Jane Powell called it “cognitive dissonance.”) & can confuse the flow of the interior. But, the goods you need to create a period atmosphere, are not always easy to find.
I have also added lists of classes on old house restoration because sometimes you might need that too. I usually suggest restoring before collecting, but I must admit that I once purchased a porch set before the porch was built & had to store the set for 3 months. I have never seen another set like it, so I’m not going to discourage anyone else from doing this. And, prior to that, I purchased bookends 5 years before I even had a house in which to put them. Not sorry! They look great now!
A public community of Arts & Crafts Revival Artisans & Revival aficionados, sharing revival work that is available, or promote various events such as fairs, sales, & websites.
What to do about your bungalow’s old wood windows can be confusing. I address this & offer several solutions in my article, 
I’m not sure who loved our bungalow screen doors more, me or the pussycats. I was always ready to add or remove a layer of clothing for the opportunity to throw open the front door & get a whiff of my garden outside.
I have never acquired an old house that had its original wood window screens. Makes sense. They are rather flimsy items that have maximum exposure to the elements & over the decades, windows fail & the harnessing of electricity has made it possible to use HVAC systems to cool our houses. Opening windows has fallen out of favor as people have come to believe that a house should be all buttoned up & air tight. And with the abandonment of fresh air has come the abandonment of wood window number tacks.
Invented in 1948, these cute & handy little items were used to mark windows with their matching storm windows in winter or their screens in summer. They are little, very sharp tacks made of a metal alloy with numbers stamped on their heads. The stamping is heavy enough that you can paint & disappear them, but remain legible. A tiny barb under the head ensures that they will stay in place.
Old growth wood, from deep within the forest primeval. From fairy tales to an awed reverence in bungalow fans, the forest is endemic to the lore of humankind. Trees have been regarded as sacred in many early traditions. Since the dawn of time humankind has understood that his survival & that of the tree are interconnected- for shade, for food, for fuel & for shelter.
In this internet age, there is very little that you can’t find on YouTube so I have put together a list of old house restoration videos, arranged by skill/trade/interest for you to view. Whether you plan to do a project yourself, or hire a professional tradesperson, it is wise to know about bungalow, their history, their features. It’s also a good way to educate the people that you hire who might be looking to improve their knowledge & would be willing to watch these old house restoration videos to expand their skills.