Danish house, part 2

Read the beginning of this story. 

If I am not mistaken, there are three ways of dealing with antique and vintage items: preservation, restoration and renovation. With the first, the purpose is to keep the artifact exactly as it has been preserved: aged, damaged, even partially destroyed. With this approach, I would perhaps want to keep the remaining wallpaper, but I would not attempt to remove the paint, nor the partition. The house would be a monument to itself. For instance, a previous owner has left some marks on the back. For preservation strategy, these would be valuable. But I will paint them over. 

 

With restoration, you want to bring the item back to its original form. I would try to remove the paint to see if anything behind was possible to rescue, but otherwise I would try to replicate the original wallpaper by scanning the tiny bits still visible or by going online to find authentic patterns, and so on. I have already shown, in my previous post, how I have restored the original shape of the upper floor by removing the partition. In the picture below, I have found a strip of the original wallpaper that has somehow escaped the paintbrush. 

What I am doing is respectful renovation. As already mentioned, I want to display my Jacobsen collection in this house, therefore I will redecorate it to suit my purpose. It means the house will lose some of its authenticity. I will, for instance, use Jacobsen wallpaper on the upper floor. I haven't decided yet whether I will keep the wallpaper on the ground floor because it does not fit the Jacobsen design. I will definitely lay new floors, and I am strongly considering inserting window frames and glazing (I have done this before with a dollhouse I saved from the tip). There exists a Jacobsen dollhouse that fetches fancy prices at auctions, and it is quite clear from the pictures what kind of windows would be appropriate. 

So where do I start? Well, I decided to start with something really easy, like sanding away the paint. 

I wonder whether the house has been played with at all after it was painted or whether the owner didn't care about paint stains. I sanded thoroughly and then oiled the wooden beams with teak oil. 

 

Next, I needed to remove the glue. There, too, I wonder whether the owner was so totally insensitive as to ignore these glue blobs. The well-known trick of removing old glue is using a hair dryer, and that's what I tried, but it didn't really work. On the inside, I could simply scrape and sand because I would cover the surfaces with wallpaper. 

On the outside, however, I didn't want to damage the brick paper. 

After several further attempts with the hair dryer I was both exausted and frustrated so I decided to take a radical step and paint the ceiling. I felt that it would immediately make the house look fresh and cared for, and I think I was right. 

Note that, unlike the previous renovators, I have protected the wooden beams with masking tape. 

The original Hanse houses had small gables at the front, so I will add one. I think I will also paint the ground floor ceilings white. It would be consistent with the Jacobsen style. The paint is, by the way, not white white, but light cream. 

This is as far as I got. The next step will inevitably involve removing the glue on the outside, and I am not looking forward to it. Except I am - because when I have done it, the house will start looking beautiful. 

To be continued.