How to make our tired 1930s terrace look pretty?
Emma Smith
5 years ago
We just bought our first house! It’s a bit of a doer-upper (e.g. the garden is currently accessed via a 5ft drop from some old French doors) but we’re really excited about the opportunity to make it our home.
Although it’s not top of the list of things that need doing, we’d like to make the front of the house look a bit more appealing... l’m thinking a more traditional 1930s door with stained glass inserts, but not sure what material... or whether we need to set it back a bit to turn the alcove in to a little porch like it would have been originally (like next door). Also the windows - they’re cheap uPVC at the moment, but not sure what would look nicer (obviously taking down those nets inside would be a start... this is the estate agent’s photo). We also want to give the house a lick of paint - maybe blue-grey? Plus those hanging tiles - not sure what to do about those to be honest.
If anyone has some flash of inspiration about any of this, please let me know! I’d be grateful to hear your thoughts
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Comments (19)
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What would our 1930s terrace interiors have looked like?
Comments (12)We bought a 1930's house recently in west London. There were a number of styles prevalent during this time usually falling into 1 of 3 categories - art deco (the one everyone knows about), mock-tudorbeathen which as the name suggests has tudor beams, oak iron studded front doors and often oversized fireplaces too. Finally there were the modernist homes with a focus on modern materials (think lino, curved glass crittal windows and tubular steel frame chairs etc. For me however its some of the smaller architectural details that I love in 1930's houses - lead light windows (sometimes with stained glass), picture rails in every room, 1 over 3 panel doors with high bakelite or brass knob handles and best of all original herringbone parquet floors! These are the things I've chosen to focus on in our house without going all out 1930's! Also as ASVInteriors mentioned there is also an element of arts and crafts to some of the 1930's homes which can often be seen in pretty entranceway doors/windows, quality inset kitchen cabinet doors/drawers, panelled cupboards and sometimes board and batten type hallways. I found the original brochure with illustrations for the homes built local to us from when they were first constructed which gives a great idea of what the interiors would have been like originally. Hope this helps!...See MoreBefore and after, 1930s house restoration
Comments (20)totally agree with you. love original features. if the window is original in the bathroom then you've done a great job showing it off as it wasn't noticeable before. Love the bay too. so did they use the original glass or did they just replica the design? my own house is an old house unfortunately it was used as part business before so has lost a lot of features. over the next year we will be putting up an extension to replace one that had been added and will try and start sourcing some original items to put back Into the house. will think it will be a challenge at times but looking forward to it....See MoreTired 3 bed 1900's terrace. How can I make the exterior look nice?
Comments (18)Hi I’m also a developer/PRL, and the best price of advice I was given when I was starting out was to remember that on low to mid range profit projects (if not all projects) controlling your spending is the most important thing to remember, and every £ you spend is a £ less profit. I too hate uPVC windows and would not have them on my own home, but many people do like them and see them as a positive when it comes to buying/selling – just look at the houses either side of your house, and I assume along the whole of the street; people do like them! With my developer head on I would suggest that you try to work with what you already have - clean the uPVC frames inside and out with a solvent based professional cleaner, these really shift dirt and marks, and to a certain extent make scratches less noticeable as it removes the ingrained dirt. Replace the interior handles – new ones can be found online at around £1.99 each if you bulk buy. Replace any worn seals with a new universal fitting seal (approx £16 for 20m). If any of the windows are blown/misted, look at replacing the sealed glazed unit instead of the whole window, again the sealed units can be found quite cheaply online. With regards to your porch, it looks like it is integrated with the front window, so removing it would be a time consuming and costly job, so I would leave it as is and possibly look at just replacing the outer door, ideally one with a glazed panel to give a bit more light. I know you said you don't like uPVC doors, however, composite doors are more expensive. As you won't be living there does it really matter if you install a white uPVC door, as long it is the most tasteful and least offensive one you can find. An alternative would be to install fully glazed French doors with both sides opening, which would possibly mean that the doors can open inwards. All of these can be bought online and be fitted yourself – however, you will need to check if you will require a FENSA certificate issuing for the work, otherwise this could cause issues when you come to sell. I wouldn't advise painting the uPVC, as it is really difficult to obtain a good finish, and nothing looks worse than poorly finished paintwork either inside or outside. As others have said, remove the nets, put up some nice curtains (these can be removed and reused on other projects), don't worry regarding privacy, as again you will not be living there, and it will allow more light into the room. If the privacy angle does bother you, you can always put a plain white voile (costs around £2 per m, and a couple of £ for the rod) up at the window with little or no fullness, which gives a more modern, less fussy finish. I would move the dustbins to the rear of the property, and put a couple of large pots in the front garden – I tend to use Olive trees as they can be shaped and don't mind too much if they aren't watered regularly – these can also be removed and used on other projects. Hope this helps – and good luck for the future!...See MoreMaking our 1930s semi work for our family
Comments (27)Ah, I didn't realise the stairs comes up in line with the bathroom wall so yeah, you can't move the bathroom wall out really as there won't be enough head space walking down the stairs. I think your only option is to either live with the small bathroom - or extend out over your GF extension (if that is even possible - depends on your extended roof and also the footings as they might not be deep enough to take the weight of a 2 storey extension). The cost of a loft conversion is hefty and especially if you don't have decent head height in there as you will end up with a tiny room in the middle (I'm guessing??). Our loft is original (bungalow) and was always a room but it cost us £20k just to re-tile, reboard/plaster/insulate and put an en-suite in! An extra £6k if we pushed out the hip (which we didn't end up doing). Dormers are possible to gain headspace but it's the overall roof height that is the issue. Sometimes you could lower your floor level to gain head height but for the cost involved, you really would be better moving....See More
PROEmma Smith thanked Celery. Visualization, Rendering images- PRO
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5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoI did some mock up, so you can see some ideas and how it would look.
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Emma Smith
5 years ago
E D
5 years agolast modified: 5 years ago
deborah eade
5 years agojanettegraham
5 years ago
michtrue
5 years agoFor our house we found an 1930's wooden and leaded glass front door on ebay and then got joiner to fit it! I am always changing my mind on paint colours so this way I am never stuck with the same colour.
titiankim
5 years agoKathy
5 years agoE D
5 years agoEmily
5 years agoHU-719555518
2 years agolast modified: 2 years agoAppreciate this thread is quite old - but did you decide what to do in the end? We have the same issue with our, we are trying to think of ways to make the outside look nicer - we are getting new windows (Anthracite) and potetentially a porch with a new front door and steps - however could really do with some inspo!
Mandy Ross