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Old Houses, 63 Wall Street, New York, NY (2025)

10/18/2025

My new bed I thrifted, can’t wait to style it. Any advice is welcome!☺️

10/17/2025

I've been hunting for a red 1950s kitchen set for seven years and I finally found it at an estate sale last weekend for $200.

My marriage ended badly. He got the house, the new furniture, everything we'd carefully curated together during fifteen years of pretending we were happy. I got this rental with a kitchen so generic it made me want to cry every time I made coffee. White walls, builder-grade cabinets, absolutely no personality. My sister kept saying "just buy new stuff from IKEA" but I wanted something that felt like mine, something with history and character that nobody could take away from me.

Saw the listing on a local sale site at 6am, that chrome-edged red table with matching chairs, and I was in my car ten minutes later still wearing pajama pants. The woman selling it said her mother had bought the set new in 1953, that her parents had raised four kids around that table, that it had survived everything. I stood there thinking about everything I hadn't survived and told her I'd take it.

Spent the next month joining vintage decor groups on the Tedooo app, learning how to find period-correct pieces, where to hunt for the right accessories. Started selling some of my old stuff there too, things from my old life that didn't fit anymore. Used that money to buy the Hoosier cabinet, the vintage canisters, all the pieces that make this kitchen feel like it belongs to someone who knows exactly who she is.

My daughter came over yesterday and said "Mom, this place finally looks like you."

She's right. It does.

10/17/2025

I found this trophy saddle in my grandfather's barn three months after his funeral and almost threw it away because it looked beyond saving.

It was buried under moldy tarps and decades of dust, the leather cracked and faded, that gorgeous turquoise seat oxidized to almost nothing. My cousins wanted to toss everything and sell the property fast, kept saying his rodeo days were over and none of this junk mattered anymore. But I remembered him polishing this saddle every Sunday when I was little, telling stories about the competitions he won, the horses he loved, the life he lived before arthritis took it all away.

Took it home in my trunk and cried the whole drive, this broken beautiful thing that represented everything he used to be. Spent two months researching leather restoration, teaching myself techniques through tutorials in vintage Western tack groups on the Tedooo app, conditioning and painting and bringing back colors I thought were lost forever. Hand-painted those intricate flowers and tooling details, trying to honor his memory with every careful brushstroke.

Finished it last week and my grandmother came over, touched that turquoise seat with shaking hands, and whispered "he would have loved this." Said it looks better than the day he won it in 1974.

It sits in my living room now, not practical or functional, just a monument to a man who taught me that broken things deserve second chances.

Miss you, Grandpa.

10/17/2025

We pulled up the carpet in the spare bedroom last Saturday and I actually screamed. Not a cute surprised scream, a full horror movie scream that brought my husband running from the garage thinking I'd fallen through the floor.

Under three layers of terrible carpet and some kind of foam padding that disintegrated into dust, there it was. This floor. Dark and floral and completely intact, just waiting there since God knows when.

Our house was built in 1926 and I'm pretty sure this is original. The pattern is insane, these huge coral and yellow flowers with silver leaves on what looks like a woven background, except it's not woven, it's printed or stamped or I don't even know what. My hands were shaking when I started peeling back more carpet.

I'd posted weeks ago in a DIY group on the Tedooo app asking if anyone had ever found treasure under old flooring, and a few people said check for original hardwood or tile, but someone specifically mentioned linoleum rugs from the twenties. I thought they were being optimistic. Turns out they were right.

It's in almost perfect condition. A few scratches near the doorway, one small tear by the window, but the colors are still vibrant. We've been walking on top of this for two years without knowing it existed.

My mother-in-law came over yesterday, took one look, and said "Don't you dare cover that back up." We won't. We're getting it professionally cleaned and sealed this week.

Sometimes the best things in your house are the ones you didn't know were there, just patiently waiting under layers of someone else's bad decorating choices.

10/17/2025

Help! We recently moved and this trim is in the entire house. I hate it, but my husband doesn't want to change it. What can I do to make it look less ridiculous?? We call it the angel wing trim lol 😆

10/17/2025

the salt and pepper holder my mother still uses has a sw****ka on the underside

10/17/2025

Imagine being excited to get home from work to see your newly tiled floor that the contractor you hired did and come home to this. Long story short, the entire floor had to be torn out down to the studs and we fired him from any further work. After the tear out and then hiring the wonderful construction company who produced perfect work for us that we so wished we had gone with in the first place, we find out that every single bit of plumbing that the first guy did under this floor for the tub, sink and toilet was done wrong and also the plumbing he did for a new shower in our basement underneath cement flooring had to be completely torn out and redone. (Also leaving us with an unusable shower stall that we had to re-buy.) He didn’t even put a trap in for the shower. It has been a nightmare that no home owner should ever have to go through and this “man of integrity” is now not responding to our lawyer’s letter with the first step in getting our money back.
My advice to everyone is to do your research and get plenty of references of people who have had work done by contractors and not trust them because they seem really nice and pull a nice trailer with their name on it…

10/17/2025

Hey folks 🙂 long time listener, first time caller.
The oil fired boiler in my 1902 concrete house died yesterday. Boiler is a 25 year old Burnham.
Seems like an electrical short. Good power everywhere, thermostat relay works… when the thermostat calls for heat, you hear a relay on the boiler click, the circulating pumps turn on, but the oil pump doesn’t engage and the boiler doesn’t fire.
Called my boiler people (a very large company that does my annual maintenance) They say there are 3 possible components that could’ve failed, there’s no way to test them individually, they’ll need to just start replacing parts and praying. They say $1500, and they can’t even guarantee that repair.
They also say that the plumbing is totally wrong (pumps on the wrong side of the boiler, two circulating pumps Y-ed into one zone…) and they say the electrical is a rats nest.
They recommend not putting any more money into this rig, they want to do a whole new natural gas boiler and re-plumb everything in the boiler room, to the tune of $16,000.
I’m gonna get more quotes… but what are y’all’s thoughts?
Pic is of my house during our Halloween party 🙂

10/17/2025

This right here is why I’m done being the “nice friend.”
I spent my own money, my own time, and my own energy putting together a full box of groceries for someone who told me they were struggling. Fresh food, snacks, water, sauces, meat, fruit, everything they could possibly need for the week. I didn’t ask for anything back. I just wanted to do something kind because I actually care about people.

I dropped it off right at their door, sent a text to let them know, and thought it’d make their day. They replied with “thanks,” which I appreciated… until a few minutes later when they followed up asking if next time I could “get different stuff” because they “don’t really eat these brands.” I had to read it twice because I couldn’t believe it. You’re getting free groceries and your first response is to complain about the type of ham or pasta sauce?

It’s honestly sad how ungrateful people have become. Nobody values effort anymore. You try to help and they still find a reason to criticize it. I wasn’t looking for praise, but I also wasn’t expecting attitude. It’s exhausting trying to do right by people who only notice what you didn’t do perfectly.

At this point, being kind feels like a losing game. Would that message have rubbed you the wrong way too, or do people really think this kind of behavior is normal now

10/17/2025

Hi all! I just wanted to introduce myself and share a photo I took
of my 1950’s kitchen. Cabinets are all original to the house.

10/17/2025

Y'all I messed up
So, silly me thought I found the perfect sized ladder shelf. I had boxes stuffed in this nook and completely missed/forgot about the skirting boards at the bottom. Is there any way I can save this or should I get a narrower shelf?

10/17/2025

My wonderful husband makes dinner every other night or so. Since we have a vegan daughter, we have to make vegan alternatives for her frequently. Last night she had an alternative dressing which my husband kept separated for her, of course. So that she would know which one was hers, he labeled it for her with her initial.

On my good cutting board.

In permanent black marker.

My question is genuine and not meant to inspire any sort of man-bashing because I am indeed grateful that he cooks at all but… maybe the men in the group can help me out.

WTH?

Maybe I am too attached to my cutting board. It is a really good quality cutting board and I have had it for over 30 years. It is my favorite cutting board by far and I use it every day.

But I digress.

I just want to understand the thought process behind using permanent marker on things. Because it’s, you know, PERMANENT.

54F, size 8, Banana for scale.

Also for scale are the two burn marks on the counter where he placed a hot pan with no trivet underneath.

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