The Unbecoming
“Maybe the journey isn’t so much about becoming anything. Maybe it’s about un-becoming everything that isn’t really you so you can be what you were meant to be in the first place.” ~Unknown
The first time I read this quote, it was written on a piece of art hanging in a shop in Austin, Texas. At the time, I thought of how it had applied to my life over the years. The quote came to mind again when I was melting layers of paint off of a door in my house. It feels like the house is “unbecoming” what it really wasn’t meant to be.
Throughout time, my house has been home to 6 pastors and their families. There has been some patching of plaster, some renovation, a lot of paint, updated cabinets and built in cubbies to fit the needs of families. Carpet and vinyl flooring covered the worn hardwood. Laundry rooms and bathrooms have moved and chimneys covered where fireplaces no longer were needed. As in most homes, it changed along with what was necessary and what was in at the time. Along the way, some of the character seemed to fade with the times.
My decision to bring the all of wood back to life came piece by piece. I invited my friend, Bruce (Bruce Donner Refinishing), to look at the house before I put in an offer. He agreed that the floors were in great shape and definitely worth refinishing. The decision to refinish all the trim came after I decided to purchase the house. With all the paint through the years on some of the trim, we weren’t sure if it could be done. Bruce found a way with a heat gun, a scraper and a lot of work but the original wood trim will all be refinished!
The “unbecoming” began on December 4th. Bruce and I scraped the popcorn ceilings and I’ve followed along with the paint brush. He has been stripping and refinishing the floors and trim and I have learned how to melt paint off of wood doors. Sheet vinyl and carpet have been removed and the beautiful wood floors discovered underneath. My entire family has helped demo, pull staples and scrape glue off of floors. My brother and I took out a closet built into the stairwell, opening up the original stairway. Built-ins and bookcases have been removed that had served their purpose. Jerod (Jerod Donner Construction) and Bruce took out one chimney that wasn’t original to the house but uncovered the beautiful brick chimney in the kitchen! My friend, Hilary asked, “Do you feel the house can finally breathe?” Yes, I do!
The floors on the main level of the house are maple and fir which Bruce has beautifully refinished. There’s no transition of any kind to the front room and entry way between the two woods. At first, Bruce tried staining the maple but it didn’t take as he hoped so he left it natural and stained the fir. Sometimes you just have to listen to the house! The trim is fir and stained dark as it was originally. It’s different from what you see everywhere and I love it! It’s how it was meant to be in the first place.
