I’ve also been wary of adding any details to the home that aren’t original. I don’t want someone to come in years from now and try to decipher what’s original and what’s been inserted to fake something original. So for things like the border, I’m thinking that I’d prefer to leave them as they are. It seems like that is more honest to the home.

For example, someone had recommended that the glass of the front entrance be taken out and replaced with stained glass. But there’s no evidence that the home used to have stained glass in the front entrance, so I’m hesitant to do so. It seems like it is trying to make the home something that it was not.

Where I would veer off of that course would be when it comes to the interior design of the home (especially wall coverings and paint). I have some scraps of wallpaper that used to be used in a couple of different rooms on the home, but I’d really prefer that wall coverings and other interior decorating reflect a balance between my own taste and the history of the home. I guess that for anything deeper than a paint job or wallpaper covering, I’d prefer it just be the way it originally was. I also did that when it came to staining and finishing the planks in the front room. From what I’ve read, they wouldn’t have been left uncovered. And from all of the gunk on them that we had to remove, they were shellacked and/or painted at least twice before. So the stain and finish I chose were my own interpretation for the floor, but done in a way that brings out the natural character of the wood, matches fairly well with the border, allows the floor to be displayed as is without a floor covering (but still with the option of putting down a floor covering), and brings out the history of the home by revealing marks in the wood that show how people have used the home over the years.

So in a nutshell, I’m keeping the original detail without adding anything that’s not original, and I’m highlights that originality according to my own taste. How’s that for a guiding principle?