Kate Thomas and her family have a passion for older homes. They moved into theirItalian style Victorian built in 1874, from a home built in 1918.

To their surprise, a slew of undetected structural defects began to surface.

They found stairs stuffed with carpet padding (to keep the boards in

place), plumbing held together with duct tape and socks in addition to numerous other problem spots. A decade of “triage” went by before Kate was finally ready to paint.

Thomas says she didn’t

really pay attention to the

amount of trim on the gray

and white house before this

time, or the challenge her

enclosed porch, added in the

1920’s, would pose.

“I had 1874 windows and

1920 windows. The

challenge was to keep

integrity with two different

periods and still have it look

good.

This is one of the reasons

why we chose to work with

Fortune —because they

understand architectural

styles and how to get

through 150 years of paint.”

Color tests were

painted on all four

sides of the house

so Kate could see

how colors would

look in various

types of light and

at different

vantage points.

“We went through

$64 of paint

samples – that

might have been

some of the best

money spent on

the whole project.

Alejandro [from

Fortune] would

paint a patch of trim, and then we’d talk it over. You really have to listen to the consultants

who know more than you do about these things. You can’t wing it.”

Kate says people don’t understand all the scraping, prepping and design knowledge that goes into a project like this. “That’s the stuff you don’t see on the surface and we wouldn’t have had the same result without them.”

When the Thomas family is ready to make another move, they want to pass the house on in better

shape than they found it. “It’s one of the oldest houses in Wilmette, and it’s important to take

the time, do the research and preserve it.” They hope the next buyers will treasure the home

and continue to save it from tear down.

Read the complete article here

PROJECT PAINT CHART

Italian Victorian Built in 1873 Wilmette, Il

MAIN

Black Pepper #2130-40

TRIM

Hale Navy #HC-154

ACCENT

Parrot Green #CW-465

BRAND

Benjamin Moore, Latex

Older homes don’t have that Brady Bunch layout, but just because a home is older doesn’t mean it’s disposable!

- Kate Thomas, Homeowner