A Gut Reno Created the Exposed Brick Entryway of My Dreams

The house was built in 1883, so it had some pretty amazing architectural elements, but those were often hidden behind decades of design choices that, let’s say, didn’t necessarily align with my aesthetic. So step one was to get rid of everything: the paneling, the drop ceilings and fluorescent lights, the stick-on tiles. When the demo crew arrived we found a time machine’s worth of brittle, ancient wallpaper, crumbly plaster, and, very unfortunately, plywood where there should have been original hardwood floors. 

But we also found some good stuff, like 12-foot ceilings, original brick, and window openings from what used to be the back of the original structure.