Latest / Repcolite Home Improvement Show / Craftsman Homes: A Journey Through Time and Design

Transcript

Craftsman Homes: A Journey Through Time and Design · Repcolite Home Improvement Show

0:01
Speaker 1: Hey, everybody, Welcome to Home in Progress, sponsored by Repoll
0:04
Speaker 1: Light Paints and Benjamin Moore on the show today in
0:07
Speaker 1: the entire second half. I'm really excited about this. I'm
0:10
Speaker 1: going to be diving into one of the most beloved
0:12
Speaker 1: styles in American architecture, the craftsman home. We're going to
0:16
Speaker 1: look at what makes a craftsman a craftsman. We'll explore
0:20
Speaker 1: some of the key features of the homes, and probably
0:22
Speaker 1: more importantly, we'll talk about the history behind the movement
0:26
Speaker 1: and the movers and shakers, the people who really made
0:29
Speaker 1: it happen. So we'll get to all of that that
0:32
Speaker 1: second half of the show, but right now, I want
0:34
Speaker 1: to talk about vacation. Here's the deal. Last week was
0:38
Speaker 1: our family vacation, our yearly family vacation. We did the
0:42
Speaker 1: usual thing thing that we do every single year, every
0:46
Speaker 1: single summer for the last I don't know how long.
0:49
Speaker 1: We spent two nights on Mackinac Island and then we
0:52
Speaker 1: go to a cottage on Bert Lake and spend about
0:55
Speaker 1: a week there. So the whole thing it's like ten days,
1:00
Speaker 1: great time, lots of memories, lots of fun, and this
1:03
Speaker 1: year was one of the best years ever. You know,
1:05
Speaker 1: we say that every year, but this one was really
1:08
Speaker 1: really great. But as happens every single year, I come
1:12
Speaker 1: home with a lot of lessons learned. Because really, when
1:16
Speaker 1: you put six people under the same roof, you know,
1:20
Speaker 1: in a tiny little cottage, and they spend twenty four
1:23
Speaker 1: hours a day together, you're gonna learn new things. It's
1:27
Speaker 1: a given you're gonna learn new things. And some of
1:29
Speaker 1: those things are just enough connected to home improvement things
1:33
Speaker 1: that I can talk about them on the show and
1:35
Speaker 1: pretend that I'm still on topic. So let's talk about
1:38
Speaker 1: some of the lessons that I learned from vacation and
1:42
Speaker 1: how we can apply them to home improvement stuff. And yes,
1:44
Speaker 1: I've done this before if you you know, really keep
1:47
Speaker 1: track of things, but it's really fun. So anyway, here's
1:51
Speaker 1: my first lesson that I learned this year, vacation twenty
1:54
Speaker 1: twenty five. I'm not certain, I guess, but I really
1:58
Speaker 1: think that this is true. I believe that in every
2:03
Speaker 1: family there's at least one person who wants to be
2:06
Speaker 1: exactly where you want to be. You know, exactly where
2:12
Speaker 1: you want to be. Now, I don't mean the kid
2:15
Speaker 1: who loves you so much that they just want to
2:18
Speaker 1: be by your side all the time. You know, That's
2:20
Speaker 1: not what I'm talking about. That's different. I'm talking about
2:24
Speaker 1: the kid who seems to derive some kind of weird
2:27
Speaker 1: satisfaction from materializing in the exact spot that you're trying
2:32
Speaker 1: to occupy. You know, at our cottage, for example, I
2:35
Speaker 1: would walk into the kitchen, you know, I look around,
2:39
Speaker 1: kind of take in my surroundings. I'd notice nobody is
2:42
Speaker 1: standing by the coffee maker, So I think, perfect, go
2:46
Speaker 1: get some coffee. I set down my book, I head
2:48
Speaker 1: over to pour a cup, and as I begin boom,
2:53
Speaker 1: I turn around and I am literally knows to nose
2:56
Speaker 1: with my daughter, who suddenly, out of the blue needs
2:59
Speaker 1: a banana or a spoon or anything anything that she
3:04
Speaker 1: can grab or needs to try to grab right exactly
3:08
Speaker 1: where I'm at. She's got to be literally almost in
3:11
Speaker 1: my shoes in order to reach what she suddenly needs
3:14
Speaker 1: at that moment. You know. So she's there and I'm trapped.
3:18
Speaker 1: If I move left, she pivots that way. If I
3:20
Speaker 1: go right, she cuts that route of escape off. Sometimes
3:24
Speaker 1: this is real. Sometimes I just stand really really still,
3:28
Speaker 1: and I kind of close my eyes and put my
3:30
Speaker 1: head down and I put my arms right tight at
3:33
Speaker 1: my side, and I just try to make myself as
3:36
Speaker 1: small as possible, and I just wait until she gets
3:40
Speaker 1: what she needs and goes away. That's that's what it was.
3:45
Speaker 1: And it's not a once in a while thing, you know.
3:48
Speaker 1: If that were the case, I could just write it off.
3:50
Speaker 1: It's all the time, you know. I would watch her
3:53
Speaker 1: across the room. I would start to do this. I
3:55
Speaker 1: would gauge where is she? What she doing? Okay, there
3:58
Speaker 1: she is. She's happily reading, or she's knitting or something,
4:01
Speaker 1: And so I'd kind of get up quietly and I'd
4:04
Speaker 1: go do something random that I needed to do. And
4:07
Speaker 1: nine times out of ten, i'd hear the quiet footsteps
4:10
Speaker 1: behind me as I'm doing what I'm doing, and I'd feel,
4:13
Speaker 1: you know, hot breath on the back of my neck,
4:15
Speaker 1: and I turn around. In there she is somehow deciding
4:19
Speaker 1: that she needs to do a completely different thing from
4:21
Speaker 1: the thing that I'm doing, but a thing that she
4:24
Speaker 1: needs to do in the exact same spot where I'm
4:27
Speaker 1: doing my thing. I love her dearly, but after ten days,
4:31
Speaker 1: it'll mess with your brain, right, I mean, it messes
4:34
Speaker 1: with your patients. It messes with your entire psyche. Now,
4:39
Speaker 1: what does this have to do with home improvement? Well,
4:41
Speaker 1: not much. This one's a bit of a stretch, but
4:44
Speaker 1: I still can make a stretch. I believe every family
4:47
Speaker 1: has this person. I truly, truly believe that. And it
4:51
Speaker 1: always comes out when you're doing a project together in
4:53
Speaker 1: a tight space, like when you're painting a bedroom. You know,
4:57
Speaker 1: you're rolling paint on a wall. You've got, you know,
4:59
Speaker 1: maybe an extra eension pole, because it's really nice to work.
5:02
Speaker 1: You know, even if you don't need to put it
5:03
Speaker 1: at a four foot extension, it's nice to have a
5:05
Speaker 1: two foot extension pole like Woosters Sherlock extension poles, just
5:10
Speaker 1: to make a quick product plug. Nice to have that
5:12
Speaker 1: little bit of an extension pole. It's just easier to work.
5:15
Speaker 1: So you're doing that in this little tight space and
5:18
Speaker 1: you go to roll down the wall and the back
5:21
Speaker 1: of the extension pole rams right into the stomach of
5:24
Speaker 1: somebody who has no reason to be standing immediately behind you.
5:28
Speaker 1: But there they are, right there's your coworker, your family
5:32
Speaker 1: member who just has to be in your space, in
5:34
Speaker 1: your business. So you hit them with the handle of
5:37
Speaker 1: the extension pole, or you turn around with your brush
5:40
Speaker 1: and you smack right into their brush because apparently that
5:42
Speaker 1: gallon of paint that you're working is the only gallon
5:45
Speaker 1: of paint that they could possibly refill their brush from.
5:48
Speaker 1: You know, they're basically everywhere you want to be. You know,
5:52
Speaker 1: it's like they're reading your brain, anticipating your next move,
5:55
Speaker 1: and then trying to beat you to that exact spot.
5:57
Speaker 1: It's utterly frustrating. So here's my home improvement tip. And
6:01
Speaker 1: I know it's a stretch, I know, just we're having
6:04
Speaker 1: fun here. If you've identified this person in your house,
6:07
Speaker 1: and if you haven't, just look around and figure it out,
6:10
Speaker 1: because there is somebody who leans this way in your house.
6:13
Speaker 1: When you identify this person in your home, do not,
6:16
Speaker 1: under any circumstances paint with them. Just don't do it.
6:21
Speaker 1: I know. I've said before on the show that family
6:23
Speaker 1: projects can be fun, that everybody can be involved, even
6:26
Speaker 1: the little kids, and that's still true for the most part.
6:30
Speaker 1: But if you've got somebody who absolutely has to be
6:32
Speaker 1: wherever you are, that's their superpower or their super villain
6:36
Speaker 1: power or whatever it is. If you've got that person,
6:39
Speaker 1: save yourself the stress and give them a different project,
6:42
Speaker 1: you know, Send them out for supplies, send them out
6:45
Speaker 1: for pizza, send them out to get coffee for everybody
6:47
Speaker 1: you name it. Let them help, but let them help
6:50
Speaker 1: far far away from you. All right, that's less than one.
6:53
Speaker 1: Lesson two is this one. Always try your new swimsuit
6:57
Speaker 1: on before you arrive at your vacation desk nation. All right.
7:01
Speaker 1: I did not do that, and I should have, because
7:05
Speaker 1: when I put mine on, my brand new swimsuit, I
7:09
Speaker 1: was so excited to have a brand new swimsuit. When
7:11
Speaker 1: I finally put it on, it was well, let's just say,
7:14
Speaker 1: alarmingly short, you know, not fun short, not retro short.
7:19
Speaker 1: Even it was scary short, you know, scary short. I
7:25
Speaker 1: wear shorts all summer long, but I wear normal shorts,
7:28
Speaker 1: you know, normal shorts for somebody my age. So when
7:31
Speaker 1: I pulled this thing on, you know, I've got tan legs,
7:35
Speaker 1: but they're not nearly as tan as high as this
7:38
Speaker 1: suit required them to be. My goodness, the pale skin,
7:41
Speaker 1: so much pale skin, it was blinding. And then there
7:45
Speaker 1: was the waist. The elastic band around this swimsuit gripped
7:50
Speaker 1: me like you know, a rubber band around a water balloon.
7:53
Speaker 1: That's the only thing I can think of. You know,
7:55
Speaker 1: put a big rubber band around a water balloon and
7:57
Speaker 1: there you go. That was me. My stomach bulged over
8:00
Speaker 1: the top, like you know, the top of a mushroom
8:03
Speaker 1: or something, and I think it felt like it cut
8:06
Speaker 1: the circulation off to my legs. When I slipped it
8:09
Speaker 1: on in the cottage, I thought, oh boy, this is
8:11
Speaker 1: a little bit bad, a little bit bad. If i'd
8:15
Speaker 1: have even looked in the mirror at that point, i'd
8:16
Speaker 1: have known how bad. But I didn't. I was just
8:18
Speaker 1: kind of looking at myself try to gauge it, and
8:21
Speaker 1: I thought, this is bad. Then I tried to walk
8:24
Speaker 1: out to the dock, tried to walk out to the dock.
8:28
Speaker 1: When I did that, I knew this is really bad.
8:31
Speaker 1: And then when I finally reached the water and the
8:33
Speaker 1: kid saw me and the laughter started. I don't think
8:37
Speaker 1: I'm ever gonna live that one down. This was Dad's
8:41
Speaker 1: poor swimsuit choice for vacation, and it'll probably go down
8:45
Speaker 1: in family history and we'll be telling generations of Hanson's
8:50
Speaker 1: down the road about this event. Anyway, the home improvement
8:54
Speaker 1: point for this, so it's pretty easy. Don't commit to
8:57
Speaker 1: something new without testing it first. Now, in home improvement,
9:01
Speaker 1: there are a lot of these little you know, swimsuit moments,
9:04
Speaker 1: whatever you want to call them. They're all waiting to
9:06
Speaker 1: happen if you don't check things out ahead of time.
9:08
Speaker 1: So just a few simple things right off the bat.
9:11
Speaker 1: First off, of course, you're going to see this one
9:13
Speaker 1: coming a mile away. Sample your paint colors. Don't just
9:17
Speaker 1: grab a swatch in the store and then commit to
9:19
Speaker 1: four gallons of paint based on that. Paint can look
9:22
Speaker 1: completely different when it's on your wall than it does
9:25
Speaker 1: on that little, you know, one inch square sample underfluorescent
9:28
Speaker 1: lights in the store. So grab a Benjamin More color
9:31
Speaker 1: sample and look at it in your lighting. Look at
9:33
Speaker 1: it at different times of the day, especially focus on
9:36
Speaker 1: the time of day that you're in that space the most.
9:39
Speaker 1: Make sure it looks good in that timeframe. Put it
9:42
Speaker 1: on a phone board and move it around, or you
9:44
Speaker 1: can just roll it under the wall with a small
9:46
Speaker 1: roller like a Wooster Jumbo coder. If you do that,
9:50
Speaker 1: use the same nap that you'll use later and feather
9:53
Speaker 1: out the edges and you'll be able to paint over
9:55
Speaker 1: that easily when you're ready. But make sure you're sampling
9:58
Speaker 1: your paint colors. That's absolute essential when you're making a
10:02
Speaker 1: big color change in your space. So that's the first thing.
10:05
Speaker 1: Second thing, always test your stain colors and make sure
10:09
Speaker 1: you're testing them on the wood that you literally are
10:12
Speaker 1: going to be staining. You know, if you need a
10:13
Speaker 1: stain match, we can do that. It's one of the
10:15
Speaker 1: things we do really well a lot of places. We've
10:17
Speaker 1: even got competitors who will send people to our stores
10:20
Speaker 1: to get those stain matches because we're really good at it.
10:23
Speaker 1: So we can do a stain match for you. But
10:25
Speaker 1: don't just take the sample that we matched on our
10:28
Speaker 1: boards and stain your entire project without double checking. You know,
10:32
Speaker 1: stain color is affected by how your specific wood takes it,
10:35
Speaker 1: so always test it on your material, you know, the underside,
10:38
Speaker 1: the backside, anywhere that's not going to show. Make sure
10:41
Speaker 1: it works before you commit, and for the best match possible,
10:44
Speaker 1: bring a sample of the wood that you're going to
10:46
Speaker 1: be staining when you come in for the match in
10:48
Speaker 1: the first place. All right. Third thing, you know, tied
10:51
Speaker 1: to the swimsuit lesson check comfort before you buy tools.
10:54
Speaker 1: You know, paint brushes for example, they all look the
10:56
Speaker 1: same for the most part. But the handles, they're quite different,
11:00
Speaker 1: and they feel different in your hand. Some of them
11:02
Speaker 1: are more square, some of them are more rounded, some
11:05
Speaker 1: of them have more halft, some of them are thinner.
11:08
Speaker 1: Pick them up in the store and hold them the
11:10
Speaker 1: way you'd actually use them. People don't do that. It's surprising,
11:13
Speaker 1: and they get home and they final they don't like
11:15
Speaker 1: the feel of that brush. Make sure you're checking it
11:18
Speaker 1: out in the store, you know, hold it like you
11:20
Speaker 1: would use it. See if it feels right. You're going
11:22
Speaker 1: to find that. Some feel better, some don't feel as good.
11:25
Speaker 1: And having one that feels right in your hand makes
11:28
Speaker 1: a huge difference when you're working for any length of time. So, yeah,
11:32
Speaker 1: lesson learned. Whether it's swimsuits or stains, brushes, paint colors, whatever,
11:36
Speaker 1: test before you commit. Right, Those are a couple of
11:40
Speaker 1: the lessons that I've learned. I've got one last one
11:42
Speaker 1: that I want to talk about, and it's this. Kids
11:44
Speaker 1: don't listen all right, And it doesn't matter how old
11:47
Speaker 1: they are, you know. I always assumed they were going
11:49
Speaker 1: to grow out of it, that one magical day was
11:51
Speaker 1: going to arrive, and I could say the words. You know,
11:54
Speaker 1: they'd hear those words and then they'd actually act on
11:56
Speaker 1: the words. But vacation has scientifically proved otherwise. You know,
12:01
Speaker 1: my kids are older now, they're smart people, they're successful,
12:06
Speaker 1: they've got jobs, and yet over and over again they
12:09
Speaker 1: still don't listen. Example, one of them asks what's for dinner? Right,
12:14
Speaker 1: doesn't matter who somebody asks what's for dinner? It's a
12:17
Speaker 1: good question. And I've got all their eyes riveted to,
12:20
Speaker 1: you know, on me. I turned the TV down, I
12:23
Speaker 1: cleaned my throat, I enunciate. I say, mm, we're having
12:27
Speaker 1: grilled chicken, salad, mashed potatoes, and California blend vegetables. Dinner
12:33
Speaker 1: will be at five, maybe five thirty, somewhere in that range.
12:36
Speaker 1: Does anybody have any questions? Right? I say all of that,
12:39
Speaker 1: there's no questions. Everybody nods, total one hundred percent comprehension
12:44
Speaker 1: and understanding. Fast forward two hours later, I walk into
12:48
Speaker 1: the kitchen. It's four forty five. There's a kid pulling
12:50
Speaker 1: five frozen burritos out of the microwave. I say, what
12:53
Speaker 1: are you doing. We're eating in like twenty minutes. And
12:56
Speaker 1: the answer, every single time is this what nobody told me?
13:01
Speaker 1: Nobody told me we're eating at five five point thirty.
13:05
Speaker 1: Same thing happened on our walk. We went around Macana Island,
13:09
Speaker 1: walked the perimeter of the island. At the beginning of
13:11
Speaker 1: the walk, I said, it's eight miles to go all
13:14
Speaker 1: the way around. We're walking the whole thing. It's going
13:16
Speaker 1: to take us two hours and forty minutes, give or take.
13:19
Speaker 1: Everybody nods, everybody agrees, and then halfway around, one kid
13:23
Speaker 1: pipes up, you know how far are we going? Anyway? Parents,
13:28
Speaker 1: you have to know. Oh man, I hope you know
13:30
Speaker 1: exactly what I'm talking about. I can't imagine that I'm
13:33
Speaker 1: alone in this. I love my kids. They all know
13:36
Speaker 1: I'm talking about this, so don't send emails about that.
13:38
Speaker 1: I was mean. I didn't give out any names, and
13:42
Speaker 1: the kids all know. It's all something we laugh about.
13:44
Speaker 1: It just is what it is. It's funny. Anyway. What's
13:48
Speaker 1: the home improvement point of all of that? It's this.
13:50
Speaker 1: Your contractor is not a mind reader, and neither are you.
13:54
Speaker 1: You know, talking is not the same as communicating. Nodding
13:58
Speaker 1: is not the same as understanding, and if you're not careful,
14:01
Speaker 1: you can end up halfway through a remodel project or
14:04
Speaker 1: whatever you're working on with somebody saying wait, you wanted what?
14:08
Speaker 1: Or you saying, wait, your quote didn't include two coats
14:12
Speaker 1: of paint? I thought that was a given. Here's how
14:15
Speaker 1: you make sure you're actually communicating with your contractor. And
14:19
Speaker 1: I'm specifically talking painting here, but a lot of this
14:21
Speaker 1: is going to apply to any contractor you bring on.
14:24
Speaker 1: First off, and I'm going to go kind of quickly,
14:26
Speaker 1: but you'll get the gist of it. First off, get
14:29
Speaker 1: multiple quotes, right. You're not just price shopping, you're listen shopping.
14:33
Speaker 1: You know. Some contractors itemize every step. Others are going
14:37
Speaker 1: to hand you a single number. Neither is wrong. But
14:39
Speaker 1: if you don't ask questions, you don't know what you're getting.
14:42
Speaker 1: So ask what's included in prep work? When it says
14:45
Speaker 1: prep work on the quote, what does that all entail?
14:49
Speaker 1: Ask about priming? Are they priming? Ask about finished coats?
14:52
Speaker 1: How many coats are they quoting? All of that. Don't
14:55
Speaker 1: just assume that they know what you want, ask clarify
14:59
Speaker 1: and confirm. Second, look beyond the price, you know, think compatibility.
15:03
Speaker 1: When you first meet your contractor, did the contractor listen
15:07
Speaker 1: to you did they explain things well. That matters just
15:10
Speaker 1: as much as the bottom line, because once the work
15:12
Speaker 1: starts communication, it's the whole deal. At that point, you
15:16
Speaker 1: know every contractor can do a really great job, and
15:19
Speaker 1: every contractor can also fall short of your expectations. If
15:23
Speaker 1: the expectations weren't communicated, well, it's kind of a partnership
15:27
Speaker 1: in a sense. So ask questions when you have concerns,
15:30
Speaker 1: but also listen to their answers. Don't micromanage somebody who
15:33
Speaker 1: does this every single day of their life, but make
15:36
Speaker 1: sure that they understand what you're asking for and what
15:38
Speaker 1: you're expecting, and make sure you understand what's realistic. Another
15:43
Speaker 1: thing you can do is ask for references and follow up.
15:46
Speaker 1: Last things, specify the products. A lot of people don't
15:49
Speaker 1: realize you get to decide what goes on your walls.
15:52
Speaker 1: Some paints are cheaper, but they don't last, they don't
15:54
Speaker 1: wash up, they don't hold up, and it costs the
15:56
Speaker 1: same or more for the contractor to apply cheap paint
15:59
Speaker 1: as good paint. So specify what you want. If you've
16:02
Speaker 1: heard good things about scuff X, tell them you want
16:04
Speaker 1: scuff X, or stop by our store. Tell us your project.
16:08
Speaker 1: We'll make some recommendations for you. So the bottom line,
16:11
Speaker 1: whether it's kids on vacation, whether it's you on vacation
16:14
Speaker 1: with your family, whether it's you and your contractor or
16:16
Speaker 1: your contractor, and you just make sure that you're all communicating,
16:19
Speaker 1: that you're all understanding what the other one's saying, ask questions,
16:23
Speaker 1: and that clarity that you gain upfront is going to
16:25
Speaker 1: save you a ton of frustrating moments down the road.
16:28
Speaker 1: All right, there you go a few of the lessons
16:30
Speaker 1: that I learned on vacation and some home improvement takeaways.
16:33
Speaker 1: They're just kind of fun. All right. Now, I want
16:35
Speaker 1: to shift our focus and look at craftsman style homes,
16:38
Speaker 1: the history behind them, the architects behind them, the story
16:40
Speaker 1: behind them. We'll get to all of that after this.
16:44
Speaker 1: This is home in progress, where the to do list
16:46
Speaker 1: is long, and that's all right. We're not crabbing at you.
16:49
Speaker 1: We're not going to yell at you. That's how it is.
16:51
Speaker 1: It's how ours is too. It's probably supported by Repcolite
16:55
Speaker 1: Paints and Benjamin Moore because home projects are easier when
16:58
Speaker 1: you've got people you can trust. All Right, I want
17:01
Speaker 1: to start something new. I talked about it at the
17:03
Speaker 1: beginning of the show, something new that I want to
17:06
Speaker 1: revisit from time to time. Basically, I want to look
17:09
Speaker 1: specifically at different architectural styles that are present in our neighborhoods,
17:14
Speaker 1: you know, all around us. If I talk about a
17:16
Speaker 1: colonial style home, for example, or a ranch or Victorian home,
17:20
Speaker 1: most of us know what that is. I get that,
17:22
Speaker 1: but not everybody. But also more importantly, even those of
17:27
Speaker 1: us who can identify the different styles, we don't usually
17:30
Speaker 1: know the full history, or at least a robust history
17:34
Speaker 1: of how those styles came to be, you know, the
17:37
Speaker 1: main architects who championed each one, or a lot of
17:40
Speaker 1: other interesting details that are just part of the story.
17:43
Speaker 1: And so that's what we're going to be doing from
17:45
Speaker 1: time to time in the next little bit, you know,
17:47
Speaker 1: from time to time, not every single episode, but here
17:50
Speaker 1: and there we'll hit them. And right now, I want
17:53
Speaker 1: to start with one of the most beloved and recognizable
17:56
Speaker 1: American styles, the craftsmen. Now, as I mentioned, some people
18:01
Speaker 1: craftsmen homes, they get exactly what that is. It's completely,
18:04
Speaker 1: you know, instantly recognizable to a lot of people. You know,
18:08
Speaker 1: I say craftsmen, they know what I'm talking about. I
18:11
Speaker 1: am not one of those people you know on the
18:14
Speaker 1: show here. This was always kind of funny to me.
18:17
Speaker 1: I never talked about it, and I never tipped my hand.
18:20
Speaker 1: But Haley, my co host from like a year and
18:22
Speaker 1: a half ago or something like that, she would talk
18:25
Speaker 1: about her house from time to time, and she'd always
18:28
Speaker 1: throw around the term craftsman, and I just played right along,
18:32
Speaker 1: you know, played along like I knew exactly what she
18:35
Speaker 1: was talking about. I would not exactly what I talked
18:38
Speaker 1: about earlier, with my kids not hearing what I'm saying.
18:41
Speaker 1: I'm just as guilty Hailey's talking. I'm nodding like crazy,
18:45
Speaker 1: but I have no clue what she's exactly getting at.
18:48
Speaker 1: You'd have to be an idiot, right to not know
18:50
Speaker 1: what a craftsman home looks like. Well, I didn't know.
18:53
Speaker 1: I had an idea, you know, cause I knew what
18:55
Speaker 1: Haley's home looked like, but when it came down to it,
18:58
Speaker 1: I really couldn't pin it. And for the sake of
19:02
Speaker 1: people like me, let me paint a quick picture so
19:05
Speaker 1: that we're all on the same page, and by the
19:07
Speaker 1: end of this segment, we're all gonna know what a
19:09
Speaker 1: craftsman home looks like and much more stuff, all right,
19:12
Speaker 1: So a lot of good stuff coming a craftsman home.
19:15
Speaker 1: Let's look at what that looks like. So picture a
19:18
Speaker 1: house with a low, gently sloping roof and wide eaves
19:22
Speaker 1: that stick out. Okay, you can see the ends of
19:25
Speaker 1: the rafters, sometimes even decorative brackets peeking out underneath. Out front,
19:29
Speaker 1: there's usually like a big deep porch. Usually that's supported
19:33
Speaker 1: by thick square columns. They're often tapered, and they sit
19:37
Speaker 1: on a sturdy stone or brick base. The whole house
19:40
Speaker 1: kind of feels grounded, horizontal, almost hugging the earth. The
19:44
Speaker 1: materials that they use, they're natural materials, you know, wood, stone, brick,
19:48
Speaker 1: things like that. The colors are earthy, two browns, greens,
19:52
Speaker 1: muted grays, things like that. Inside the homes you'll often
19:55
Speaker 1: find a fireplace, you know, right in the center of things,
19:58
Speaker 1: and built in bookcases, built in benches, you know, things
20:01
Speaker 1: like that. That's the craftsman look in a nutshell, warm, welcoming, solid.
20:06
Speaker 1: So where did it all come from, why did it
20:08
Speaker 1: catch on the way that it did, and why even
20:11
Speaker 1: one hundred years later do people still seek out craftsmen homes?
20:14
Speaker 1: And neighborhoods. The story starts, you know, really begins in
20:19
Speaker 1: England in the mid eighteen hundreds, you know, back in
20:22
Speaker 1: the old Country. It all starts over there across the
20:25
Speaker 1: pond with something called the arts and crafts movement. And
20:30
Speaker 1: this is not what probably five people out there listening
20:33
Speaker 1: are picturing. You know, I'm one of those five. When
20:36
Speaker 1: I hear of the arts and crafts movement, I can't
20:39
Speaker 1: help but picture the big country decor phase that happened
20:43
Speaker 1: in the eighties. You know. I remember going to arts
20:46
Speaker 1: and crafts fares and shows with Mom and seeing, you know,
20:49
Speaker 1: all kinds of tin punched metal. Mom did that for
20:53
Speaker 1: a while. She'd ten punch little hearts on things and
20:56
Speaker 1: rub them with steel wool, it seems like, and some
20:59
Speaker 1: kind of I don't know, black liquid dye that would
21:03
Speaker 1: settle in all the little punches and create that. Look,
21:06
Speaker 1: I'm not talking about that. That's not the arts and
21:09
Speaker 1: crafts movement that I'm going to get at here. What
21:12
Speaker 1: we're talking about is something that's a little bit cooler
21:14
Speaker 1: than that. All right. So at that time, the mid
21:16
Speaker 1: eighteen hundreds, in jolly old England, the industrial revolution is
21:20
Speaker 1: in full swing, you know, factories, smoke soot, all of
21:25
Speaker 1: that stuff. Just picture that monumental, you know, industrial machine
21:30
Speaker 1: cranking out stuff left and right. It's cranking out furniture, textiles,
21:34
Speaker 1: decorative goods and all of it. In the popular Victorian esthetic,
21:39
Speaker 1: you know, so that meant lots of ornamentation, heavily carved furniture,
21:42
Speaker 1: patterned wallpapers stacked on top of patterned carpets, you know,
21:46
Speaker 1: laced fringe tassels, nick knacks, nickknacks, Oh, my goodness, nick
21:51
Speaker 1: knacks everywhere you look, what's that? That's a nick knack,
21:54
Speaker 1: and there's twelve other ones behind it lurking, and there's
21:56
Speaker 1: a thousand scattered everywhere else throughout my space. That's what's
22:01
Speaker 1: happening in this particular time period in that esthetic. Dusting
22:06
Speaker 1: the mantles and the end tables, back in those days,
22:10
Speaker 1: it had the take almost a solid week. I mean,
22:12
Speaker 1: you'd finish dusting and probably just turn around and start again.
22:17
Speaker 1: It's probably why people didn't live as long, you know,
22:20
Speaker 1: back then. It's possible. I mean, I'm sure there were
22:23
Speaker 1: other things, but maybe the dusting just wore them down.
22:26
Speaker 1: It was too stressful to keep the house clean, so
22:29
Speaker 1: they just checked out early anyway, probably because of all
22:32
Speaker 1: of that. To many, you know, these interiors began to
22:36
Speaker 1: feel cluttered and chaotic and artificial. They didn't like them anymore.
22:40
Speaker 1: They don't want that anymore. And the furniture itself, you know,
22:43
Speaker 1: much of it was mass produced, and it's really basically
22:46
Speaker 1: just a cheap imitation of finer craftsmanship. Instead of hand
22:50
Speaker 1: carved details, you'd get machine stamped decorations that are glued
22:54
Speaker 1: onto flat boards, you know, instead of solid wood joinery,
22:57
Speaker 1: you'd get pieces nailed together as quickly as posible, basically.
23:00
Speaker 1: In short, instead of good furniture and decore, you get
23:03
Speaker 1: the stuff in my house, right, that's what's happening. Well,
23:07
Speaker 1: not everybody loved that. In fact, by the eighteen sixties
23:11
Speaker 1: a group of thinkers and designers started pushing back a
23:14
Speaker 1: little bit. Now. Chief among them was a gentleman named
23:17
Speaker 1: William Morris, and his name is well known to a
23:20
Speaker 1: lot of us in the design world. You know, he's
23:22
Speaker 1: well known for being involved in the production of loads
23:25
Speaker 1: of home materials, you know, stained glass, tapestries, painted tiles, furniture, wallpaper.
23:30
Speaker 1: That's where I know him from textiles and more. He
23:34
Speaker 1: believed that objects in our homes should be beautiful but
23:37
Speaker 1: also honest, made from real materials, crafted by hand and
23:42
Speaker 1: designed to be functional as well as beautiful. So functional
23:46
Speaker 1: as well as beautiful. Now his mantra, I guess he
23:49
Speaker 1: didn't technically have a mantra. You know, how many of
23:51
Speaker 1: us really have a mantra? I don't know. I guess
23:54
Speaker 1: we don't need to go down that road. But you know,
23:56
Speaker 1: I guess you could summarize his kind of mindset with
24:00
Speaker 1: this statement, have nothing in your home that you don't
24:03
Speaker 1: know to be useful or believe to be beautiful. So
24:05
Speaker 1: I have nothing in your home that you don't know
24:07
Speaker 1: to be useful or believe to be beautiful. So that
24:10
Speaker 1: was the seed of the Arts and crafts movement, and
24:13
Speaker 1: it spread across England and then by the end of
24:16
Speaker 1: the century it made its way to America. Now, when
24:20
Speaker 1: the arts and crafts ideas began arriving in the United
24:23
Speaker 1: States in the late eighteen hundreds early nineteen hundreds, they
24:26
Speaker 1: found fertile ground. You know, Americans were also tired of
24:29
Speaker 1: the fussiness of Victorian homes. In fact, we were tired
24:32
Speaker 1: of fussiness in general. Still, are you know, I'm fed
24:36
Speaker 1: up with fussiness, had it up to here with fussiness anyway,
24:40
Speaker 1: It was the same back then. They wanted something simpler,
24:43
Speaker 1: something more natural, and more importantly, something affordable, which I
24:47
Speaker 1: also love. And that's where the American craftsman style comes
24:51
Speaker 1: in now. One of the biggest figures here supporting this
24:55
Speaker 1: movement was Gustav Stickley, and I'm pretty sure a bunch
24:58
Speaker 1: of you know that name. He was a furniture maker
25:01
Speaker 1: who deeply admired the arts and crafts ideals, and in
25:04
Speaker 1: nineteen oh one he launched a magazine called The Craftsman.
25:07
Speaker 1: And in that magazine he did something really, really, really smart.
25:11
Speaker 1: He included house plans. So for the price of a
25:13
Speaker 1: magazine subscription or just getting a magazine. Did they have
25:16
Speaker 1: subscriptions back then, I don't know. I don't know. It
25:21
Speaker 1: doesn't matter. For the price of a magazine, ordinary people
25:24
Speaker 1: could flip through and find plans for a simple, beautiful
25:28
Speaker 1: home and they could actually literally hand those plans to
25:31
Speaker 1: a builder and potentially build a craftsman house of their own.
25:35
Speaker 1: Stickley's magazine ran until nineteen sixteen, and during that time
25:39
Speaker 1: it was hugely, hugely influential. He basically gave the American
25:44
Speaker 1: public a catalog for the most part of what this
25:46
Speaker 1: new kind of house could look like and how it
25:49
Speaker 1: could fit into a lifestyle centered around family, simplicity and
25:54
Speaker 1: basically just natural beauty. Now. At the same time, mail
25:57
Speaker 1: order companies like Sears and Roebuck jump on the idea.
26:01
Speaker 1: So starting in nineteen oh eight, Sears started offering entire
26:03
Speaker 1: house kits through their catalog. You know, you could get
26:06
Speaker 1: pre cut lumber, nails, shingles, windows, doors, flooring, everything you
26:11
Speaker 1: needed to build a home. The materials would arrive by
26:14
Speaker 1: a railcar and a local crew or sometimes even the
26:17
Speaker 1: homeowners themselves could put it together in just a few weeks.
26:21
Speaker 1: I record in Holland and there's one of these houses,
26:25
Speaker 1: a historical house that basically a kit like this, similar
26:29
Speaker 1: to this right out my window. I can see it
26:32
Speaker 1: every day when I come to work and it just
26:34
Speaker 1: sits there. So, yeah, you could build an entire house
26:37
Speaker 1: by ordering it through the Sears and Robot catalog. I
26:41
Speaker 1: think that's great. And as a quick aside, because I
26:44
Speaker 1: can't move past this without saying something, you've probably also
26:47
Speaker 1: heard of craftsmen tools, right, which Sears began selling. I
26:51
Speaker 1: think in like nineteen twenty seven something like that, same catalog,
26:55
Speaker 1: same company. But here's the thing, there's no connection at
26:58
Speaker 1: all between the tools and the home style. Well, the
27:00
Speaker 1: tool line got its name completely independently. Is just one
27:04
Speaker 1: of those funny coincidences of history that Sears ended up
27:07
Speaker 1: selling both craftsmen style houses and Craftsmen brand tools in
27:11
Speaker 1: the same catalog. Anyway, selling house plans and even materials
27:14
Speaker 1: in magazines and catalogs made the style that craftsman style
27:18
Speaker 1: super accessible, you know, not just for the wealthy, but
27:21
Speaker 1: for the growing middle class as well, and that's part
27:24
Speaker 1: of why the craftsmen homes began to spread so quickly
27:27
Speaker 1: across the country. Now, most of these craftsmen homes were
27:31
Speaker 1: modest in homes, like what we think of as the
27:33
Speaker 1: craftsman bungalow, one story, maybe a story and a half, simple, practical, affordable,
27:38
Speaker 1: perfect for a middle class family. But at the other
27:41
Speaker 1: end of the spectrum were the ultimate bungalows. Now that
27:45
Speaker 1: term doesn't refer to a single house, but to a
27:47
Speaker 1: whole subset of craftsmen homes, you know, the largest, most elaborate,
27:51
Speaker 1: most luxurious examples of this particular style. They were primarily.
27:56
Speaker 1: These ultimate bungalows were primarily the work of two brothers,
28:00
Speaker 1: Charles and Henry Green, and they were architects based in Pasadena, California.
28:04
Speaker 1: Now the most famous of their houses is the Gamble House,
28:08
Speaker 1: built in nineteen oh eight for the Gamble family of
28:11
Speaker 1: Procter and Gamble fame, so we know of them. It's
28:14
Speaker 1: a masterpiece. Look it up, you know, google it, the
28:17
Speaker 1: Gamble House. It's filled with rich wood interiors, you know,
28:20
Speaker 1: just amazing joinery, Japanese inspired details, custom furniture designed to
28:26
Speaker 1: match the house. Definitely check it out. It's beautiful, the
28:29
Speaker 1: Gamble House. But the Green's also designed other ones too,
28:32
Speaker 1: you know, the Blackburn House, the Thorson House and more.
28:35
Speaker 1: Each one is, honestly it's a work of art, blending architecture,
28:40
Speaker 1: furniture and landscape, all of that into this single presentation.
28:45
Speaker 1: Absolutely beautiful. They're really worth checking out. So on the
28:49
Speaker 1: one hand, you've got an affordable bungalow kind of a
28:51
Speaker 1: thing accessible through a Sears kit or Stickley's magazine, and
28:55
Speaker 1: then on the other hand you've got these high end
28:57
Speaker 1: works of art by Green and Green, both of them.
29:01
Speaker 1: All of these fall under the umbrella of craftsmen, and
29:03
Speaker 1: that's part of the style's richness. So with that said,
29:07
Speaker 1: why did craftsmen homes become so popular so quickly? Well, first,
29:11
Speaker 1: you know, they were really practical. The bungalow especially was
29:14
Speaker 1: an affordable, comfortable home that fit the needs of a
29:17
Speaker 1: growing middle class. So that's one easy way to see
29:21
Speaker 1: how they'se caught on. Second, they were philosophical. And here's
29:25
Speaker 1: what I mean. At a time back then, you know,
29:28
Speaker 1: the cities they were exploding in size, you know, in
29:31
Speaker 1: daily life, it was becoming more industrial, more mechanical, more impersonal,
29:36
Speaker 1: and people were craving a home that felt felt real,
29:40
Speaker 1: felt authentic, felt filled with authentic things, you know, if
29:44
Speaker 1: that makes sense. Basically, they wanted a place that kind
29:47
Speaker 1: of stood apart from the noise and clutter of the
29:50
Speaker 1: outside world. And the craftsman home wasn't about necessarily impressing
29:55
Speaker 1: guests with ornate trim or machine stamped ornament and decorations.
29:59
Speaker 1: That's not what it was about. It was about sending
30:02
Speaker 1: kind of a quieter message. Basically, we value simplicity, family, community,
30:07
Speaker 1: and a connection you know, to nature, to the landscape.
30:11
Speaker 1: In many ways, it was a return to an older,
30:13
Speaker 1: almost old fashioned idea of home, you know, not just
30:16
Speaker 1: a house, but a hearth, a gathering place, a sanctuary,
30:19
Speaker 1: a place where life kind of felt more grounded, more human,
30:24
Speaker 1: you know, more in tune with the rhythms of the
30:26
Speaker 1: natural world. They just wanted to get away from that
30:28
Speaker 1: industrial vibe. So that's another reason they caught on. Third,
30:32
Speaker 1: they caught on because they were beautiful, you know, natural materials,
30:35
Speaker 1: earthy colors, handcrafted details. All of that gave craftsmen homes
30:39
Speaker 1: a warmth that Victorians, for all their grandeur, sometimes lacked. Now,
30:44
Speaker 1: by the nineteen thirties, craftsmen homes kind of started to
30:47
Speaker 1: fade in popularity, you know, the Great Depression slowed home
30:51
Speaker 1: building in general, and then new styles like Colonial revival,
30:55
Speaker 1: Tudor Revival, Art Deco, eventually Modernism, all these new styles
30:59
Speaker 1: begin to take center stage. But the craftsmen never really disappeared.
31:04
Speaker 1: And today we've got neighborhoods filled with these homes and
31:07
Speaker 1: they're highly sought after. People love them for their warmth,
31:09
Speaker 1: their human scale, and their timeless design. And if you
31:13
Speaker 1: think about it, the philosophy behind the craftsmen that we
31:17
Speaker 1: talked about just a minute or two ago, the love
31:19
Speaker 1: of honest materials, you know, authentic materials, handmade materials in
31:23
Speaker 1: a sense, the emphasis on craftsmanship, the harmony with nature,
31:27
Speaker 1: all of that that still resonates today. In fact, a
31:31
Speaker 1: lot of what we now call sustainable design or even
31:33
Speaker 1: slow living, all of that echoes those same early twentieth
31:38
Speaker 1: century ideas. And you know, since we're a paint company,
31:42
Speaker 1: you know, since Repcolite sells paint, I really can't wrap
31:45
Speaker 1: up a discussion of craftsmen homes without talking a little
31:48
Speaker 1: bit about color, because the paint choices are part of
31:50
Speaker 1: what makes these houses so striking craftsmen homes. They were
31:54
Speaker 1: all about blending in with nature, like we talked about.
31:56
Speaker 1: Because of that, the colors for the exteriors were pulled
32:00
Speaker 1: straight from the landscape. So you'd see earthy greens, warm browns,
32:03
Speaker 1: deep russets, muted golds, soft grays. You know, all of
32:07
Speaker 1: those colors were common on the exteriors of these homes.
32:10
Speaker 1: Trim outside was often done in a darker, contrasting shade
32:14
Speaker 1: to highlight the exposed beams, the brackets, the porch columns,
32:18
Speaker 1: all of that. Sometimes you'd even see three or four
32:21
Speaker 1: coordinated colors used together. One for the siding, another for
32:24
Speaker 1: the trim, and then a darker accent on windows or doors.
32:28
Speaker 1: Now inside that same philosophy applied. You know, the walls
32:30
Speaker 1: were usually painted in warm natural tones, so olive, terra cotta,
32:35
Speaker 1: tan cream, you know, colors that paired well with the
32:38
Speaker 1: oak or mahogany trim and all the built in furniture
32:41
Speaker 1: that was so common in those craftsmen interiors. Now do
32:45
Speaker 1: you need to go with those colors if you're painting
32:47
Speaker 1: your craftsmen home today, Well, of course not. Nothing's off
32:50
Speaker 1: limits really when it comes to color. Color is subjective, right.
32:55
Speaker 1: If you walk into a craftsman home today and the
32:57
Speaker 1: walls are all painted in bright whites or trendy pastels
33:01
Speaker 1: or whatever, it doesn't mean it's wrong. But sometimes choosing
33:05
Speaker 1: colors that fight against your home's architecture can give you
33:08
Speaker 1: an uphill battle. You know, you may find yourself working
33:10
Speaker 1: a little bit harder to make that space feel grounded
33:13
Speaker 1: or cohesive. Your home already has a style, you know,
33:18
Speaker 1: the architectural style, and when you lean into it, even loosely,
33:21
Speaker 1: you usually find the house starts to feel right quicker,
33:25
Speaker 1: if that makes sense. If you ignore it or you
33:27
Speaker 1: fight against it, and sometimes that contrast can work beautifully.
33:32
Speaker 1: But if you do that sometimes you know, other times
33:34
Speaker 1: it can leave things feeling just a little bit off.
33:37
Speaker 1: And that's where we can help. At Repcolite, we work
33:39
Speaker 1: with homeowners every single day to choose colors that don't
33:42
Speaker 1: just look good on a paint chip, but that really
33:45
Speaker 1: you don't belong in your home. Whether you live in
33:47
Speaker 1: a craftsman bungalow, a colonial, a ranch, some kind of mansion,
33:52
Speaker 1: anything in between, we can help you. And if you
33:55
Speaker 1: want to dig deeper into this topic, head over to
33:57
Speaker 1: our blog at repco light dot com. I've got a
33:59
Speaker 1: full right up there about the craftsman's style, along with
34:02
Speaker 1: a curated list of historically appropriate Benjamin More colors that
34:06
Speaker 1: you can use as inspiration. So that's craftsmen homes. That's
34:09
Speaker 1: kind of their history a little bit. Some of the
34:12
Speaker 1: key players I didn't mention Frank Lloyd Wright some of
34:14
Speaker 1: his early stuff. He was an important architect in the beginning.
34:18
Speaker 1: He moved towards slightly different take on things as the
34:22
Speaker 1: years went by, but he was another architect whose name
34:25
Speaker 1: gets thrown around or bandied about when we're talking about
34:27
Speaker 1: craftsman homes. Hopefully with all of that information, next time
34:31
Speaker 1: you're walking down the street and you see a house
34:33
Speaker 1: with a broad front porch, you know, a low roof,
34:35
Speaker 1: the exposed rafters, maybe a big stone fireplace inside, you're
34:39
Speaker 1: going to know you're looking at a craftsman home. It's
34:42
Speaker 1: not just a style of home, it's a window into
34:45
Speaker 1: a moment in history when America was really searching, looking
34:50
Speaker 1: back for simplicity, authenticity, and a home that felt, you know,
34:54
Speaker 1: truly truly alive and built for the people living there.
34:59
Speaker 1: It's what we all wan want. I just think it's
35:01
Speaker 1: great that the craftsman home. That's its whole point was
35:04
Speaker 1: to achieve that. So the craftsman style there you go.
35:07
Speaker 1: All right. That's going to wrap it up for this
35:09
Speaker 1: episode of Home in Progress, sponsored by Repco Light Paints
35:12
Speaker 1: and Benjamin Moore. If you enjoyed the show, make sure
35:15
Speaker 1: you don't miss the next one, and you can do
35:17
Speaker 1: that by subscribing to the Home in Progress podcast wherever
35:21
Speaker 1: you get your podcasts from, So subscribe to the podcast
35:24
Speaker 1: and if you've got a minute, leave us a rating
35:26
Speaker 1: or review. It really helps more people find the show,
35:29
Speaker 1: and I appreciate the feedback. If you prefer to listen
35:32
Speaker 1: on YouTube, I've got all of them out there. You
35:35
Speaker 1: can go and find all the episodes or at least
35:38
Speaker 1: the last two hundred something like that on YouTube. Just
35:41
Speaker 1: search for Home and Progress and you can watch the
35:44
Speaker 1: episodes there, not really watch video or lots of great
35:47
Speaker 1: entertaining stuff. It's just a screenshot, but the podcasts are
35:51
Speaker 1: there if you want to check them out. And of
35:53
Speaker 1: course don't forget to visit us online at repco light
35:55
Speaker 1: dot com, r E P C L I t E
35:58
Speaker 1: dot com and you can find blog posts, paint and
36:01
Speaker 1: design resources in all of our past episodes as well,
36:05
Speaker 1: so check that out. And if you're in West Michigan
36:08
Speaker 1: or if you're in Metro Detroit area, you can stop
36:11
Speaker 1: by and see us at one of our locations. We'd
36:14
Speaker 1: absolutely love to be your paint supplier. Stop out, talk
36:17
Speaker 1: to us. We carry Benjamin Moore of course, and our
36:20
Speaker 1: own brand of paint and we can help you with
36:23
Speaker 1: everything you need. We help painting contractors, professional painting contractors,
36:27
Speaker 1: huge companies, and we also work with homeowners and di
36:31
Speaker 1: I wires who are just getting started. So we've got
36:33
Speaker 1: all the info, all the tips, all the supplies, everything
36:36
Speaker 1: you need. Stop out and see us on on the
36:39
Speaker 1: west side of the state or in the Metro Detroit area.
36:42
Speaker 1: And again you can find more info at repco light
36:44
Speaker 1: dot com. All right, that's officially gonna do it. Have
36:47
Speaker 1: a great week, everybody. I'm Dan Hanson. Thanks for listening
37:01
Speaker 1: up to