One of my neighbors died last year, a fine Southern lady who lived in a beautiful house, as you'd expect, and I'd always admired the old Turkey rugs running up her stairs.
So, when the house went up for sale I asked her daughter if I could buy those rugs for the Compound, yes, it has a stairwell too, which was in need of Moslem runners. She said maybe, but thought the rugs were a "selling point."
Yes, yes indeed, there was a logic here I couldn't refute, but she kindly said she'd tell the new owners about LSP interest. Lo and behold, as of this evening the incoming owners gave me the rugs; they didn't want them, those rugs were not for them.
Now they lie on the Compound's stairwell. Do they fit? Yes, they do, in just the right proportion and with extra length to spare for a maybe 6'+ hallway runner in the upper story of the Manse. OK, excellent, ruggery is go in LSPland, but what about the existing carpet and what lies beneath it?
Serious question because who knows what damage 1980s vandals might have done to the wooden infrastructure of the stairs. You know, plywood glued onto original pine flooring, sorta thing. Worrying. But there was no need to worry. The original stairwell is pretty much undamaged and only needs a clean and polish and carpet tack removal. Not hard. Next step? Clean the ruggery.
Ma LSP, who knows a thing or two about rugs, says Woolite or similar, matched with a soft brush and a garden hose does the trick. That sounds scary to me, but I'll do a test run on a portion of the Moslem stair covering and see if it works.
If not, a stern beating followed by a hoover. Next? Remove the nasty old carpet, repaint the walls of the stairwell, clean and polish the wood of the stairs as appropriate, and then lay that rug down.
This, dear readers, is my plan. Will it be easy? I recall no one ever saying life would be.
LSP
16 comments:
With luck and a prayer it might be. Depends on His humor, I guess?
Good luck, Parson. And congratulations.
Be safe and God bless.
Let's see how this ruggish evolution goes, Linda.
Bless you.
Would you be surprised that I thoroughly enjoy the idea of LSP and other Godly people walking on some heathen's floor-covering? Yeah, thought so... :)
And, well, nice stairwell decoration. Almost as good as a cuirass with a cannon-ball hole in it.
And, if'n woolite and scrubbing doesn't work, there are places that will clean said fine wool carpet. But it can be pricey. Good luck on the cleaning. Maybe you can rope some parishioners into the help, if your parishioners are of that type to be helpful.
That's going to look stunning, Parson!
Lucky the carpet wasn't glued down with some kind of tar-like substance, like ours when we got around to redoing the stairwell of our first house.
That is a kingly gift. By the color they were re-dyed in the Victorian era, maybe a bit later. Probably worth a King's ransom.
As for the wood stairs. Unless there are massive problems, the most they usually need is a Scotchbrite scuffing and a new layer of finish. DO NOT use polyurethane - it is everywhere, it is cheap, and it is VERY slippery. Urethane is better if you can find it, and you may still need a way to keep the rugs from sliding and becoming a hazard - can't help you there.
(Victorians like Persian rugs, but didn't like the bright reds used in that country, so the re-dyed the rugs using a more wine-colored red. I would have them appraised... they really are expensive items.)
I thought you'd approve, Beans.
Beans, my mom swears by the Woolite method and she should know -- 19thC Caucasian runners. They're gorgeous and GLOW. So.
Lovely old rugs, drjim.
Oh, I know, Wild, I was expecting the worst... but was happily surprised. Still a lotta work tho.
Now that, Zenda, is a very good call. I feel, and it's an informed guess, that some of the rugs are early 20th C if not 19th. The larger portion, I think, is more recent, around pre WWII. But I'm guessing, coz my rug knowledge ain't what it once was.
Still, an appraisal wouldn't hurt. In the meanwhile, they'll line the stairs of the Compound and fair play to 'em. Lovely.
Interesting re-dye point. We were up to the same thing in the 1980s, washing tribal rugs to produce less vibrant, more '80s colors. I have one, used to be in my dad's study, a gift, and it's all well and good, washed of vibrancy though. Grrrrr.
Viz. Wood. The steps are well preserved, stained and polished, I'll keep 'em that way. NO VARNISH. Affixing the ruggery? In the old days they'd have used rods, I think. Staples were used in the last house and I think I'll go down that route too.
I love old rugs. Cheers.
Zendo, I'll follow up on the age -- they might well be Victorian
Google up "stair rods" for the finishing touches. They ain't cheap but they look dang good. You may have to use some carpet tacks to hold things down here and there, like the Victorians did......
Wild, I know! And in the UK you can buy them by the armload. Here? Not so much. Good call tho.
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