Willow and Hearth

Restoring a 1903 Victorian for a modern family usually means choosing between preserving original character and making the space feel current. The Katt House found a middle path over a nine-month renovation, refinishing original floors, preserving woodwork and skipping the temptation to paint over the parlor’s original wood detailing. They documented the project on TikTok as The Katt House.

In their video, the family walks through the nine-month renovation timeline, scraping away layers of old wallpaper to reveal and preserve the parlor’s original woodwork rather than painting over it, refinishing the home’s original floors, and introducing new, period-friendly wallpaper that complements the 1903 character rather than clashing with it. The result reads as genuinely updated for modern family life while staying visibly rooted in its original era.

The specific nine-month timeline and the exact breakdown of which elements were original, repaired or newly installed are best treated as the family’s own reported account, since a renovation of this scope typically involves many smaller decisions that a single recap video can’t fully itemize.

What stands out about this renovation is the deliberate restraint behind it: painting over ornate original woodwork is one of the most common shortcuts in old-home renovations, since paint is faster and more forgiving than the careful stripping and refinishing that preserving original wood finishes actually requires. Choosing the harder path here reflects a real commitment to the home’s character over convenience.

Before-and-after content centered on preservation-minded restoration, rather than a full modern gut renovation, continues to draw a devoted audience specifically because it offers proof that a century-old home can be made genuinely livable for a modern family without stripping away what made the house distinctive in the first place.

The Takeaway

If you’re renovating an old home with original wood detailing that’s been painted over in the past, consider the more labor-intensive route of stripping and refinishing it rather than repainting, since original woodwork is difficult or impossible to fully replicate once it’s gone. Choosing period-friendly finishes and wallpaper over generic modern options can also help a renovated space feel cohesive with the home’s original era, rather than like a modern update dropped into an old shell.