Readers’ votes & editors’ picks

In this issue, see our restoration award winners: A San Francisco Victorian cottage of modest size, decorated in fine style and with a basement master suite straight out of the 1870s. And a 1932 Storybook Tudor, beautifully detailed and just a little bit eccentric, the home of a restoration consultant whose clients’ homes have appeared in these pages. This special year-end issue was put together interactively with readers, whose Facebook “likes” and comments weigh into what’s featured. A jury of editors and contributors pre-selected three projects in two categories: Best Homeowner Restoration and Best Restoration by a Designer. Then we posted multiple photos of each house on Facebook for a popular vote. The feature in our Restore section is a kind of summary of dos and don’ts, parsing out what should (generally) be saved, repaired, or replaced during a typical renovation. We think it’s a novel way to offer a review of preservation standards. The Design section feature is about creating and staying on budget during a kitchen or bathroom remodeling. Our concentration is on cabinets and other big-ticket items, but throughout we talk about the need to save in order to splurge! Next, we juried kitchens and bathrooms published over the years, again putting them to a public vote. Respondents picked a surprisingly old-fashioned kitchen, with simple lines and warm color befitting a colonial or country house, as well as a standard three-fixture bathroom that would be equally at home in a Victorianor Craftsman-era house. The editors chose their own Favorite Things for that expanded portion of the magazine, organizing great finds by style and era. My thanks to editor Mary Ellen Polson for her diligence and good eye for design.