Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Charming with a Side of Warts . . .

Well, as you know, we bought our new OLD home in November 2014. The girls and I were so excited to be home owners again and we couldn't wait to put our own mark on it. My entire life, I have been in L.O.V.E. with old homes. I love old, thick moldings. I love high ceilings with large wooden doors. I love the wavy glass of the wood windows that stick in the humidity. I love the wood floors that creak and moan when you walk on them, you name it. I literally get major heart palpitations walking into a gorgeous old home (or a salvage shop but that's for another post). There's something about the charm of the old features that a lot of people would want to change and update but those quirks just make me want to move in!

Love my old front door.
Needs a coat of paint but I love the wavy glass.
Look at my fab-u-lous Greek Key tile.
It's so pretty - just needs a good polish
to bring it back to life!
Wish I could say the same for me!
The wood-burning fireplace is one of my favorite spots.
It has a door on the outside, at the base of the chimney,
to unload all the ash.
Then I literally could say -
"nice ash!"
These French doors lead from the dining room
to the front hallway.
Those curtains H.A.V.E. to go though!
Old glass door knobs just make me swoon!
The quirkiness of this room is fun. The door to the right leads
to a small walk-in closet and there are 2 to the left that lead to the
hallway. Why? No one knows!
Be sure to make note of the ever-so-lovely
acoustic ceiling tiles!
With great old windows come termites, lots of termites
and their droppings!
Under that ugly blue carpeting?
Wood stairs with lots of layers of paint - oh joy!
And under the paneling -
another layer of paneling!
Seriously! Who the heck did that!?!
(Note: Some serious, and I mean serious,
cursing went on while removing this hideousness
from the walls. I still have the physical,
and mental scars, to prove it!
We have a basement, yes, in Florida!
Its teeny-tiny, has a dryer that does not work
but I think it will make a great wine cellar
. . .  someday!
Lots of houses in our neighborhood
have these old planters/urns that make the perfect
accent to any front entry, when cleaned up!
A metal wheelchair ramp?
While necessary for the previous owner,
doesn't add much charm, does it?
And a lovely generator kind of sitting in the
middle of the yard.
That has GOTS to go!
I did find a box of silver, not sterling but there were
a few silver-plated pieces.
We took it as a sign since some of the pieces were
monogrammed with a M!
Well, more than likely, it's a W for the previous
owner but we can always look at it from another angle.

Well, as we like to call it, this is our "Home of Potential!" We have made a lot of changes and I can't wait to share them with you but that is for another post.

- Kristin