Our Changing Home-Part 1

Recently, I was thumbing through old photos to run as a slide show during our daughter's graduation party. I have tons of pictures that have never made it into albums; photos taken long before I ever thought of writing a blog and long before I even knew there was a home decor/diy blog village out there! Looking at pictures taken of our home when we first moved in made me wonder "What were we thinking?!" Wanna step back in time with me?

For many years I have worked to make the limited wall space in the living room make sense.  When we purchased the home the room was hideous. (Probably the reason I found my mom crying the day we bought it.) The walls were covered in colonial looking wallpaper and cheap paneling for wainscoting.   The squeaky floor was adorned with a dirty indoor/outdoor carpet and under it was another layer of shag carpeting and under that .... some seriously messed up wood floors marred by bad patches where a fireplace used to sit.

Money was tight and cosmetic fixes would have to do. Fortunately, I have a very handy, hard working husband. We stripped the wallpaper, many layers, and repaired the crumbling horse-hair plaster and added crown molding.

Between this photo and the next two you can see about five layers of wallpaper. 

Normally, I like toile but....

I love color! A coat of paint in a flat finish took the attention away from wavy walls. To make them even less obvious I stenciled a damask pattern in a color one shade darker than the base coat. This is not an easy task and because I was trying to parent my three and five year olds at the same time so this project took days! All the walls were wonky: nothing is level and no corner is 90 degrees. I had to fudge that stencil all over the place! That left the room looking like this.

Pay no attention to the date stamps. I don't think I ever got them set right! This photo was taken in 2004 (maybe).

I was all about painting my trim (Mister did the actual painting) to match the decor of the room. 

The couch was my first attempt at making a slip cover. I found some canvas at Walmart for very little money. I got the main piece sewn and it was okay. I never got around to sewing the cushion covers and ended up wrapping an old matelasse cover over them.  The room looks so spacious!

At first, we left the wainscoting alone. As time progressed we painted the it this dark raspberry chocolate color. Looking back at photos now I cannot believe I ever thought I could live with that long term! It looks so dated to me now...well, sort of. There is a familiar homeyness to it for me.

Our living space was like this for about ten years but you know me...it didn't stay that way. I'm going to reminisce some more and I hope you come back to see more of the changes in Our Changing Home-Part 2.

My Summer Kitchen

No matter how hard I try my kitchen counters are always filled with things that really should be put away. I have to remind myself that I live in a house with others and not in a museum. Sadly, at time I just move quickly through the room trying to not notice the clutter but occasionally I have that "I've had enough" moment and clean everything off. The change of season was a good reason to do that and as long as everything was cleaned off I snapped some photos!

Never underestimate the power of a bunch of grocery store blooms~! 

I love the color and life they bring to the kitchen. They make me smile when I walk in. 

This three tiered stand was something I had my eye on for a while but every time I saw if for sale on one of the sites I follow it would sell out before I could make the purchase. Very sad. I managed to find one on Home Depot's site (of all places?!) and couldn't be happier about the addition to my kitchen. It holds summer necessities; melamine plates, plastic cups, straws, and extra lemons and limes to add to a cool glass of ice water or selzter.

My chalkboard got some love from a chalk paint pen. After many trials and errors and having to repaint the chalk board (ugh!), because I couldn't get the chalk paint pen off, I have discovered that I can use a chalk pen and clean it off with Mr. Clean Eraser. Yay! 

Remember the colander I used as a planter early spring?

And my fabulous find of a scale that I purchased last month on the Cape holds a bowl from my grandmother filled with some bright lemons.

 I decided I should change the beachy sign to a more sunny sentiment.

 

On the other side of the room all was cleaned up and the feeling of space and freshness made me breathe easier. 

I am pretty sure it does not look like this now!

The kitchen is enjoying summer and so am I. I think I will grab some lemonade, a book and enjoy the day and the idea of my kitchen being in order. 

I'm going to these parties;
Have a Cup of Mrs.Olson, Savvy Southern Style, The Blissful Bee, DIY By Design, Imparting Grace, The Vintage Nest, Joyful Homemaking, A Delightsome Life, The Charm of Home, Up To Date Interiors, A Vision To Remember, McCall Manor, Shabby Art Boutique, Olives & Okra, French Country Cottage, Chic On A Shoestring, The Cottage Market, DIY Vintage Chic, A Tray of Bliss, Pieced Pastimes, One More Time Events, Reasons To Skip The Housework, Blooming Homestead, I Heart Nap Time, Finding Silver Pennies, Nifty thrifty Things, Love of Home, Create With Joy, Inside the Fox Den, Cedar Hill Farmhouse, Coastal Charm, I Should Be Mopping the Floor, Sand and Sisal, Creatively Living, The Dedicated House, A Stroll Thru Life, A Bowl Full of Lemons, Our Home Away From Home