I’ve intended to post an epic gallery of before pictures since I started this blog back in April. Six months have elapsed without that happening for many reasons. Most of them uninteresting things you might guess. So when I say I’m “all of a sudden” ready to go, I realize that it’s likely only sudden to me.
The casa was built in 1915, renovated in the early 90′s, and we moved in 4 years ago. Since then we’ve installed air conditioning which actually made our kitchen look worse, sodded the front yard and are 97% done with Spencer’s bedroom. Other than that? Nothing. We’re still kicking around with the beige walls (and in some rooms ceilings too) and track lighting!! that was here when we moved in.
It’s a pretty traditional smallish old house with 6 rooms downstairs, 4 up. And we have loved it wholeheartedly in its existing state since the moment we first stepped foot in it. You might see why as you go through this tour.
The casa has chutzpah. And a clawfoot tub.
The whole point of this blog is to document as we remodel and as I walk through the rooms I’m going to point out the things we intend to address. But I don’t want it to come across as snarky or unappreciative. If anything, it would be disappointing if this almost 100 year-old house lacked flaws because that would also mean it lacked soul. So, I’m going to start by giving credit to the reasons we’re here in the first place:
Let’s start the tour with the living room which is where you end up when you walk through the front door.
A front door that opens into the living room is a common old house issue. As are the multiple cracks and fissures in the plaster. Less common is the abundance of obsolete home security-related plastic stuff affixed to the wall right inside. Just past to the left is a double doorway where it appears there used to be French Doors. Underfoot is a cutout in the floor offering creepy, ill-placed access to the furnace.
Straight ahead is a doorway leading into the dining room and kitchen. So the first thing you could see when you walk in our house is our refrigerator which predates 16 year-old Spencer by an entire year. “Welcome to our home, would you like something to drink? Help yourself.”
The south would offer the largest uninterrupted expanse of wall in this room if it wasn’t for the thermostat which is just left of center. It’s why, instead of the enormous white horse painting I envision on the wall over the back of the couch, we have an undersized carved wooden art piece leaning. At least weekly I wonder about what went into the decision to place the thermostat here. And fantasize a bit about maybe punching that person in the kidneys.
The west wall offers more plaster cracks, a consumer’s TV and one sunny window. (You will notice our hambone dogs managed to sneak into several shots. Including here in the reflection of the TV.)
The north wall has another window flanked by a couple of chairs-one comfy, one decidedly not. The whole thing is finished off with two rows of track lighting we affectionately call the retina razors.
Much to do here including QuickFix decorative and functional things and perhaps a longer term plan where parts of walls are knocked down. Here’s a short list of where I’d like to start.
Many more rooms to post. Next up is the downstairs office. Then at some point must get started on some of these projects!
I took our curtains in for their semi-annual cleaning (that means every 2-3 years right?) and it got me to thinking. We acknowledge that with completely bare windows the neighbors can see straight into our house in the evenings, which, of itself is no biggie because there isn’t too much crazy going on around here (occasional scratching and wearing of pajama pants doesn’t count.) But we LOVED how light and open, albeit a bit echoey, it became and how much larger the rooms felt sans curtains. They had always been an inexpensive (Ikea) placeholder until we can decide what to do with those windows. So, when we moved in 4 years ago, we just threw them up on the existing rods which were positioned at the top edge of the window, bottom edge of the window frame.
Now the drapes are back and ready to be hung once again and I have thought all along that I would move the curtain rods up above the window frames.
It is just universally understood that hanging drapes higher, above the window frame, makes the room seem bigger, right?
But it would just be faster and easier to put them up where they had been before, and what if it isn’t actually true? What if moving the rods up serves to visually bring down our high ceilings-one of the casa’s best features- and make each room feel claustrophobic?
I’ve decided to conduct an experiment and, once and for all, prove or disprove the theory that hanging drapes higher virtually enlarges a room. (music swells dramatically)
So you saw the bare window at the top of the post. And here’s the window with the drapes hung where the rod just was in the first place.
And here it is with the rod higher.
And here they are side-by-side.
And here they are…just kidding. Anyway, is there is no question that the drapes hung higher are better? That’s how it’s feeling to me but I want to decide before I move all of the rods and anchor them into the plaster.What do you think?
Side note: Notice how beige this room is? I can’t wait to paint the walls darker and the ceiling probably white but at least contrasting. And when I finally get to rip down that retina-burning track lighting? I might just plop in the middle of the living room floor and cry.
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