Tuesday, January 28, 2020

THE WAY WE WERE...










Things are progressing 
very slowly here this week. 
 I thought I would be able 
to show you our
 new kitchen stove today,
 but the schedule got moved out 
so don't know when 
it will arrive exactly.

 The project
 that I told you came out of the Captain's
 five little words
 has been started
 but still a slow process. 

 So, 
while we are waiting,
 I thought I'd take you
 back to the past...





...and show you 
what the Cottage looked like 
when we first took possession.

 I wasn't blogging then and 
it seems like pictures
 were not a priority, 
so I don't have a whole lot to show 
but I can tell 
you how things were.





The guest room 
was wallpapered in 
green leaves and red berries 
with avacado green wall-to-wall carpeting.
  (Hmm, sounds like it might have made
 a pretty Christmas scene). 
 We stripped off the wallpaper and 
took up the carpet.
  The original fir flooring
 looked like an area rug
 had been placed and 
then painted with mustard gold paint 
around the edges of it. 
 We stripped the paint and 
finished the floor and
 that is the floor that we have today. 
 We painted woodwork,
 re-papered the walls and
 now it looks like 
the above picture.





The parlor and entry
 were both covered in
 a pinkish flowered paper and 
the same avacado carpet
 was covering the original fir flooring.
  We re-papered the walls
 of both rooms and tore up the carpet. 
 We lived with the original floors 
until I painted blue and white squares 
in the entry and 
decided to add carpeting 
back into the parlor. 
 We have since added 
blue and white flooring
 over the paint in the entry 
(which I now kind of regret) 
and although the burgundy carpeting 
still is covering the fir flooring 
in the parlor 
we hope to tear it up and 
just leave it in the
 original state again.





The sitting room 
looks like the above photo now 
but it has undergone numerous changes.  
When we first saw it 
a white wallpaper with a gold design 
was covering all the walls and 
the same green carpet was on the floor. 
 The green carpet 
was what showed
 but underneath there were
 four more layers of other carpets and 
all the doors had been shortened
 to accommodate that. 
 The sitting room 
is the only room 
that we didn't wallpaper 
but it has gone through 
more transformations than any other room 
except for the kitchen.

 Our first change was 
blue paint, blue and gray carpeting 
and white trim. 
It was done in a country theme and 
really was quite a pretty and inviting room...





...the second change was 
what you see above...





...we then changed 
back to blue paint but
still kept the burgundy carpet 
that continues in from the parlor.

Third times aren't always a charm, and 
that one was a great disaster, 
so we then re-painted it 
like what we see today and 
added the lighter carpeting.





Above, 
is how the dining room looks now. 
 A first choice of a new look 
for the dining room,
 after stripping off yellow and orange flowered wallpaper and 
gold shag carpeting, 
was red wallpaper with little yellow flowers 
and a white flowered border 
in red, yellow and blue. 
 I loved that room 
but a change came 
when I imagined that it 
wasn't fancy enough...





...so we changed to 
a yellow flowered,
 more formal,
 wallpaper.





When we bought the Cottage, 
this is the kitchen we inherited. 
 Early chaos and 
the only room
 that I have a
 "before" photo of.





This is our first change 
in the kitchen 
(sorry for the poor quality of the photo,
 but it was pretty darn sweet) 
and we kept it 
for quite awhile...





...then it was yellow...
and I think there was some
 red and white checked wallpaper, 
at some point, 
but now...





...this is where 
we are at.

 As I look back and 
remember some of these changes,
 I almost wonder why 
we made some of the decisions 
that we did, 
but such is life and human nature, and 
if I had to second guess myself, 
I imagine
 there will be a 
few more decisions 
in the future. 





While Old Man Winter 
continues to entertain us,
 I am hopeful that
 I will have some 
new news 
next week.


...Judy...







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25 comments:

  1. It is SUCH fun to see the house -- both old and of course, we've seen the new. It's absolutely fascinating to me to see how people have the vision to see exactly what they would like -- and do it. What a fun post!

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    1. Thanks so much, Jeanie. It is fun to look back once in awhile. As is shown some (as in MOI) don't always have the right vision! But you are right about doing it! One day I might be satisfied..xxoJudy

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  2. Judy, I love your home. I would love sitting on the front porch. I like the way you have decorated . You have been doing tons of work thru the years. I saw a decorating show the other day and the lady said she and her husband had bought the apartment 12 years ago. The host asked how long they had been renovating...the lady said all 12 years. LOL Isn't that the way it truly is ..we are always changing. Blessings to you and Captain, xoxo, Susie

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  3. Thank you sweet Susie. That does seem to be the case most of the time. I really would be happy to get to a place where I can say, this is it. This is perfect but don't know if I can. Lucky, I guess, that the years and "age" are getting ready to speak up for us and we won't be able to do otherwise..Happy Tuesday..xxoJudy

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  4. Early chaos!! Hahaha...so funny, Judy!! I think your kitchen choices have always been lovely, but I have to admit that your current decor is my favorite version. So light and very, very bright. And how fun to see the changes over the years...it's always interesting to look back. xoxo

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    1. Thanks so much, Kim. Sometimes I think it is still chaos! I do like the kitchen now, but I do admit that first choice was so cute..It is fun to take a look back..Happy Wednesday..xxoJudy

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  5. What fun to go back and look at all of the changes you have made over the years. I wish I had as many past photos as you do, but alas, I don't. The kitchen here has been through 5 renovations, one quite drastic, down to tearing out the walls so once more I can identify with you. LOL All of the changes you have made look super. I am looking forward to your post on showing us the recent update. Your home is the one I have always wanted.

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    Replies
    1. Adrienne, with a home like yours, I feel honored that you can say that. I wish I had more photos. I even kept small pieces of the original wallpaper then got tired of dealing with them and threw them out. If I had been blogging then, you can bet that wouldn't have happened. Just one other reason to love blogging..Happy Wednesday and thanks again for your kind words..xxoJudy

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  6. How fun to look at how the house was when you purchased it to how it is now. I love love love the transformation of your kitchen. It is so charming. I hope you get your new stove soon. You have done so much to this sweet home and I love that your style shines through and is so pretty. Your house reminds me of our first home we had for 25 years and raised our girls. I had the whole house in primitive and I loved to wallpaper all the rooms. I miss that house. Happy New Week.

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  7. Thanks, Kris. Isn't it funny how we seem to need something else but then, in looking back, find that may have been the perfect choice to begin with. Of course, that isn't always the case and I just can't hardly imagine doing something once and then never changing it.. Thanks for your kind words as always and I would have loved to see your first house. Did you take photos back then?..Happy Wednesday..xxoJudy

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  8. It was fun Judy, to see all the changes. It looks so lovely now. We've been on our house now for 4-1/2 years and haven't done a thing. When we moved in, we painted almost all the rooms, but need to still do our hallway and one bath. Maybe one of these days. I'm one of those people who like to leave things as they are.... I may change curtains now and then or move a chair to somewhere else, but for the most part, once I put things a certain way, I like them that way and there they stay. I really do want to change our curtains in the living and dining room, and I would love to get our guest bath painted! Just don't have the motivation to do it! All that wallpapering you have done is amazing. I do love the flowered wallpapers.. and of course, love your white kitchen and the brick.. and those wonderful old linoleum floors. They match so well to everything else. We are having gray days here but not much rain, and it's been unseasonably warm. We may still get a burst of winter though, one of these days. I'm not real anxious yet for spring and summer to get here. Have a good week! Marilyn

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  9. Thanks, Marilyn. There certainly is nothing wrong with leaving things the way there are. I sometimes find that that was the best way anyway and I know my hubby would be much happier if I could always do that. I am not enjoying winter now. I do at first but it doesn't last too long. It is cold and we still haven't received our little stove yet and we are finding that it makes a big difference..Happy Wednesday..xxoJudy

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  10. How fun to look at your choices...I think we had the same kitchen flooring---in our townhouse. When I see photos of the townhouse we sold in 1984 I think it's cute but so brown rust and gold....yet it sold in less than a week because it was 'IN', at that time...! Then we moved here and had to deal with 1974 Mediterranean decor from the early 1970s. Your home is lovely and I love all your colors and patterns, and your country kitchen makes you just want to visit over a cup of coffee...fun post!

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  11. Thank you so much. Yes, I will follow you and have just left you a comment..Happy Thursday..xxoJudy

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  12. Thanks so much, Sandi. That kitchen floor was not our first choice back in the 90's but when we got around to buying it the one I had picked was out of stock. Even though I would prefer wood, this floor has been a godsend to us. We have had numerous dogs in there and have pushed, pulled and scraped many amounts of furniture over it and it is still as good as new so I can't make a logical argument to the hubby to change it! You are invited for coffee any time..Happy Thursday..xxoJudy

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  13. Olive green...sure brings back memories. Love the cottage. Great pics and rooms! Janice

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    1. Thanks, Janice. That green stove and brown refer were in the Cottage when we purchased it. We used them for awhile but I couldn't wait to get rid of them. Of course, the up-to-date color of refer that we bought with us was almond!..Happy Week to you..xxoJudy

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  14. Judy,
    Love the look back at the Cottage.... I have been going through old photos and organizing them and storing them in new containers. I found a lot of pictures of when we bought our townhouse.....brand new and plain as could be...Someday, I will do a post showing these pics....Can't wait to see what you are up to in the Kitchen!!
    Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by!
    Hugs,
    Debbie

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, Deb. I still have old pics to go through but I have lost alot due to being put in albums without the right type of pages to protect them. Many are so faded out that you can't make them out and the pages stuck to some so that it peels the picture away when I tried to take them out of the album. Live and learn, I guess. I would love to see yours someday..Happy Monday..xxoJudy

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  15. I like seeing before and after photos. We need more work to be done here. I guess we will do it sometime I hope while we are still standing upright. I also wish we had some winter here. It's raining now but I want a little more winter. Love the photo of your green range and brown refrigerator. All the rage at one time. I remember the gold color and I think that was the worst. It was the trend at one time.
    Your chalk board in the kitchen I haven't noticed before in pictures, I like that. Happy Saturday to you , Betsy

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Betsy. I never had the gold but I did have brown, not only the one in the picture but also when we lived in Santa Cruz. I bought an almond one with us to the Cottage so couldn't wait to get rid of those two eyesores! There is still alot to get done around here, but like you, I have the same hopes!! I really wanted that blackboard but then I find out that anything I write on it just looks silly. I don't have the artistic ability to do chalk writing. I really like it best just erased and messy looking with a wreath or something hanging on it..Happy Monday..xxoJudy

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  16. Hi Judy! It was so fun to look through the changes in your home through the years. Your kitchen looks so light and bright. I look forward to seeing the rest of the changes.

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  17. Thanks so much, Kitty. It is fun to look back and yes, there are going to be a few more changes coming along, but then I hope we can relax and enjoy. Although, I don't know if that is ever possible..Happy Friday..xxoJudy

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Your comments are so special to me...Judy