When we moved to Pennsylvania, we bought a 1925 craftsman. The house is gorgeous, with lots of character and it is in immaculate shape. We have beautiful glass door knobs and locks that require a skeleton key. The house has all original wood floors, except in the bathroom and kitchen, where I have no idea what's under the linoleum. There're gorgeous built-in cabinets around the fireplace (which doesn't work, but could if we ran gas to it.
We have a small yard, which is nice because taking care of a yard isn't really my jam, and it's not my husband's either. Though we do plan to make a small garden in the back yard this spring.
The house feels huge compared to our space in Utah, where the spaces were allocated so strangely that the house felt tiny. However, it's only about 100 sq. ft. bigger than our house in Utah was. Having a basement and an attic really makes a difference, even though they don't count toward your square footage. This house has a classic layout: Living room, dining room, kitchen with nook, three bedrooms, one bathroom, an attic, and a basement. In short, it's absolutely perfect. My dream house!
With that said, our former decor style, a very industrial, Star Wars themed space wasn't really working for us anymore. We've outgrown it, and it doesn't fit our new space, so redecorating a little at a time has been fun (and pricy!). Suddenly, after all these years, the husband has an opinion about our space. He cares, now, after 25 years together, what our space looks like and how it reflects us.
The biggest project has been the library. We decided that one of our three rooms should be a place to enjoy our books and a sort of sitting room upstairs. It turned out so fab. When we first moved in, that room was fullllllll of boxes and it sat like that for a long time. I started buying shelves and putting boxes away, then slowly got the rug and furniture. Now, that room is absolutely cozy!
Since we finished the library, and when I say "we" I really mean "I," the projects have been mostly downstairs. Upstairs, I've reorganized our bedroom so our other dresser will fit and moved some things around into the diamond painting room (yeah, we don't have any guest rooms!). That's about it up there. Everything else has been redecorating our living room and dining room.
Last weekend I got two really beautiful matching curio cabinets for the dining room and it has been such a game changer! Look at this...
Getting new curios has allowed me to bring my great grandmother's china down from my attic and put it on display. Matt's grand dad's china was already down here, but my family's wasn't. Since bringing it down I learned that it's called "Sylvan" and is made by the Edwin M. Knowles China Co. in November, 1934.
Overall, the house is coming along so beautifully, I'm overwhelmed with gratitude that we were able to afford to do this at all. Even though it's turning out expensive, we're happy with the overall result and since we don't buy a lot of new things (that chaise lounge and ottoman in the library aside), it's not costing as much as it could!
There's more to say, but this is getting long and I really want to finish up the living room before I share that space!
