Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Our First House

We fixed up our first house. It wasn't ours to fix up.



Bill and I lived in a little house right around the corner from my school. 
It is the only older home on a block of newer homes. 
We think it was built sometime in the 1930s. 
It was so cute!
We loved the arched door.


I made that dress. I wish I still had those sewing skills.


It was a pit. We had to shovel the old junk out before we could move our stuff in.
I don't know why our landlord didn't clean for us but maybe we got some sort of deal on the deposit or something. 
The kitchen was gross.
The tan cabinets with the brown trim were not my taste. 
There were mice. 
:0

Bill's brother worked at Sherwin Williams and he gifted us with some paint. 
I painted the cabinets Dover and the trim was some sort of blue. 
If memory serves it was called Mountain Blue.



This would become the color of the decade - Country Blue.
I'm committed to taking pictures of our photos and digitizing them before they all become any more orange. 
Life really wasn't this orange. 
When I was little I asked my mom a question about something that happened back when the world was in black and white. 


I ended up loving our little kitchen.



We still have the pig. 



My cabinets are Dover once again.




This little house had some darling details. 
Sadly they have all been ripped out. 



I happen to drive by and some workman had the front door open. 
The house had been vacant again but this time it did not look like an episode of Hoarders.
They let me walk through and look for old times sake.
This bad blogger forgot to take pictures. 
The kitchen needed an update even when we lived there but the new kitchen was low end big box stuff. 
It was not necessarily an improvement.
The drop down ironing board was gone.


The built in china cabinet was gone.
I took this picture hoping someday we would build one like it in a home.
That has never happened but I'm so glad I took the picture.
Still smitten with those stained glass cabinet doors.
I had hoped the workmen had them in a dumpster out back.
Nope.
They were long gone. 



All the original Spanish revival arches were gone. 
They had even walled over this niche.
???Why???
There was nothing in its place.

I love that our T.V. stand was an old sewing machine base with a wood top. 


There is the desk from this post.



I can't remember who gave us the couch but I slip covered it in sheets to cover up some gnarly brown tweed.
The curtains were Waverly. 
I found the fabric for $2.98 a yard which was a lot for the time but it was a good deal for this fabric. 
We had a trunk for a coffee table and still do. 
The rocker was my first piece of furniture. 
It was a mark down from Pier 1. 



I don't know. 
There was nothing like decorating our first home even if it wasn't ours to keep. 



One more look at that awesome kitchen. 
Bill is basically forbidden from taking candid photos of me. 
Was I ever that skinny?
I hope you enjoyed this post.
Did you or your mom have country blue?
Katie 
Linking with,
Common Ground - Share Your Style



12 comments :

  1. It's really amazing, Katie. I like the turn around you did.

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  2. LOL- I sure did, Katie I had Country blue for years and years and years. When I got rid of it I swore I would never have blue again. Fast forward about 30 years and guess what? I just redid our bedroom and the bedding accessories are soft blue...as are the accents in our family room. lol But it is NOT country blue-it is almost a baby blue with an aqua tone in it.

    I fixed up a house that wasn't ours to fix up, too. Those were the days I had an electric skillet and I can still smell those one dish meals cooking in there while I was stripping a piece of furniture or some other project. I look back and wonder if I was ever that skinny, too

    This was a fun post. I loved it. xo Diana

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  3. oh Katie, so many of us lived in that "same" little house. How wonderful that you have those great photos of your time there. that door is so charming. love your dress! thanks so much for joining in our first party!

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  4. Katie, what a fun post! It was nice to tour your first home while reading all those memories you have of it. It made me go back to my first place, a little apartment that I tried to transform into something so unique! ha, I need to find those orange pictures to remember that transformation! :)

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  5. My ex and I bought a house instead of getting a divorce (which we should have done) in the late 80's. I bought a plaid country blue couch at Sears and started painting everything country blue and putting ducks on shelves. The kitchen went country blue, then the front room, then the bedroom...to say I was depressed would be an understatement. A car accident caused me to take a look at that depressing blue house and decide to leave and get a divorce. No blue has ever been used in my home since!

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  6. So nice to go back later to see the house you lived in and how you bring in special touches of your memories into you present home. Nice post!

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  7. My whole house growing up was country blue (the outside!) :)

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  8. My whole house growing up was country blue (the outside!) :)

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  9. Hi Katie, great memories. Y






    Hi Katie great memories. YES, I had country blue although I started out in our first house with red and then orange and finally country blue. I am proud to say that blue is still my go to color. It was something that stayed with me..What fun pictures and memories..Happy Thursday..Judy


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    Replies
    1. Sorry I thought that had gone away so I started over. Oops! J

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  10. Katie,
    I had the country blue back when Terry and I got married. Our first home was not much bigger than yours. We owned our first house together and did not rent but it was so tiny but so cute. I loved that home. So many good memories. I had the dark cabinets and shag carpet for our floors. What great pics you have and great memories.
    Kris

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  11. Oh, yes, I had country blue wallpaper in our yellow kitchen. I suppose the white of today is the country blue of our past, but at the time we sure loved it! Your first house had so many charming details. What a shame that they removed all the charm from that house with so much potential! Darling photos of you in the kitchen!

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