4/10/09

MY HOME SEEN TODAY ON decor8




A big thank you to Holly, decor8, for featuring my kitchen and dining area on "how much for this room" via decor8.

decor8 recently added this helpful and inspiring feature to her blog. It is so nice to see how everything in someones home adds up, literally. Renovating and redecorating a home can be really overwhelming and frustrating if there are no grounded ideas or theme. And, you can spend all your hard earned cash on what you think is the only solution. With all the design blogs out there now you have a lot of options and advice for everything. Do not buy the first lamp or give in to feeling like repairs will cost too much. There is a way to do it and make it function while looking great. But, take on a little at a time unless you have a group of handy people that have time.

I have kept a great deal of patience with trying to get this new 102 year old home my husband and I moved into last year up to speed. It was a real mess when we got it. Not a leaky roof or poor electrical but a heap of plastic like home repairs that made no sense.
Much of the simple charm was discarded and hidden. I could never figure out why someone would cover great oak wood floors. Then, I pinch myself because I know how time consuming it can be to restore floors, walls (ughh, wallpaper removal), and cabinets, etc. It must be my love of renovations and interior design that has enabled me to strip wallpaper, sand and smooth out the wall with joint compound and then paint the walls. Or, I am obsessed. I did grow up with a talented engineer and carpenter father who can fix anything, and right. He is amazing and carved out my path for design. If it is not broke, do not fix it. If it is broke, fix it right. If you cannot fix it, ask someone who knows what they are doing. Case closed.

When fixing an old home and keeping old parts and adding new ones... take deep breaths as it can be a challenge to fuse things together. Keep it simple.