The After/Before Tour

What to say, what to say...

I guess you probably want to see the place; I will oblige, but fair warning it's not the prettiest. These pics were taken a day after I closed (a month ago today). As in, this is after I was half way moved in and made a huge mess but before I unpacked, repainted, or projected anything (except spackling some walls). That's why I'm calling it the After/Before Tour.

To make it even more beautiful, we tidied up and relocated things from the bedrooms to make quick work of the carpet (hence the bed in the living room).

Without further ado, I present the After/Before Tour of the Little Grey House.

 

 

Oh, that parquet. I can't wait to replace it with a more timeless hardwood. When that day comes, I will carry the new, uniform floor throughout the down stairs (minus the tile areas), up the stairs and in the hallway upstairs.

 

Fun Fact: when I moved in, there were 11 different floors inside these walls. As much as I love the number eleven, that's too many floors. One should not have as many floors as Monica has categories of towels.



 

That light is definitely on my axe list. You can't tell in this photo, but it's totally four little flowers hanging on the wall. Making it even better is it's the rooms only light source and is inconvenient placed so it shines in your eyes when you're on the couch.

It's in my eyes right now... 😒

Please don't overlook the scrollwork painted on the cabinets. #keeper

I know what you're thinking and it has nothing to do with the fact that the previous owner just painted around furniture throughout. What you are really wondering is: what's that on the other wall?

For your viewing pleasure:

Now please take a moment to appreciate how many nail holes are in any given wall. The picture below (in the master bedroom) isn't even an unusually hole-y wall.

 

That closet though! The brown trim. The brown wrinkled carpet. It's every little girl's dream. (In all fairness, I'm lucky to have that closet system to work with.)

 

The next picture shows my personal favorite room: the purple room with blue carpet that I can only hope is original.

 

And just for good measure, here's RoePoe napping on the gross blue carpet.

 

That's pretty much it. Obviously, I've bitten off more than I can chew. In fact, if I hadn't already lived through the last month (spoilers!) I wouldn't believe that I had accomplished everything I have knocked out so far.

 

First up: that closet!

 

PS, I totally updated the house tour page with this Annie-Leibovitz-caliber photos. You're welcome.

Home, Sweet Home

Oh, hello there. It's been a while and I'm sooo happy to see you again.

You may have noticed (and if you didn't, spare my feelings and act like you did) things went quiet at the Woodward Place over a year ago. Alas, now is not the time or place... we'll get to that. Bible.

A lot has changed this year, but my most exciting development is I bought a new house! I can't quite believe that tomorrow it will be four weeks since I closed on this charming fixer upper. After I bought a fixer, my return to the blogoshere was inevitable.

The new pad is anything but...she's the least new, dirtiest, cracked, and high-maintenance place I've ever lived (including apartments and houses growing up). Every inch of this beast needs to be repainted, some areas need to be replaced, and overall it's just a ton of work.

Seriously though, I don't want to say anything too mean about this old gal because I'm truly very in love with her. My list of reasons to love it is almost as long as my to-do list; she's in a great location, on a great lot with lots of mature landscaping and creatures (I've had deer in my backyard twice already). The house is well-loved and has great bones; she has a very traditional floorplan but still very liveable and relatively open given her age. She was built in 1978 and has a real wood-burning fireplace and mullioned windows. In my opinion, one of the best things about older houses are the windows and mullions are pretty much Spanx for houses: they make everything else look that much better.

So far, it's been quite the adventure. On top of all the projects, I'm living on my own for the first time in a long while plus I have a veritable zoo on my hands - it's enough to drive me straight to the rosé. I can't wait to share more about the day-to-day hijinks that are par for the course just living in Little Grey House.

Now, I want to confess something I haven't been able to gather the courage to say: I never truly felt at home at the Woodward Place. No doubt it was a beautiful house that I was thrilled to live in. But in a way, it almost felt disposable - like every apartment I'd ever lived in. Someplace to enjoy for a while, then move on from. For lack of a better explanation, I never felt that "home" hug you get when you walk in the door. Little Grey House has that, and I felt it the first time I walked through the door.

This house has soul.