The next ten years
were the happiest years of our lives.
While we had moved away from family and friends, we were destined to
enjoy new experiences and friends that made an impact on our lives
forever. Everything about our move was
new. New job, new home, new church, new
opportunities, and a new life as a married couple of some 40 + years. Now in mid-life, we were still young enough
to enjoy travel, hard work became a pleasure, and new people and places were
welcome changes.
We worked together
scrubbing, sanding, painting, wallpapering our new home. It was huge and while we thought we had a lot
of “stuff,” it looked like doll furniture in those rooms. Always the “junker,” I quickly learned how and
where to find the best bargains. I
shopped auctions, flea markets, estate sales, yard sales, consignment shops,
and came home with treasures that only needed a little spiffing up to fit into
that spot that was bare.
Slowly, but
surely, we went room by room. I chose a
vivid green climbing ivy wallpaper on white for the kitchen and painted the
ugly birch cabinets white. The floor was
re-done in a black and white vinyl. My
new friend, Gloria, taught me to make Roman shades and how to save money by
lining them with old sheets. A local
fabric weaving factory up the road in Crewe had an outlet where I found a small
ivy print accented with little violets.
The oak table and chairs and antique china cabinet we already owned fit
perfectly in the room. It was beautiful.
The once yellowed
walls in the living room became a vivid Geranium red and I shopped until I
found just the right fabric of red on beige toile fabric. From that I made beautiful swags and jabots
for the tall, wavy glass windows. The
large foyer was papered with a subtle toile, pineapple print of neutral
beige. The color became a novelty for conversation in
town since it was a rather new concept in paint at the time and everyone wanted
to see it. Or, maybe just curiosity to see what the crazy couple that bought the old place at auction had done with it.
The dining room,
approximately 20 x 26 was huge! We left
it for a while because I loved the old Revolutionary print toile green on cream wallpaper
and dark oak floors. But, alas,
eventually we had to redo the entire ceiling and some of the walls with sheetrock
because of the crumbling and cracked plastered walls. It eventually wound up with a magnolia print
above the chair rail and a rich green paint below. All woodwork in the house was painted a
creamy ivory color.
The floor in the
foyer, staircase and living room had been carpeted over the oak floors years
before and we left it for the time being, eventually removing it and
refinishing the floors to the beautiful patina that had been covered up. A beautiful flea market find chandelier
replaced the unimpressive foyer and dining room fixtures.
The bedroom and
bath were scrubbed and painted and the existing vintage drapes that I loved
remained at the windows. We spent the
first year working and living in the downstairs area. Changes were on the horizon
for the coming year, but we were optimistic for the future and never wavered in
our decision to make this our home and hung a swing on the porch to prove our
resident status. I felt like Scarlett
O’Hara!
