We moved about three months ago now – Ohmygod I can’t believe it’s been that long already – and I still have yet to share our new home with you. A little background: we bought this house knowing we were going to renovate and re-design. It has great bones and a wonderful layout but the current decor left much to be desired. Because, well… it’s by no means current.
Our ‘new’ stove wasn’t quite up to snuff as it required a small set of pliers to turn the oven on, and seeing that the dial was broken and long gone there was no way to determine was temperature the oven was on except for trying to gauge it by the rotation while turning the small pin behind the fake wood facade.
The clock forever remained on 4:42 but managed to have the right time – two times a day.
My favourite part? The wallpaper.
What was completely surreal about this paper was the fact that my dad’s old farm house had this exact patterned paper in one of the guest rooms, which was my bedroom two weekends per month for YEARS.
This paper was gorgeous in that 100 year old farm house. There was no border in my bedroom, but with floor-to-ceiling lace curtains and espresso brown dark wood floors, it was really beautiful. In this kitchen it was little stifled, a whole lot of ugly.
Oh, the spice rack that was left behind for us? Wicked awesome, right?
A full length shot of the kitchen eating area beyond with my what-we-thought-was-in-working-order dishwasher. That was until I turned it on to clean it with scalding hot water and bleach. The piece of junk proceeded to leak all over the floor. So not cool.
Oh! And the ceiling fan…
Notice anything a little, um… awkward about the ceiling fan?
Ya… opening the cupboard above the stove while the ceiling fan is on could be extremely hazardous. Wonder who would win that battle…
And, this is where we began. Things are by no means complete, but we’re working slowly towards completing one room at a time. Our renovation is going to be a feature of sorts. I had toyed with the idea of creating a renovation type blog, but I just don’t know that I’d ever keep it up-to-date (Because I’ve been so dedicated to doing that here and all).
So it begins… welcome along on our adventure of pretending we know what we’re doing. Buckle up, it’s going to be a bumpy ride, because dude? I already wish I had enough money to hire Jeff Lewis and all his psycho babble.
Oh, and please feel free to laugh at my misfortune. I have. Though it was kind of manic, but whatever.
Angie [A Whole Lot of Nothing] says:
That wallpaper looks eerily similar to what I had on my own bedroom wall.
And the fan installation? That’s a “There I Fixed It” entry!
samantha Reply:
November 4th, 2009 at 8:48 am
HAHA “There, I Fixed It”! I think there may be a few of those lurking around this house. Seriously. It’s spooky how warped this house is.
November 3rd, 2009 at 11:51 pm
Karen Sugarpants says:
Ha. The clock is more like four forty-teh. Not quite two. I think that’s an audio joke but pretend I’m saying to y’all.
Also I’m thrilled you’ll share renos – I LOVE when bloggers do this although it takes a lot longer than an HGTV show.
Good luck and you know I’m on standby/backup once I’m not swine fluent over here.
samantha Reply:
November 4th, 2009 at 8:54 am
LOL at four forty-teh. Uz funneh.
Takes longer than an HGTV show? DUDE, this is going to take AGES. Now, if I win that 50 million lotto on Friday I may hire Jeff Lewis to come to my house – as long as he brings Zoila, and a Roomba.
November 4th, 2009 at 12:24 am
Pepper says:
I can’t wait to see what you do with it!! I’m sure it will turn out great. I’m sure it’s exciting to think about all the things you can do to it to make it your kitchen.
I also have to say I want that spice rack for my crafting supplies. LOL It’s Awesome!! LOL
samantha Reply:
November 4th, 2009 at 8:55 am
If I had known that I would have kept it. Dang it! (It was seriously the first thing to go. LOL)
November 4th, 2009 at 12:40 am
Redneck Mommy says:
LOL. That house better have good bones otherwise you are SCREWED.
I won’t lie Sam. It’s UGLY.
But I’m dying to see how you fixed the ugly and made it beautiful.
I’m also curious to know what type of people lived there before you…
Snicker.
samantha Reply:
November 4th, 2009 at 8:57 am
OMG Tanis. It’s HIDEOUS. You haven’t even seen the scariest part yet. I swear, it’s really fucked. LOL
I never met the lady that was here but when we first saw the house I was certain it was kids selling their ancient dead mother’s house. Then I found out she was actually a 40 year old divorcee. I nearly fuckin’ died.
November 4th, 2009 at 12:43 am
Lynn from For Love or Funny says:
I gotta admit…I laughed at the stove and spice rack pictures. So awesome!
samantha Reply:
November 4th, 2009 at 8:57 am
Laugh away! I know I have (and shed a few tears as well.) LOL
November 4th, 2009 at 6:30 am
VDog says:
SNORT
November 4th, 2009 at 10:14 am
Laural says:
How can you complain about the spice rack? It’s totally vintage
November 4th, 2009 at 10:14 am
MommyGeekology says:
My grandmother’s house has that exact same wallpaper too!
November 4th, 2009 at 4:53 pm
Issa says:
My grandma’s kitchen had that wallpaper my entire childhood.
November 4th, 2009 at 5:25 pm
samantha says:
LOL at Issa and MommyGeekology!! She was only in her 40’s! Seriously made me wonder if there was an old person before her and she just never changed anything.
Seriously, there’s MORE.
November 4th, 2009 at 8:23 pm
domestic extraordinaire says:
I can so top that wallpaper, I will have to photograph my bathroom to show you the black wallpaper with paisley in purple and pink and the roses all over it. And guess what….they left me extra in case I ever needed it!
November 4th, 2009 at 8:34 pm
Shania says:
Wow. Am speechless (and that’s a rare occurrence). I SO wish I had pics of the black paneling that covered my walls when we moved in. It was frightful. I can’t wait for more pics. I love renos!
November 5th, 2009 at 7:54 am
Shawna says:
LOVE IT!!!! Renovations are awesome, fun, interesting… so long as it isn’t your renovation LOL I will enjoy the show and keep our own CONSTANT renovations to myself
November 6th, 2009 at 12:38 pm
Shawna says:
and that was YOUR renovations as YOU THE GENERAL PERSON, not you Sam
November 6th, 2009 at 12:39 pm
Mojo says:
Oh I can SO relate to ugly wallpaper. My first condo was in a converted apartment building. The builders apparently had struck a deal with some contractor or other to buy up the end rolls (or is it roll ends?) of discontinued (for a damn good reason!) patterns. Spent three weekends chiseling the big honkin’ red roosters off my dining room walls. And yes, I said “chisel”. Because no stripper known to modern science (c. 1990) would take that shit off! I eventually wound up using stucco texture paint to conceal the divots I took out. Srsly? My dining room looked like the Berlin Wall when I was done. Thankfully none of the other rooms were quite that bad.
But I’m feelin’ your pain… (and thinking “better you than me!”)
November 6th, 2009 at 3:57 pm
Unplanned Cooking says:
I can’t wait to see your after pictures!
November 9th, 2009 at 11:18 am
Devilish Southern Belle says:
I feel like you and I are living the same life in a parallel universe or something….I have your stove! Only mine is dirtier and the oven has quit working (along with the clock), and one of the electric eyes has fallen through.
I have a ceiling fan, though not in the kitchen…it’s right in our living room….dark brown fake wood with rattan inserts and brass trim. The best part? My no-style-havin’ husband will NOT let me replace it with anything better looking.
November 12th, 2009 at 12:45 am