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The Kitchen Table

Before & after photos of my old house (several pics)

16 years ago

Thanksgiving 2007, I'm mighty grateful to have a home of my own. After my divorce in May 2002, I lived in 10 different places in five years, sometimes staying with friends or family. During that time, I was traveling around the country and writing and lecturing about architectural history and Sears Homes and I didn't even have a home to call my own!

So, this Thanksgiving, I'm really, really grateful to have a place that I can call home. Here are some fun photos, taken since we moved into the house in March 2007.

First, the exterior:

Before we did any yard work:

And after:

Side yard, before:

And after:

And the inside:

Previous owner threw out all the solid brass/glass door knobs and replaced them with this cheap Lowe's junk. Note, the eschutcheon is missing two screws!

Went to a salvage yard and got new pieces and parts, but they were covered in paint:

When I was done getting the paint off, here's what they looked like:

Lastly, the door fastener in our French doors.

Before:

And after:

And the thermostat, before (it's one of the them historically inappropriate DIGITAL dealies)!

After (thank-you eBay!)

And a shot from further away:

And I don't have any before pictures of the living room, but here's an after:

Happy thanksgiving! :)

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Comments (19)

alisande
16 years ago
Rosemary, that is so impressive! A really beautiful house, and you've done a fabulous job right down to the details.

What color paint did you use in your hallway? It looks a lot like Glidden's Stucco, which I just used to paint a small room in my house. Of course, it's hard to tell from a picture.

Lovely job!

Susan
ronm80
16 years ago
Your home is beautiful. I love the picture over your fire place.
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The paint color on the lower half of the wall is just a very light lavender. The upper half is more purple. I actually mixed the lavender myself, by adding a little of the purple paint to some white paint. The fake tile (sheet vinyl) floor came from Linoleum City in Los Angeles. I looked and looked and looked for that vinyl and Linoleum City is the only place that sells it. I called a salesman there and asked about it. He said they had a unique contract with Tarkett (I think) to produce this product and he didn't think it was sold anywhere else in the country. Their number one client is Hollywood. Set-building people buy it by the roll to use on the sets. The sheet vinyl creates the look of early 20 Century hex tile floor in a jiffy. :) The light fixtures and medicine chest are reproductions. The light fixtures came from Rejunvenation Hardware and the medicine chest came from Van Dykes Restoration hardware. All these years of writing about old houses and I finally got to use some of the resources I've been writing about. Thanks for all the nice comments. Rose Here is a link that might be useful: linoleum city link
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nodakgal
16 years ago
I love your home! Its so beautiful. Post more pics please when you get a chance!
ronf_gw
16 years ago
Oh wow, how beautiful.
I can only imagine all the time and effort you put in.
I love the thermostat!
Ron
caroline1947
16 years ago
So pretty!!!!
rosemaryt
Original Author
16 years ago
The picture over the fireplace is a tapestry done by my mother many years ago (perhaps in the 1970s). It's a picture of my childhood home, where I spent the first 18 years of my life.

Hubby and I were out house-hunting in February 2007 and when I saw this house (pictured above), I had an emotional reaction and grabbed the new hubby by the lapels and told him, "I HAVE to have this house!" I think that my extreme emotional response was occasioned by the fact that this house is a perfect replica of the house I was raised in, even down to those brass door knobs.

:)
Linda Wayman
16 years ago
Rosemary, that is beautiful. I'm so happy for you that you have such a nice home to call your own.

Linda
sjarz
16 years ago
Very nice - you have a real knack for bringing stuff back to it's original glory.
And who says you can't go home again...
Suzan J
rosemaryt
Original Author
16 years ago
Here's the $10 yard sale mirror I bought a couple months ago. I'm sure it's from the 1920s or before.

And a view of the hallway:
gwanny2three
16 years ago
A beautiful home! I love it.....and I love your Sears homes you post here. What fun!
brenda_in_tx
16 years ago
Wow, wow, wow!!!!! You have got a gorgeous, warm, lovely home. Good for you!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!
okwriter
16 years ago
What a beautiful labor of love!
zofie
16 years ago
Rosemary, what a beautiful home. It looks so warm & inviting, inside & out. Luv that old mirror!
bestlawn
16 years ago
Oh gosh, your floors are gorjuss. What a beautiful job you've done on the house and such a knack you have for it. If I had my druthers, I'd never cover the natural woodwork, but yours looks very nice. The thermostat and the mirror are such the perfect touches. My mom had covers made of brass and mahogany. I'm thinking she could have just painted them like you did. Ours was a box colonial like yours, built in the late 1900s. My sister bought it from mom to keep it in the family.
cherylinaus
16 years ago
I love your house. You have done such a good job.
mcmann
16 years ago
Rosemary your home is just lovely. Even before you spruced up the yard you could see the house has great proportions. I can just hear my husband saying now "Good Bones" which is the highest compliment he would give a house.

I hope you have many happy years there.
kathi_mdgd
16 years ago
Love your house and what you have done with it.Love that mirror by the door.However i have a love/hate relationship with those radiators.Ifell on one when i was 3 years old and got stuck to it,til my mom pulled me off.I have 2 big scars on my left arm from that fall.
Keep up the good work.
Kathi
glenda_al
16 years ago
Mighty pretty pictures!
clubm
16 years ago
Very,very nice.

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