A Completed Space
It took a lot of white paint and more than a little tweaking, but, after 8 weeks of living here, I have my first completed space. This test room and once tiny dark front living room has been my laboratory the past month or so. My hypothesis was mostly correct, and, in the end, I have the beginnings of my next transformation.
When I bought this 30 year old dark and traditionally styled home, I knew that it had room for another family's story to be told. Over the years, it has held many different families and their lives. The walls alone reveal so much with their layers of many different hues. I don't know where all of these families are today or what path their lives have taken, but I do know a little about each of them. I know that someone loved to garden and enjoyed meandering paths. I also know that not one previous owner was fond of perennials. There is not a trace of even one having ever existed. I know that someone had to paint twice to get the perfect shade of pink for their daughter's small front bedroom in 2006. At some point, all of the gold accessories, 1980's lighting and cabinetry were exchanged for traditional early 2000's big box store finds. Most of the colors and changes in the house in 2018 have been here since 2009; this means the most recent owners before us left nothing of themselves other than the white hair off of their dog. According to the mailman, they were a young couple that did not make it. In a strange way, it's as if they never were, at least from the records found in the yellow house on Upper Midhill.
I don't want to be a story not told. I love the idea of being part of the history of something, even if it is only a single structure on a hill filled with thousands of others. What will be my story? Perhaps at some later date, someone will think that this was a family that had an aversion to color, except in the garden where their meandering paths were dotted with colorful perennials. They had at least one introvert in the family. Because, everyone knows that true gray walls are a safe place in which to find respite from the world, whereas gray with brown undertones is indicative of a depressed soul. I hope that the mailman will be able to report that this family not only made it, but that they thrived as much as the little yellow house did during their tenure.
A Visual History of the Before and After of the Front Living Room:
The Past
The Present
A Quiet Space to Write
Simplicity and Comfort
More Present with a Glimpse Into the Past
A Must Have for the Coffee Table and My New Space