There are, however, things the former owners did to this home that make me shake my head. They had the home built and lived here for less than a year before it went into pre-foreclosure.
We were able to buy the home for a decent price. It is rather large, with 18 foot ceilings in the living room and I love the layout and it has two separate staircases, which I love!
That being said, what were they thinking when it came to decorating?
For example...
Number One...
The first thing I did when we moved in was to slap white paint on the ugly brown brick of this mantel. It is very large at 7' wide and 6' tall. It cannot be ignored! To add insult to injury it had a builder's oak (orange) dentil molding mantel that clashed with the brick as well as the English style of the home. I went to home Depot and bought a lenth of egg and dart moulding and nailed it up and painted it too. See my beloved andirons? They won't fit in the firebox. *sniffle*
Here is an example of my dream mantel...
It could be made of wood and painted to look like limestone!
Number Two...
The true orange-ness of the builder's oak does not show in this photo of the loft railing. I am at a loss as to how to remedy it. Perhaps paint? Long, narrow tapestries? Remove the rail and add a wall and arches?
Number Three
Again, the color doesn't show up very well. Orange builder's oak trim...abolutely everywhere!
Number Four
Quasi-wood flooring, more orange than it looks here. I have a million oriental rugs so this won't be too bad until we can lay dark plank flooring.
Number Five
Off center front door. It is fiberglass and was the color of the oak inside the house. I want to replace it with a narrow double door. Get rid of the silly sidelight and the goofy transom on top. I would love to replace the transom with a Victorian arched spider web transom!
Number Six
The loft area view from inside the front door. Orange and asymmetrical. The lights are all being replaced soon, by the way.
Number Seven
Inside the asymmetrical entry. Please note the cheap nickel door knob. What were they thinking?
Number Eight
Orange closet doors to the coat closet. I removed the nickel pulls and replaced them with lion doorknockers. I think I want to paint all the doors gray. (Pardon my Uggs!)
Number Nine
Orange door. One of many. Nickel hardware again. I have many bronze doorknobs to replace these with. You will LOVE them! Cherubs, gryphons, angels...
Number Ten
Shiny black 12" tile in all the bathrooms. ?????
I call it the Tile of Death because it is so darn slippery. It has GOT to go!
Bonus!
This is the opening between the formal living room and the family room. It lies under the loft with the orange railing. This view is from the family room. Please note the window type openings on either side of the center entrance. It looks like the McDonald's drive-thru. You pay at the first window and drive up to get your food!
I was told they paid extra for this!
Drywall guy is coming in the Spring. Bye-bye goofy opening! Hello wall full of paintings!
What about you? What do you hate about your house?
Maybe we can help each other overcome these obstacles together?
Any advice or experience?
Hi Most Divine One! You do have a lovely home but I know what you mean1 There's always things we would love to change. You have great taste and vision and I know you'll get your home looking the way you want! The one thing I crave and can't change is more light! I love my olden house but it's just dark inside. Especially in the den where we spend the majority of our time. So I turn on lots of lights! :)
ReplyDeleteBe a sweetie,
Shelia ;)
Your home is beautiful! Like you, I am so thankful for my home, but there are a number of things I'd like to spruce up. Sheila and I have the same issue...I'd love more light! The center of my home tends to get dark...so I'd add more lighting!!!
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Cindy
I hated so many things about my house that we ended up pretty much rebuilding it! Now I love it. Paint will go a long way to solving your problems so you're lucky! I think your house will be amazing once you're done - you have such great ideas and style! Onward and Upward! x
ReplyDeleteJust painting all the orange for now will make a big difference,I love that my house is on the River, but I lave that it is on the river also. Every year there is danger of a flood, nerves on edge and the river puts lots of wear on the old place. But other than that the river is sure beautiful to set and watch it roll on down. Thanks for sharing. Richard at My old Vintage House
ReplyDeleteWe've all inherited house issues....slowly it gets turned into what makes us comfortable. Hang in there...you've got good basics to start with.
ReplyDeleteadvice? yes, patience.
ReplyDeleteah, yes. the in-between phase of the house. not unlike the hairdo or growth of a teenager. one has to go through the 'uh, crap, my hair looks horid!' phase as well as the ungainly, getting tall and lean growth spurts that don't seem to match the rest of the bod, until one day, voila! there standing before you is a runway model of such perfect proportions that you'd have thought ms. venus herself was standing before you. one day you will have that house whipped into shape, like when your 'do' finally reaches that perfect length and you are once again "happy" (whatever that means) with your appearance staring back at you in one of your wonderful mirrors in your finally perfect house. then ... it's time to move to the next place.
I agree that paint will solve most of the "orange" issues. Could you restain the floors a darker hue? I think there's always something to work around kwim? In my house it's wall to freakin' wall carpet in every single space humanly possible! Must haver been a sale on at the carpet warehouse or something *sighs* So my (expensive dream) is to remove it all and put in hardwood floors. I'm seriously looking at craigslist for old barns for sale so I could grab the wood....An old roller rink or bowling alley would do too. Desperation...it's not pretty. Vanna
ReplyDeleteOnly ten things Andie? OK, we now know the former owners knew they were in over their heads when building that house...builders orange junk! Everything that went in last is cheap builders grade, that says we ran out of money. Although that fireplace just says "bad taste" since that went in earlier. Sorry to say there isn't anything I hate about my home...wait, I wish my kitchen were bigger but that's it. Sounds like you have a fix for most everything, the stairails, have iron ones made. Don't do all of them at once since it can be expensive. In all honesty everything you've mentioned is actually easily fixed. Just think of how much you're going to love your home once done!
ReplyDeleteyour house is great! even when we build one to our own taste there's always things that you would love to change after a year or so! and i know what i'm talking about!
ReplyDeletemost of the things you want to change are pretty easy and low cost to do! so go girl! and change what you hate! if you hate it you will hate it more and more as time goes buy!
staircase: i like to hang paintings on them! i know it's not commonly done, but, hei! i'm crasy ok! nevertheless the result is amazing! i also like to hang things from the ceiling! specially on corners! stairs fairy lights, balls!! you name it!!
front door. why don't you just change it's colour?!
i really find all those kind of windows in the living room ugly, but i just love open space houses and that's something i love about mine! i would love to have more full wall windows like a glass house and living here that would be hard to do, so ... we're just rying to sell and move!
love the details you've added!
:)
Happy week Andie!
,
Rosa
I know how you feel, and when you're there all the time, those little things seem to escalate. You look off to a good start!!
ReplyDeleteI think paint will solve many of the issues! Yes we get other peoples "this would be great" ideas when buying a home and it sometimes can be challenging to remedy especially when money is a factor. I would love to come up with an awesome and cheap solution for my front entry- just a stoop -
ReplyDeletebee blessed
mary
PAINT, Paint and more Paint, you have a great home and I would just paint what I don't like..Now I have a alot of issues with my house electrical being one of them..as my house started it's life as a one room cabin ha ha!! many add on throught the years..from 350 ft to 4000 ft now...Hope your having a GREAT day my friend..and I'm with you just feel blessed to have any home when so many are homeless now in our country..Hugs and smiles Gloria
ReplyDeleteDespite all those obstacles your home is gorgeous!! I love your decorating style too. Hmmm..my advice is to DO WHAT YOU WANT! Lol! Okay there is one thing I really dno't like..the black tiles. I never ever liked black tiles on anything. Probably because they're so dark and depressing. Those must go. Lol!
ReplyDeleteTiles of Death... loving your description of it... though tiling looks lovely I've heard too many unfortunate stories regarding floor tiling and we're getting too old to take a tumble ... broken hips on older folks usually = ending up in ME's Office! So we just put lots of Persian rugs all over the cement flooring of this ole' house. Our Diningroom actually has an old flagstone floor, hard to mop but purdy. *LOL*
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you're creating some Family History to pass down to your child. I understand about limited Family History since my Dad's Father was a 'Foundling'... mixed race baby actually left on the doorstep of a Farm... so even our Family surname is probably not what it should have been, he probably took on the name of the Family that took him in, we really don't know... and most Native American Families didn't have documented Family Histories anyway and some Families were split up so a lot of our "History" is word of mouth and some speculation on Dad's side. Kinda neat really as you can invent whatever History you'd like *winks* and we're known to be good story tellers!!! *LOL* Glad you liked my Monkey...
Dawn... The Bohemian
PS: Andie... I know you said there were some things you didn't like about your House... but the theme song playing is "Burning Down The House" *winks* and that had me LMAO!
ReplyDeleteDawn... The Bohemian
We have water in our basement.
ReplyDeleteaww -it's not what you want but it's not that bad! Remedy - lots of white paint. I would leave the floors alone, especially if they're covered with rugs -but paint the doors either gray or black (shiny!) and all of the mouldings a glossy white. For the guardrails - paint the spindels and posts glossy white and either stain the railing darker or paint a glossy black ( or whatever door color you use).
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to see the new mantel!
I see you've gotten some good ideas already, Andie. First off, you aren't adding a mantel, it's more like a dance floor-ha! Anyway, I like the iron railing vs. the oak, if you paint, I'd paint a color the same or very close to the wall color so they fade away. I liked the above idea about hanging pictures right on them. For your front door (that is weird), I'd add a pretty planter on the outside so you look at that instead of the side window. You cracked me up with your McDonald's comparison. Open or closed is pretty, I can see how you'd like the extra art space, however. I can't wait to see all of the changes you make. :)
ReplyDeleteHey Andie...I'm not sure what's worse. Orange wood or painted wood that needs painted again. When we bought our house I went through and pretty much painted everything. That was years ago and now I need to paint EVERYTHING again. The only problem is that I am ALOT older than I was then and I'm not sure I can summon up the energy! But it will have to be done one way or the other. Hang in there. Good things happen to those who are patient!
ReplyDeleteHave a great rest of the week. ~Ann
Hi Andie~
ReplyDeleteFinally had time to read and visit tonight. Your home is really lovely! I think we all probably have lists of things to change. My list still has several page.... ugh.
I read through the other comments, and I think ArchitectDesign had some really great ideas. I would paint all the orange white as well, but maybe just semi-gloss. I also agree with him to either stain the tops of the rails dark wood or paint them black. With all your architectural pieces, I could see an iron railing at some point, but in the interim, painting them will take the orange away!
Your McDonald's comment was hysterical! It's nice to have that open floor plan, would you ever consider replacing the partial window/walls with some architecturally interesting columns?
I am anxious to see it all transform. It'll be great. You've got good house bones to work with AND you've got great style.
I realize your predicament, my home has some of the same features as yours. The opening's between rooms, fireplace brick that extends 22 feet up to the ceiling, the loft with wood spindles that I am in the process of replacing with iron. I attended a cabinet refinishing class at Surfaces in Kansas City that taught how to restain light oak to a darker finish and also redo existing tile with faux effects products, a thought if you didn't like painted surfaces. Your new mantle is going to be beautiful! Wishing you luck!
ReplyDeleteI have an uglier fireplace than you do!!! And my dear hubby does not want it painted, what to do!?!?! I am searching for answers, it is just an ugly red brick hole. I also don't appreciate the wood trim in my little house, again my hubby says "NO PAINT", oh dear!?!?!
ReplyDeleteYour house is going to be gorgeous when you are done, I can see what you are envisioning. Your style is much like Jermaine's at French Kissed, I think.
Have a sweet day!
CIndy
Why do builders insist on using materials that are so sterile and unimaginitive?! You'll have it all beautified into shape soon...your ideas are wonderful, just takes a little time. When I saw your upstairs railings I instantly thought of all the iron railings that have been popping up here and there, painting them a dark charcoa/black might be interesting.
ReplyDeleteWe spent the last several years designing our home and I'd have to say I 'almost' wouldn't change a thing...lessons are always learned after the fact sometimes.
Can't wait to see the mantel...
xo J~
I'm anti-oak too. A gallon of paint goes a long way toward fixing it!
ReplyDelete