Take a walk with me down my memory lane.

http://restyledhome.blogspot.com/2009/01/its-smallget-over-it-part-one.html

Linda's post over at Restyled Home got me thinking about a place we called home two houses ago. She posted about the difference between "need" and "want" when it comes to homes and square footage. In 2002 we bought a sweet cape cod style home that we fell in love with instantly when we saw it. It needed a complete update but the two bay windows, cute staircase and large lot made it worth it. I wish I had the before pictures to show you but my scanner isn't working. It had mud brown walls, orange shag carpet and the kitchen had been redone in a blue floral wallpaper disaster. But we were up for the challenge!

We redid the entire house from top to bottom and sold it as we wrapped up the last project. At that time we decided to have a third child and felt the home was too small. I don't know what we were thinking, the home could have worked just fine. Hindsight really is 20/20!


I have what is probably an unhealthy sore spot for this home. I really loved it and admittedly, it is even a sad thing for me to look at the pictures. Silly? Maybe but I loved every nook and cranny of this little house. Come with me and I'll show you around!


We'll start with the front. I loved the red front door. In the bottom right hand corner you can see the edge of the mailbox covered in black eyed susan vine. It was so full that year. I planted hydrangeas under the bay windows and they are now huge. We drive by once in a while and although the current owner isn't too good at weeding, they are thriving and full of blue blooms beneath the weeds.

When you walked in the front door, you could turn left to the living room. I miss the fireplace. That is something on our wish list for our current home.

I stenciled the stairs for fun. These steps were adorable but not the easiest to walk down with a laundry basket in your hands. I fell a time (or maybe two) on the curved part.

The other end of the living room, through that door is the family room which was an addition they put on in the 60's. It was neat because they didn't cover over the back of the fireplace so we had the bricks exposed.

Here is the family room when we were working on it. You can sort of see the ceiling. We wallpapered it in a pinkish toile. What a job that was! Our arms were so sore after doing that ceiling, it's difficult to work above your head!

This is what you would see when you walked in the room from the living room....

And here is the other side. This was used as the girls' playroom. Keep in mind these pictures were taken right before an Open House when it was on the market, it wasn't always this clean and organized! ;)

Here are a couple kitchen pictures. We painted the cabinets in here, took down the terrible wallpaper, replaced counter tops and flooring, hardware, etc. We had a lot of fun with it.

And of course the dining room off the kitchen. The kitchen was long and narrow so not a lot of room for a table. We ate in this room all the time. My love of transferware started in this house and the beginnings of my collection hung on the walls.

This is the same hutch you see in my house now. I had always meant to paint it but never got to it until our current house. You can see I had painted the table that went with the set. Well, I did a horrible job and used tablecloths to cover the chipping paint. I guess we all have to learn somehow right? Now I know to do a good sanding job first!

Lets go upstairs......

This was Hailey's room. We painted her room yellow and stamped pink flowers all over the room. It was sweet and girly. I loved the dormers in the upstairs rooms and the cute slanted closet.

And our bedroom. It was small but we had built in drawers and cabinets in the walls. Classic Cape Cod charm! You can see in the reflection of the mirror the exposed brick. This was the second floor area of the 60's addition. You had to step down into the bedroom and it had such a cozy, nestlike feeling to it.

And last but not least, the bathroom. It was super tiny! I could barely get a picture in this room because there was nowhere to back up. I was backed up against the toilet trying to get a sink picture here. We had taken down ugly tile and replaced it with beadboard 3/4 up the wall. I used a lot of white in here to help with the size.

So that was the place we called home from 2002 until 2005. It was a great house and I always tell my husband if I ever have the opportunity to buy it back, I will. I'm not sure what I would do with it, maybe force one of the kids to live there when they get older?