The kitchen. Periwinkle countertops. Periwinkle gridded wallpaper. Ces and Taffy would be proud. Q will probably kill me for posting a pic of his frozen hash brown accident, but it's a decent shot of the otherwise clean kitchen.
The dining room. More periwinkle: on the chairs and in the vinyl flooring (not shown, but it's there). I made the chintzy arched window treatment myself after getting shocked by a price quote for pleated shades.
The mural I painted in Kyle's baby room. Thanks to Barney, cartoon dinosaurs were very popular at the time.
Lucas' baby room. A Noah's Ark theme...complete with periwinkle carpet!!! I love this picture...even if the cloud jammies make me look fat. :-p
The back yard. Quinton estimates that he spent 60 hours putting in the sprinkler system for the grass. 
We loved that house. We especially loved the mortgage payments, which were less than many car payments, or even apartment rent. We could have stayed there forever. But shortly after Lucas was born, it became apparent that we were going to need more space than a 1300 square foot starter home had to offer. We sold the house in 1999.
Since then, I have had a sporadic, nagging curiousity as to what kind of decor changes the new owner might have done to "our" house. And last night, I got to find out.
I was wasting the evening nosing around RussLyon.com (a local real estate website). And for grins and giggles I decided to check out prices in the old neighborhood. That's where I found it. My old house is up for sale again! After a little more searching, I found pictures and a virtual tour!
It was so surreal seeing our old home remodeled and redecorated. Outside, the facade looks exactly the same. In fact, the whole neighborhood looks like it's stuck in a late '90s time warp. But in the back yard, the grass has been paved over, the oleanders were removed, and a spa has been added.
Inside, the only thing I recognized was the white-washed kitchen cabinetry. Also, the programmable thermostat my dad bought us was still there. But just about everything else has been changed...and for the better, I must admit. The chintzy chintz window treatments and aluminum mini blinds were replaced with faux stained glass. The glass and brass light fixtures have all been upgraded. There is nary a trace of anything periwinkle. And all the wallpaper has apparently been removed...a chore I do not envy.
It's nice to see that the lady who lived there after us treated the place well. In fact, she probably treated it better than we did. I don't think she had any kids puking strawberry waffle on the carpet. My hat is off to her for a redecorating job well done.
Anyway, I will be watching the real estate listing very closely. I'm curious to see how long the house stays on the market before it sells (we sold it in 12 days, during a market boom). I'm also very anxious to see what price it gets. The asking price is more than three times what we paid in 1992.
6 comments:
That's crazy. It looks really nice..except I'm not crazy about the brick wallpaper.
-Meredith
Actually, Meredith, I think that brick in the kitchen is a faux finish. But brick or no brick, the house still looks a lot better than the way I decorated it.
At the time, I fancied myself a rebel by choosing that blue carpet. It was my way of breaking out of years of beige carpet opression brought on by our parents. At the time, Dad even questioned my decision.
Funny, because beige carpet is exactly what I have now. Yes, I learned my lesson. The blue carpet really did narrow down the rest of the color choices I could make for upholstery, paint, etc.
wow, it's big. when we got married we just lived in a 50 sq meter apartment though it had three floors.
i love the picture of you in the cloud pajamas!
Hey Val, my friend Melissa may be contacting you soon. She has been having medical problems for months now, and now believes she has Cushings. I hope you don't mind if she asks you a few questions!
You were 19 and a homeowner? It's more than most older people have. Looked like a neat house but you probably love the current one's pool.
Val, it's been fun catching up with your blog!
Post a Comment