Joy, my sister, and I bought this house together. We plan on building 2 houses on the other side of the house (currently the back yard) and then demolishing this one - to the ground! Until then, we co-habitate. It's not what you think, we're not SHARING...it's a duplex. On 2.5 acres. WOO HOO! We Love it.
The door you see on the left is hers, and the one over to the right of the garage, that you can't see very well, is mine. At first we thought it would be convenient if we could get to each other through the house, so we busted a hole through a wall and built a doorway. Those were the days...
A few months ago, when we realized we were going to be in this situation for an undetermined amount of time, we closed the door, and blocked it off.
Peace ensued.
Somehow I got lucky, I'm in the big side. She is in the small side and I don't know how she does it! This post is just about MY side of scary house.
So, this is my house. When we bought it (RIGHT before prices fell away into nothingness - that's just the way we do it, we like to help people out) we knew we would have to live here, but we thought it would be just long enough to get a house built. In fact, technically, we didn't even buy a house. We just bought land. We procured a "bridge loan" covering just 1 year so that it could be converted to a construction loan asap. No home inspection, no warranty...that's just how we do it.
Check out the roof. Believe it or not, it doesn't leak. Yet. I took a picture with the garage door open because we only close it at night. It doesn't have an opener and it's too old to program a universal opener to so we just leave it open. Of course no one ever comes ALL THE WAY back here, to our property...so we feel pretty safe. You would have to be crazy to burglarize a home in a rural neighborhood like this. These people have WEAPONS, and TOOLS, and they are NOT afraid to use them...
You probably can't see it, but Greg is currently digging a big pit to sink our trampolines. We are doing 2 rectangle ones end to end and the kids are dying to get it done. The tractor belongs to our neighbors - and that is the kind of neighbors we have. They have lots and lots of toys and they are the most generous people in the world. It is Greg's dream come true! Just a man and his tractor. Seriously, we love this neighborhood.
There are so many pictures coming that I have to warn you. This post is mostly for me and my posterity. It is our chance to look back at the scary house with love. And even though we call it the scary house, it's not really "scary" it was just scary to think about living in it. That's how it got it's name. Like some things do, the name STUCK. LIKE. GLUE. Despite our efforts, and the fact that we may be living here for the next couple of years...it will always be the scary house. But now we say it with affection.
This is what we see just inside the front door (during Halloween.) In this picture it looks like a really nice hardwood floor. Wouldn't that be nice... It's laminate - and NOT the good kind that they make now. It's tearing back in some places and is stapled down into the plywood underneath it. So cool.
At the end of this hallway, it splits to the left into the kitchen and to the right to a hallway leading to bedrooms. It is a step down to go either direction. What we will ALL remember the most about this feature of the house is the number of times we would hear Dax's voice, the sound of 5 year-old feet running down the hallway, then SMACK. And 5 year-old crying. Like a recording. Every time. He trips on the step between the hallway and the kitchen, EVERY TIME. So sad.
This is the step and the rip that always gets Dax. Ah, poor little buddy!
Just to the right when you walk in the front door is the living room. Greg had to cut out the hole in the wall straight ahead because I was going crazy with the tightness of it. I like it much better now. We didn't paint any of these walls. The whole house is done in different shades of green. If I ever get to build a house, I think green will be banned. In every shade.
This is the living room from the other angle. It's too bad you can't get the full effect of the hanging light in the corner. It's awesome. Goes all the way up to the vaulted ceiling and hangs with a swoop. Totally vintage.
Just to the left of the entryway is my office. We try to share it, Greg and I, but he usually gets squeezed into the corner with his laptop. So sad.
Everyone is always surprised that we took the time to decorate any of the walls in this house. The fact of the matter is, everything has to go somewhere and it is much easier to put it on the wall than try to find a storage space for it. "The Creation" painting used to be in our bedroom. Hey, don't judge me.
Do you see my office through that little door? This picture is taken from the kitchen. Yep, stairs in the kitchen going down to the basement. Extra wide stairs that I love, if only they weren't in my kitchen.
This picture is blurry, but I had to include the coal-burning stove. It works, but we don't use it. To get perspective, that is my office door on the far far left - and the stairs. Straight ahead is a guest bathroom, and the door to the garage is just past the coal-burner. Looking straight ahead, you are facing Joy's side of the house. We got smart and blocked it off so that you have to access her side from her door. Too much togetherness.
Ah, my kitchen. Before the idea of greatrooms occured to anyone, they just made a big kitchen that you could plop your table in the middle of. It is so awkward. Anytime my children want to be around me, they have to sit at the table. No kicking back in front of the tv, or playing on the carpet...it's green linoleum for pete's sake. Shades of green, that is. Wood laminate countertop and fake brick wallpaper. NOT that there's anything wrong with it. Check out the hanging globe lights. Totally vintage.
I had to take a picture of the ceiling. Two of these flourescent lights, and 2 speakers that aren't hooked up to anything. I'm sure in the day they had some sweet surround sound.
The guest bathroom off the kitchen. No those aren't bricks.
This is the basement. Down the stairs in the kitchen. This basement is big and the kids love it. The back corner by the fireplace has a game table and the wall that's hidden (around the corner) has stacks and stacks of games on it. Also, the video games from the office are on the far left of the picture. The great thing about this basement is that the kids can disappear for awhile. (That is also the bad thing about it...)
On the wall that you can't see (on the far left) there is an entertainment center and 2 doors. One to Kylee's room and one to Kinsey's.
This is Kylee's room. Because that wall is solid concrete, we put sheet metal on it so Kylee could put stuff on it. Can't nail into it. It's SOLID.
That is a hammock seat hanging above her bed. Her idea, don't ask me!
Between Kylee's room and Kinsey's room there is a jack-and-jill bathroom. I'm pretty sure it's one of the first one's ever made! This is Kylee's vanity. Real bricks, painted red and white with green vines running up the side. Yep, vintage.
Directly opposite is her closet...
This is where it connects through Kinsey's room.
Kinsey's vanity and closet is just like Kylee's...minus the vine painting on the brick wall. Real bricks this time, painted white.
This is Kinsey's room. I don't know how I caught it clean. You usually can't see the floor. After she cleans it, 10 minutes and it looks like a hurricane hit it. Just a talent of hers.
Another view of Kinsey's room. All concrete walls. Impenetrable.
When we decided to move into this house, Kinsey begged to move into the bedroom under the stairs. Well, it is not a bedroom and it is not under the stairs - but since she wanted to...we put Saydie and Janee in the bedroom and moved Kinsey to this very special room. This rooms turns a sharp left at the end and has room for a bed. Here is the closet space...
Here is the bed, complete with ladder and slide.
Under her bed was some sort of cave. This is what we found on the walls...Graffiti!! I wish I could keep it.
When we moved Kinsey out, we turned this space into a toy closet. Much better!
That's the end of the basement.
Back upstairs.
Down the hallway to the right of the entryway is the kid's bathroom. I think they re-did this bathroom before they moved out of the house. Not EVEN scary.
Down the hall on the right hand side, sort of in the corner is a big bedroom that we put Dax and Saydie in. I took this picture when it was Dax and Jarem's (Joy's son) room. Now it is half boy and half princess. You'll have to picture that. It's pretty sweet.
Turn the corner and down the hallway to the right again is Addie's room. For some reason I didn't take a picture of the other half of the room with the dresser and armoir. Oh well. Those girl pictures above her bed are part of a set of 4 that I had hanging in my room when I was a little girl. My sister's and I would choose which one we were. I was always that snow girl on the left with the brown hair and the fluffy white headband. Every time I see those pictures I think of my sisters. I love it!
MY BEDROOM! Don't judge me...
All my favorite books, right by my head!
This bathroom is the best. That vanity has to be at least 30 years old. Jan, Joy, Sherry...check out MamaGinger's "dog" to the left of the picture. I know you want him!! It's a piece of petrified wood that my grandma (MamaGinger) loves, but when it comes right down to it, she wanted to kick him out of her house! But NOT GET RID OF IT! No. Way. So here he lives. Addie loves him and so do I.
A close up of the cultured marble coutertops. No this ain't your momma's marble (okay, yes it is. Swirls of blue and all.) Just in case you missed it, I'm going to point out the shell shaped sinks. Vintage.
My Bro-in-law was selling iron doors at a home show and afterward as everyone was packing up, someone was getting rid of a vanity. How could I pass it up? It doesn't fit, and it's a little WT (if you don't know, I won't tell you) but NEW VANITY. YES!!
Greg loves it when I give him things like this.
End of Tour!! I know how sad you must be! You bloggers, I don't know how you do it. I'm exhausted. Who knew that it would take so long to post about the scary house.
One thing I know, scary or not...these girls love it!!
