Little House on the Property- #137

Our new little house has really great potential! Firstly, it is private, spacious, comfortable and at the back of the property with a great view of the lake when sitting on our porch. We love, love, love that porch!!  That is our go to spot every morning to have our coffee and our relaxing spot throughout the day. I’m sitting there right now. There is a delightful breeze despite the 95degree temperature and I enjoy listening to the beautiful wind chime hanging on our porch which the previous owners left behind. I love it! The property has lots of very tall trees creating a canopy, helping to keep the house and yard cooler. The gardens, coy pond, bridge are all something special!  

Even though our new space is much bigger in square footage, we are faced with putting the pieces of our previously well-coordinated home into rooms that are laid out very different. It’s much like mixed up puzzle pieces- it just doesn’t quite fit the same.  I mentioned to Brooke today - which is how I got on this train of thought - I feel like I’m “repurposing” our furnishings.  The space dictates what is needed and what will fit.  All our furniture, appliances, pictures, etc… were all purchased for our apartment in Stoughton. I put a lot of thought into outfitting that space - from the paint on the walls, window blinds, floors, decor, and color scheme.

The little house itself has probably undergone many renovations over the last 30 years but it doesn’t appear anyone has used it to actually live in. In old pictures we have seen of the interior - exercise equipment, desks, couches, and a bed in a very weird location (probably just for overnight guests) occupied the two main spaces. 

Here is a tour of our new home:

Welcome Y'all!

Space one is a very large living area with an awful color ceramic tile floor (blue-green-grey).

At one end of this large room are a set of French Doors that lead to the "L shaped patio; to the left of the doors is a pretty round top window, which ties in with windows from the main house. I have repurposed a glass table Charlie made and I previously had under our living room TV - it is now my desk sitting under this window. It fit perfectly!

On the opposite end of the room is where our kitchen will one day be. Right now, it is just a tiny wet bar sink, very dark tile counter area with a cabinet above and below and a big stainless steel refrigerator. Since the frig is my only appliance, I purchased an electric fry pan, and microwave for cooking. I may get a toaster oven or bring back the one I’m using in Mississippi. Right now, I’m using the small counter area as my coffee bar. I have room for a toaster and just enough space to cook with my electric fry pan when being used. A bookcase from Stoughton is also being used as open kitchen shelving to store dishes, cups, glasses, spices, cookware.  Luckily, it just fits on a wall adjacent to the refrigerator. I’m also using my stainless steel cart and shelving cart  to store further kitchen items.  Unfortunately, both of these units were damaged in transit but they’re still useful; they’ll have to do for now. 

My retro kitchen set survived the trip, as did our couch. My little red recliner was broken and although we can still use it - it only reclines; no one can sit up straight in it any longer. 

Our full bathroom is off to the left of the wet bar area. It’s a decent size (though no comparison to our other bathroom). The corner rounded shower reminds me of the transporter from Star Trek; we used it for the first time today and it works well, though I have an intense urge to yell out “Beam me up, Scotty”. The vanity is small; there is no linen closet, so I repurposed a storage shelf to keep our towels and bathroom essentials. The bathroom will eventually need an overhaul but it’s clean and it works. 

Off to the side of the bathroom and a most interesting feature you'd think would have excited me more knowing the industry I worked in for 40 years - is a garage door.  Perhaps at some point this was an area used for a golf cart or lawn mower- but it is now just a hollow, metal, raised panel garage door WALL. It does not open - despite all the tracks, springs and hardware are intact.  There are no windows on this side of the house and it makes this area very dark. So this has become one of my priority projects; we will be replacing this garage door with a French Door. Not only will it bring wonderful light into the room, but we’ll have a great view of the garden. Renovation will begin next week! 

The second large space we enter through the big French Doors off the living space. It had a work shop on one end; this is where we will create Charlie's "Ham Shack" and office.  We will be putting up a sound proof wall with door to access the new designated area; the other side of the wall will be our bedroom. This is also part of priority project #1 and will be done along with the French Door next week. There actually is no official bedroom at this time but we are making the best of it. There is also a 15' long narrow area off the "bedroom" which we are using as a closet and eventually will have built ins and such and a door. 

There are many storage closets - one so big I plan to create another little room with cabinetry. 

So that's the grand tour! We actually have usable attic space with a finished floor but I doubt it will be something we will use. Needless to say, we have a lot of work ahead of us; I have no idea when it will be completed since we are off to Mississippi in about 8 weeks. But we're getting started!  Oh, one other thing since it's something I am asked a lot. Yes! We have wonderful A/C in the house. The house is well insulated and the brick is an extra bonus which keeps the coolness in; it's very quiet too.  I actually keep the thermostat between 76-78 and you'd be shocked at how comfortable it is! (any lower and we're cold)

Have a great day!