My Bungalow Days

When we bought our bungalow in 1989, it was quite different than it is today.  Built in 1920 it had only had 2 owners before us.  The elderly couple we bought it from had lived there about twenty years and I would guess had made some initial décor changes but clearly nothing had been done for a while.  Every wall was covered in wallpaper, the floors were covered in dark shag carpeting or (dingy vinyl tile) and most of the windows had heavy curtains blocking the sunshine.   To say our house was a diamond in the rough would be the understatement of the year.

We knew we wanted an older home with charm and character and its own stories to tell.  We weren’t interested in a cookie-cutter tract home, although there are times when we’d rather not have all the problems associated with a home that’s nearly 100 years old.  Here’s what we initially fell in love with.

The first thing we did was paint every wall surface white.  It was meant to be a short-term solution just to brighten the house up a bit and be a little more cheery.  We ordered mini-blinds from 3-Day Blinds to cover the majority of the 33 windows and 2 of the 4 doors.  Yes, 33 windows.  We pulled up the carpeting to expose the original hardwood floors that sadly hadn’t been very well taken care of.  Every surface of the house needed a lot of attention and we knew we had a gigantic chore ahead of us, but we took it one day at a time.

While both working full-time, we spent our evenings and weekends doing what needed to be done to make it a home.  We knew the initial decorative updates would be temporary but we needed to at least have a clean palette to start.

After two paint jobs, here’s what the house looks like today.

And yes, the water color “banner” on my blog really is my house.  It was painted for me by a friend’s mother many years ago.  The framed painting hangs proudly in our kitchen.

My plan is to post a blog about each room and show you before and after photos.  On occasion we had help, but for the most part we did all the work ourselves.

Stay tuned for the next Around the Bungalow update… The Dining and Living Rooms.  I hope you’ll stop by.

Tags: 1920, Bungalow