Nope. I have not fallen off the edge of the abyss, but it feels like forever since I sat down to blog. I have been waiting to finish my surprise reveal, but today I noted that it might be a very long time before this thing is finished, so I'm going for it. As it is, this post looks to be one of the longest things I've ever written, so feel free to break it up with some snacks, or hot coffee, or TV binge-watching! I'm totally sure you will!
I'll start with the before pictures. They are sad and sorry... To be honest, they are embarrassing... but the after looks better and better when juxtaposed with these dreary shots. And we're after the wow! factor, aren't we? I just had an emotional breakdown with the whole Southern end of this house. First, I don't like living alone. At all. I'm not afraid. I just miss someone to listen for... I have to face it. I'm pretty much on my own for the rest of my life.
However, that end of the house that belonged to my childhood, to my mother, and then to my son... It was just too much for this old girl. I couldn't even force myself to roll through the hallway to go to my beloved craft room/studio to make things. The bathroom was despicable. Absolutely horrid. There were pink and grey plastic tiles, and it just had these wretched floors... Everything in it was so bad, and my son and I had long talks about our dreams and plans for a better solution. Ok. Enough chatter. Time for photos!Also, the bedroom was dark, very depressing, and just plain off limits to me. I just hated everything about it.
My $2 chairs from the thrift shop! Not too shabby for the price.
A former student painted this for me when he graduated. I love the way all the doors come together here... Choose your own adventure (hint: I wouldn't choose the closet on the right. It is full of Halloween decorations... to the rim.)
My magic-working painter/carpenter listened to my vision, which was really the inspiration from earlier plans my son had told me. We started with an inspiration of color/style in this photo,
Inspiration Photo from Pinterest
He tore out two walls but left the support columns so we could rest easy that nothing would fall on our heads. And he began to morph the dreadful hallway into a new territory of the heart.
Every single day, Miss Callie was locked in the laundry room (with comfy cushions, food, litter, water, treats and toys, of course)... and every night she mosied into the new area and began vocally cataloging all the changes she noted. It was just the funniest few minutes while she chatted with her ancestors about all the changes. The night the walls came down and the hallway was gone, she made odd little chirping sounds for ten minutes... The transformation was overcoming her with something primal or maybe pure confusion. I kid you not.
So.... little by little, the room has slowly filled with furniture I pirated from a lower level I can't really access any more. I just decided to enjoy all the furniture and create something down there in the future. One of my grandmother's favorite sayings was, "Every tub sits on its own bottom." I think that applies when a person is robbing Peter to save Paul and commandeering furniture and wall pictures for a new room. There is a delicious empty quality to the room, but I am probably not the empty, bare type... I certainly have been the slow type because all this started in late January/early February. I have had help from friends, my cousins, my sweet neighbors, and a new woman and her family I have been hiring to help me clean up this mess! We also have moved up other furniture and hung pictures all over the house...
The final picture:
YOU ARE MY SUNSHINE... It was our theme song when he was little. My son always queried... "Mama? Aren't skies blue, not gray?" They were then, but they are pretty gray now, dear. My sunshine was certainly taken away.
These floors are quite ruined and distressed in a primitive way, but I opted to keep them and seal them for now. My father salvaged this flooring from a school building in Moberly in 1956. To this statement, my dear Mother would retort: "You think they don't look it?" Oh, Mama...
My wonderful neighbor is hanging my Pioneer Woman curtains. I think Ree Drummond had this room in mind!
My daddy made this sweet corner cabinet in the 50's. It fits absolutely perfectly in this corner.
My grandmother's picture on the left of the Narnia cupboard; my grandfather's saucy young man portrait on the right. Gramma also made the lovely flower garden quilt for me while I was in my twenties. It has never been in the light of day too much... saving it for something?!
This was the picture used for the painting above. My dear friend commissioned it from an artist who is a friend and former student. I think she really captured Gerred's spunk.
Here you can see the column I left for support. Doorways lead to the kitchen on the right and the living room on the left. It sort of feels as if the house had always wanted this... I hope that's true.
I hope you have had a good Spring. Thanks for looking with me at my changed environment. I'm planning a few parties and get-togethers. We opened on Easter with a family lunch and really had a fun party here last night for my cousin's daughter... I've had some dear friends here and look forward to more.
Whimsy and Hugs!
A view of this house before sheer determination kicked in... and a Father's Day in the late 60s... 
