For my first story of the second decade of Retro Renovation: A love story. Amy bought her grandparents’ time capsule “city” house, a place full of happy memories. Now she is making the house her own — preserving all the basics and slowly mixing the old with the new.
Amy writes:
Hi there – Love your sites! I wanted to share a bit about the house I live in and see if it’s of interest to your readers (and get any of their tips for my continued decor experiments).
My grandparents built a modest brick house in 1959, where they lived for the next few decades. It was their move to the “city” (actually a small town north of Atlanta) from the farm about 15 miles away.
I bought the 3BR/2BA house from the family after my grandparents’ deaths in the early 2000s because I had always loved the style + had many fond memories there.
While my grandmother redecorated a bit every few decades, most of the house remained as it was from 1959. And when I bought it, I kept it mainly as it was, too — partly out of financial necessity at the time and partly out of love of things vintage.
I still have most of the original living room furniture from 1959 as well (they built things to last!)
First, pink bathroom! This is all the original tile, fixtures, shelves, toilet and sink in the bathroom off what was then my aunt’s bedroom. It’s now my guest bathroom (and guests always get a kick out of it!). Growing up, I loved the lavender curtains on the shower and windows and purple towels. When I moved in, I got rid of those, but decided the pink was unique and embraced it.
Next, the kitchen, which is one of my favorite rooms. No all-white open kitchen here — a kitchen to me needs COLOR. Original cabinets built by local builders, original Formica countertops, original vinyl floor, original fixtures — just about everything including the phone nook, which I now use as a charging station for devices. The stove is also original and everything still works including the little oven light to check on things without opening the oven door. My grandma made some excellent food there!
The old diner table and chairs are NOT original to the house — my grandparents had something similar but replaced with a small wooden table in the late 1960s. I found this whole set for $80 at a junk shop in 2001 or so, a few years before they became popular — and expensive!
The refrigerator also has a story. This was my grandparents’ fridge (a Westinghouse from 1941, I believe) that is even older than the house! They had this at their farm house, moved with it (I think) to this house, and then when my parents were married in 1969, they took it. After my parents established a household, they used the old fridge as a “second” fridge in the laundry room for extra milk, food, etc. When I bought this house, I got rid of the 1970s avocado green fridge (if only I knew they would come back in style!) and asked my parents for the 1941 fridge for the house. I only needed to buy them a budget new fridge for them to use as their “second.” It was a bargain! My new old fridge only needed a coat of appliance paint as it had gotten a little scratched up over the years. But it has been IN CONSTANT USE SINCE 1941!
Next, the dining room and living room, which is one long room (including an entry way). The sofa, 2 matching chairs, coffee table and end tables are original to the house. My grandmother had the sofa and chairs recovered about every 15-20 years. I wanted to return it to a retro feel but without it looking too staid or too trendy. The dark green polka dot fabric and the wavy stripes I thought hit the right balance (from Hable Construction fabric).
Side note: Over the sofa, I hung framed quilt pieces from my great-grandmother. Funny how something so old looks modern!
My dad carved the wooden bowl/sculpture on the coffee table. The console is original and still works great, with a big sound today’s devices can’t touch. The red oak floors in the living room once had gold carpet added on them in the late 1970s, but I tore that up and polished up the floors to their original beauty. The rest of the house has wood floors as well that have never been covered, and that are still waxed the old-fashioned way, with decades of “patina” on them that can never be replicated. They also make excellent run-and-slide fun when you’re in socks!
The curtains are from the past few years but in the same material and style as my grandmother always had, just different colors. I love green, while she had originally a pale beige and then a 1970s tannish color. The gas fireplace replaced the regular fireplace sometime in the 1980s — I still haven’t figured out what to do with it. I’d like to remove it and return to a wood-burning fireplace, but open to any of your readers’ thoughts.
In the dining room, I have grown to love the overhead light (when I first moved in, I just didn’t like it and longed for the “sputnik” lights) and the mural, which I was originally so-so on.
The mural was added sometime in the early 1970s. It used to be a blank wall and while my Dad was serving in Vietnam, my grandparents had a huge map of the country pinned to the wall where they would listen to the news and track locations mentioned and where my dad was.
I’ve included some other photos of the bedroom (nothing too vintage-y in there except light fixtures, floors, closets and cedar chest). It was originally painted pink with pink curtains and then wallpapered later with pink stripes/roses.
And the main bathroom next to it. The bath still has all of its original fixtures, tile, toilet and sink as well. It was originally painted a light pink and then wallpapered with a pink background and dark pink flocked flowered wallpaper in the 1960s. Can you sense a pattern here? My grandma loved pink! I looked on the wallpaper with fondness, but it was something I just couldn’t see me living with on a daily basis. Plus, the wallpaper was getting so old, the flocking was rubbing off. Note – the inside of the bathroom closet and the bedroom closet are still in their original shades of pink. The other bedroom (my study/storage room) was my dad and uncle’s. It’s still light blue with the original blue curtains.
There are a couple of inconvenient things about an older house, but overall, I find that older design holds up better and is more efficient for daily life. When I first moved in, I didn’t have tons of money to completely renovate or redecorate, and now I think that was a blessing in disguise. I learned to appreciate some things over time and for the things I did want to change or invest in, I had time to think about what I truly wanted so that hopefully some of this will last another 60 years. One question I’m curious to get your readers’ takes: What’s their advice on balancing the old with the new?
Anyway, that is most of it. My house is not perfectly staged, but I hope you or your readers might find it interesting, warts and all. I know I love perusing your readers’ photos — the more real and lived in, the better. Thanks for the wonderful site, the continued inspiration and the whole reason I’m on Pinterest.
Thanks!
Well, first off, Amy, it doesn’t seem that you need any decorating advice from anyone — you are doing a terrific job! Indeed: I love the framed quilt pieces, and that dining room table, oh my. The refrigerator story! The sofa that’s still there — and I think you did a great job with the upholstery! All your family photos!
All that said, the big messages are: Thank you so much (1) for sharing your story and (2) for being a wonderful example of how taking care of what we have pays off. Not just financially/economically, but also emotional. That is: Seems to me that after providing shelter, a house’s big opportunity is to make us feel: Loved. Your house is brimming with it. Thank you. xoxoxo
Catherine G says
This is an amazing family house and history and you are so lucky to have it. Your house has heart and soul — no perfect staging could ever duplicate that. Love it all!
Sandra says
I think you are a very fortunate woman to have such a beautiful retro home filled with so many memories and you can just feel the love oozing out of every nook and cranny. You are an amazing designer so just trust your own instincts. I think this house is talking to you…Love it all!
Lizzy says
Leave the fireplace as gas! My Granny’s house needs the old fireplaces burning for heat in really cold weather, and it’s awful. It’s an 1880’s addition to an 1815 house out in the seriously nowhere country, and we have gas space heaters that do most of the work. Wood burning is dirty, not only do you get to clean out the ashes every morning, but if you have even a hint of an allergy it will go bananas. So, dirty hard labor, illness discomfort, and then the expense. We grow our wood, but you’ll need to source it, buy it, store it. It can be tedious. there can be bugs in it. And the expense of wood, and the chimney sweep every year or so. And the stink of wood smoke gets old.
Your gran knew all this stuff, and likely thought gas was the best innovation since electric lights. Learn from the wisdom of your elders.
Get your electrical looked at, and be sure the actual wire in wall isn’t aluminum or such. You’ll likely get to rewire at some point. This is a thing with old houses, all of them. On the good side? You can have an outlet put in the phone nook, instead of next to it. That’s the kind of little update that makes old houses keep going. 😉
Melanie says
Keep the gas fireplace. We converted ours in 1997 and use it far more often than we did our old wood burning one. They are much safer (for all reasons already mentioned.) Added bonus? Safe heat source when the power is out because of ice storms! (That’s why we converted.)
You might want to invest in a new burner/set of logs of you are unhappy with the visual of the current set-up. We are considering doing just that.
Cheers!
MB Higgins says
It was very common in many households, I’m remembering especially in Italian families, to have two kitchens, one for ‘show’ and one, usually in the basement, to actually cook in.
Chris says
My Italian grandmother used both kitchens. Upstairs was for regular cooking, downstairs was for caning or making larger quantities of pasta, Christmas cookies, etc. Nothing for show- both were workhorses!
susan says
Looks a lot like my Gran’s house, right down to the fridge! Thanks for sharing. You did a great job updating just a little. The spirit is still there. Makes me cry tears of joy & memory about my Gran. You are so Blessed to be there & preserve the memory & style!
Carol says
Love it, love it, love it! I bought my grandmother’s house which also has a ton of memories and I have a lot of similar decor. She updated some- a lot in the 70’s when grandpa retired. But much of the house is unchanged from when it is built. I have always loved retro and I am not one to try and keep up with the latest. I want the solid functional feel of the quality we had in the past. I have an old fridge too, but not using it now. And we had a green one when we moved in too!
Henrik Rasmussen says
Your shower curtain in the pink bathroom is the best I have ever seen, as in matching these old pink tile. what’s also cool is, that you
can pick towels etc. from the color of the stripes in curtain
Amy says
Thank you, Henrik! I searched high and low for something that wouldn’t add on to the pink overload, but that did somehow embrace/complement the pink. I thought going all in on color would help. I ended up finding that shower curtain at a big box store a few years ago. The bathroom up until I moved in had a lavender fabric shower curtain, complete with tie-backs, several flounces and gathered folds. It was definitely decor from another era! It’s one of the many things that I had to ask myself: is removing it “correct”? But I just could not see me living with purple AND pink on a daily basis! 🙂
Liz says
Love the kitchen. I am a big fan of linoleum floors and Formica counters. DO NOT convert the fireplace back to wood for a lot of reasons including pollution, costs to clean and maintain. I had a proper chimney cap installed and the fireplace was never the same. Also, accidental carbon monoxide poisoning is more common than you think with fireplace fires. A gas fire is so easy, you never have to worry about building the fire, wet or old wood, sparks which can burn spots in the floor, waiting for the fire to die down before you go to bed. And, they even come with instant remotes! I opted for a little more expensive Birch gas log set. I was going for elegant but they have all sorts.
Susan H says
How lucky you are to keep this gem in the family! Beautiful house, it is so charming.