This dilapidated sad old house that we call our home has been around since probably the 1870’s. There’s really nothing modern to it. And there’s plenty of stuff that we still put our hands over our eyes and say “la,la,la” to while we pass by. When we bought it in 2000, it was a lot worse, as you will see.  And that is saying something. Enjoy the tour of 115 Gay Street circa 2000.

stairs 115 001
The Entry Hall

Welcome to Granny’s house circa 1985. It had that country floral charm that gives florals and woodwork and walls for that matter, a bad name.

Tin ceiling 001
Reproduction tin ceiling on the wall

Need I say more than the tin on wall is oppressive.

115 Gay st dining room 001
Dining room looking into the Living room

The dining and living rooms were painted more of the same colors, that blue-red and blue-green. And wallpaper.

The built-in cabinet in the corner was a do-it-yourself job kinda thing. The chandelier was remade by me several different times before I stripped it of its crystals and banished it to the basement.

The floors are wood and in very bad shape. And we discovered from our home inspector that there were random width pine floors underneath. Cool.

 Never going to see those.

kitchen 115 double oven 001

The kitchen. What can I say? There was indoor outdoor carpet. The dishwasher was in front of the window. The refrigerator felt like it would mug you. The double oven was dead.

And it was baby blue. This would prove to be the biggest remake of our life. That’s our wacky real estate agent George.

Kitchen fridge 115 001
kitchen 115 eat at counter 001

Dan the home inspector telling Mark (what? You didn’t know him with long hair?) that we have every single kind of electrical wiring thingamajig in our house.

That’s the ‘eat at’ counter that I would eventually rip out and recycle for counter tops next to the stove.

115 gay st eamon's room 2000 001

Although the floors in Eamon’s room look pretty, they are so sloped you can see it with your naked eye.

I think my future husband is thinking, what the heck have I gotten myself into? Or he’s putting his hair back in a ponytail.

115 Gay st vanity 001

And the weird vanity cubby on the other side of the wall from where Mark was. You will be seeing the remake of this weird sad area soon.

The beige carpet you see was everywhere upstairs.

115 gay bathroom 001

Did I say carpet was everywhere. Even in this bathroom. Ahh, ugh. Smelled like cat pee from mildew. We ripped all that right up.

Somewhere in this month I’ll be showing you a couple of these pictures again with the after photos. Who doesn’t like a good before and after session.

And honestly, these befores would make any job look stupendous.

Tomorrow is the action shots of Eamon’s room redo.

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6 Comments

  1. It still makes me do a double take to see Marky without long hair. Funny. This is the beauty of before and after shots, to remind you of where you built from. I really must remember to do this. And I’m totally adopting the “La la la” thing. Totally.

    1. You can do a listening version of this as in “La la la, I’m not listening. How about, la la la I’m not thinking about it. La la la I can’t smell it. The options are endless.

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