The owner rented it out and the lady kept it clean but she was obviously not interested in decor or updates.
She was just saving money to buy her own apartment.
We saw it as an adventure, a blank slate in a way, there to do whatever we wanted.
Whatever we wanted within reason, after all the repairs that kept coming to our attention.
By way of mold on ceilings that were not caused by steam in the shower as we were told but by a persistent leak from the plumbing above.
None of these things waited long for us to discover them, they announced their presence by the sound of dripping ... the sight of water running down a newly painted wall ... the rush of water from the ceilings ..
There were days where I walked into rooms and looked up first .. dread was probably the look on my face most days.
Fear of water dripping might be instilled in my poor psyche forever.
We felt , in the beginning, that we were up to it all.
We were.
Now, I wonder.
The most satisfying of homes to renew are the ones like this, neglected, old and sorry but with the most amazing "bones" and that air of stillness, waiting, knowing that we were just the ones that these rooms were waiting for.
And here they are, the sad but now happy rooms that we call home ..
Sad Kitchen
Happy Kitchen
The Bath of Gloom
Beautiful Bath
Sad Bedroom
Dreamy Bedroom
After reading your problems with water invading from the ceiling, I'm now grateful for our less invasive problem of moisture just seeping in through the tuffeau stones of this old barn in France. Sometimes an old place just needs a little more love and understanding. Progressively worse eyesight/inspection doesn't hurt either.
ReplyDeleteWe sometimes wonder how we would have thought about things if they had happened somewhere else.. it just seemed to be all a part of the package here .. thankfully a part that we were able to fix :)
ReplyDeleteYou did a great job makng your house your home!
ReplyDeleteThank you Mym :)
ReplyDelete