Twenty-five years ago, We drove up in front of a ramshackle, two story duplex that was nearly condemnable. There wasn't a single room that could actually be lived in. I fell in love with this needy old house and vowed to restore her to new life. I was a fan of the PBS show "This Old House" and I just knew we were up to the task.
Our kids, parents and friends were appalled. We underestimated every single thing that needed to be done to this house and our $30,000 of restoration money was eaten up in about two months, just getting the place to the point where we could live in it.
Once we moved in, the work began in earnest and I have to be truthful in saying we have been working on this place for 25 years and thought it was just about perfect.... until we put it up for sale and a new generation of young folks, raised on HGTV, began coming around to take a look.
The HGTV kids are looking for move in ready, Pottery Barn, neutral. The mere sight of wallpaper or carpet, makes them head for the hills. So, here I am back in my jeans, scraper in hand and wondering what in the world I was thinking when I hung up all that pretty wall paper.
I know I wasn't thinking I'd be the one to have to "neutralize", as in..... remove toxic elements like ugly wallpaper and out of date blue paint. Everything must be builder beige and trendy new. I suppose I understand. I watch HGTV too.
In the end, I hope we served this old beauty well. She was built in 1925 and the wood for her walls was brought in on horse drawn carriage. We saved everything we could from old floors to antique hardware and now, we hope to pass it along to another owner, who hopefully, scraper and paintbrush in hand, will know how to bring her along another 25 years.