Time Capsule House Is a Work in Progress

I happen to really like Mid-Century decor, good thing, because we got a lot of really nice mid-sixties furniture and decor with this house, built in 1963.  It was a savings to use the existing furniture rather than buy new.  First thngs first, Stanley Steemer came in to clean the upholstered furniture, which they assessed to be in great shape.  The sofa legs had been replaced with little casters, making the sofas a bit low, as shown, so we have  replaced them with tapered walnut legs six inches long.

Then, out came the saggy wrinkled orange, brown and cream shag carpet throughout, to be replaced by creamy tile with a stone texture.  But first, the wall between the kitchen and living room came down, with the paneling and trim carefully preserved.  The kitchen peninsula was moved into place where the wall had been, including the see-through glass cabinet above.  The refrigerator was moved to the spot where the peninsula attached to the wall.

Before:

NOTE:  The quadriptych above the sofa is available. It is a classical scene, so popular in the mid-60s in blue tones.  If you would like to have it, send me a message with your contact info.
PS, this is the exact carpet I would have chosen in the 70s, but now I remember what a pain it is to maintain.

After:

Notice the barrel furniture.  The sellers said Granddad, who built the house, built the furniture.  One of the chairs, however, has an unreadable commercial label on it.  Retrorenovation.com, a blog about preserving Mid-Century Modest homes and design, showed the same set which included a sofa and coffee table.  The owner stated they came from JC Penney in the late 1960s.

We also acquired the beautiful grandfather clock by Colonial Mfg. of Zeeland, Michigan.  The cabinet to the right is a sewing machine that came with the house.. To the left is a built in corner cabinet.  We changed the wood and wrought iron candolier above the table to the mosaic shell bowl.  We lived with a similar candolier in our other house for more than 20 years and I was just tired of that design.  We gave the candolier away to a lady who was redoing her house in the mid-century design.

The doorway on the left of the clock goes to a small bedroom, the archway on the right opens to a den which has a wonderful view of the Indian River.

Next is a quick taste of the before and after look of the outside of the house from the front.

Before -- white and brown with worn decorative shutters, no landscaping:

After -- change in progress, shutters removed, areas plastered to prep for paint, remainder of paint complete, Miami blue and soft gray trim.  Ginger the dog is admiring the new plantings, Queen palms and Flax Lilies.  Well, really, she is barking at the cat across the street.

Queen Palms and flax lilies are supposed to be sun and drought tolerant, also cold tolerant, all good traits for a south facing unshaded yard in Titusville.

Queen Palms and Flax Lilies

 Silver Bismarckia Palm with Aloe and Agave

Finished Bed with Silver Bismarckia, Aloe, Agave and Opuntia

Decorated with Coquina Rocks

The comfy screened porch is going to be rebuilt to give it a little more mass and prevent Ginger from blasting right through the screen when she sees a cat or squirrel.  The shed at the end sits right in our view of the River, so it will be moved at some point.

Next episode will be about the Hobbit room off the front bedroom that we have converted to a master bath, and a little bit about the removal of the two bed-and-bath units in the garage, and a little more of the outside work.

Here's a sneak peek of a detail in our new shower: