What a Conundrum

The carpet was installed late last week.  It looks great!  Here's a picture of the master bedroom. 

The color is "toast" and is a low pile carpet inspired by the sisal carpet in Legacy Books in Plano, TX.

We measured some windows for coverings.  Bedrooms and bathrooms come first.  The plan is to go slowly so we do it right.  The back windows are so large and let in so much light that it would be criminal to cover them completely.

Our first post included a brief discussion about what to do with the stair case.  The end decision was stain.  Earlier last week it was stained and we don't regret the decision.

Please excuse the Blackberry photo.  Getting into the house was a surprise and we didn't have our camera with us.

Now here is the problem.  Our first home was a small (950 square feet) Craftsmen home.  Interestingly, this first home is our bench mark for every subsequent home we have lived in.  Why?  Because of its character!  Here's a picture from the street.

The front porch was painted to look like tile.  It looked so good people would be surprised when we told them it was not tile.  To the right you'll notice a small nook.  In this nook were cabinets and a beautiful stained glass window complete with lead cames.  This window was original to the home.  The WPA stamp in the sidewalk out front made the home at least 50 years old.

Notice the woman walking on the path to the windmill.  A recessed light in the hutch lighting the window from above created a beautiful scene at night from the outside.

The hutch was also the perfect location for a Mother in Law's Tongue.  No plant we've had since has thrived like that one did.  Our china and various heirloom items looked great behind the glass door windows.  The pitcher and basin on the left is from a family ranch and is over 100 years old.  It's beautiful!  Thanks to my wife's father for having the foresight to preserve this great feature of the home when he restored it.

Lately I've been haunted by the fact that we're moving into is a track home in a suburb.  That's how it is these days so the challenge is to give our new home character...something to make it stand out from the others - make it ours.  What we have to do to make that happen, we're not sure but we're going to figure it out - so stay tuned!