• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

The Blue House Blog

believer | creating a home of peace, health, abundance and beauty | laughing a lot

  • Home
  • About
    • About
    • Truth
    • Contact Me
  • Recipes
    • Trim Healthy Mama
    • Nourishing Traditions
  • My Home
    • Remodeling
    • Before and After
  • The Fine Print
    • Disclosure
    • Privacy
    • Media
  • Shop

The High Cost of a Cheap Mortgage.

Melissa Beene Ford/ before and after+ Big Blue House

Since we’re about to begin the remodeling of the garage, I thought I’d show you some ‘before’ pictures.

Our garage was converted to an apartment 50+ years ago, and rented out to college students. This neighborhood is only blocks from the Junior College, so lots of my neighbors still rent out their garage apartments.

Though hopefully theirs are in better shape than ours. 😉

We plan to turn ours back into actual parking spaces. With a door. That you open and close with the touch of a button.

A luxury we’ve never had in our 11 years of marriage.

What will it be like to pull my car under the shelter of a garage when it rains? Or to load and unload kids on a rainy day? Do you people with garages realize how spoiled fortunate you are???

Well, here you are. You’ve already seen the curtains. Sadly, they’re gone….I apologize if you were hoping to score these vintage goodies for yourself.

In addition to the curtains, the garage came loaded with tons of the former homeowners’ junk treasures. Much of it ~ three dumsters’ worth plus many, many truck-beds-full, in fact ~ has been hauled off already. And yet, there’s still more. Like this old roll of peach-colored silk.

And some rather shabby-chic lighting fixtures.
Though shabby-chic sounds a little too fancy for what we have here…

Lots of grubby hand prints and a desperate need of a paint job. See those nail holes? When we moved in there was *something* hanging on a nail in each one of those holes. Old bits of chain, old keys, old metal pieces and parts….

And the bathroom facilities. Correct me if I’m wrong here, but to me, this doesn’t look like a potty you would want to use. But somehow our painters missed that memo. Oh yes. They used the facilities.

Maybe they were fooled by this sign?

Keep in mind…..the bathrooms in the house were in similar condition when we bought it….. I’ll give you one guess who cleaned those potties.

When I see this potty, I have a flashback to that precise moment that I was on my hands and knees, face-down in someone else’s dirty potty, scrubbing 80 years worth of waste matter from the bowl. I’m pretty sure that was the moment when I first regretted buying this house.

Also left behind in the closet portion of the apartment….some vintage, very 1970s-ish belts. Anyone? Anyone? Blog giveaway….

A little mold never hurt anyone…… did it?

The kitchen-ette. You can’t tell in this picture, but that tile (though covered in an inch of grime) was once a very groovy 1950s shade of turquoise. I like old groovy tile. I’ve been known to want to buy a junky old house, just because it had cool vintage tile inside. Not that I would do something so dumb as to buy a junky old house…

I like the sink too, and I think it could clean up and be very cute in a retro sort of way. Not that it matters, since this is the garage and all. But a sink in the garage will be a handy thing to have; maybe hubs could CLEAN FISH AND RINSE OUT PAINT BRUSHES HERE, INSTEAD OF IN THE GORGEOUS FARMHOUSE SINK IN MY KITCHEN? Just a thought…

Actual hard-wood floors under the ancient linoleum.

Another shot of the wood floors….pine, in case you wondered. Not that it matters. We’ll be parking our cars on it.

Very cool knobs on the kitchen-ette cabinets.

And a cool light fixture. Probably milk glass. Hello, ebay?

The shower. Kept clean and sanitary for you.

My guest quarters might not be Pioneer Woman’s lodge, but I’d like to extend an invitation to my fellow bloggers to come and join me for a blogging weekend at the Blue House. You’ll have your own private bedroom-slash-living room, kitchenette, and bath with a shower. Well, ‘private’ unless the neighborhood homeless guy decides to wander in.

Anyone?

Anyone?

*crickets*

Fine then. But don’t come crying to me when you don’t get an invitation from Ree Drummond.

Recent Posts

  • Ask
  • Two Natural Ways to Cope with Grief
  • Covers Over
  • God vs Earthly Parents
  • For they are ever with me

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Lianne says

    August 23, 2009 at 2:48 am

    You are cracking me up here! <br /><br />80 years worth of grime? Wow. I enjoy a good cleaning challenge, but that blows my mind.<br /><br />You know what you could make with that peach silk fabric? New Garage Curtains. <br /><br />: )

    Reply
  2. Julia says

    August 23, 2009 at 8:12 pm

    I hope you save those glass knobs!

    Reply
  3. Elle Bee says

    August 24, 2009 at 1:01 am

    Hahha! You&#39;re funny. I&#39;m sure the after photos are going to be fab. <br />I saw you on Jana&#39;s blog and wanted to say hi. Hi. :o)<br />Elle

    Reply
  4. Missy @ It's Almost Naptime says

    August 26, 2009 at 5:44 pm

    Where do we sign up for the bloggy giveaway?????<br /><br />that made me lol!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Let’s Connect!

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

About Me


Hey there... I'm Melissa! Texas girl. Mom to three + one goldendoodle. Believer. Old house fanatic. Creating a happy + healthy home with purpose is my passion. I'm so glad you're here!

Be sure to subscribe to emails so you don't miss a post!

Search for Something

ARCHIVES

I don’t know who’s big idea it was to strip 80 I don’t know who’s big idea it was to strip 80 years of paint off of this door down to the wood and start over… but that person has no business starting new projects. 😅 My neighbors must have thought this project would never end. *I* thought this project would never end. 😰 If you’re thinking of doing this yourself? Just don’t, ok? Throw the whole door away and buy a new one. 😂🤣 Just kidding.  Old house weirdos like me… we can’t just do things the easy way. Anyhoo… after some trial and error, @sherwinwilliams Celestial is what I landed on, and I have to say… I like it. Periwinkle-ish blue looks great with the yellow house and will look even better when the azaleas are in bloom. Was it all worth it? That’s not important right now. 🤭 Will I do this all again in two years? The magic eight ball says… without a doubt. 👏🏻 I’ve already picked the next color. #gluttonforpunishment #somefoolsneverlearn #oldhouselove #oldhomelove #makinghome #southernliving #gardenandgun #azaleadistrict #tylertx
Spring in the Azalea District makes the winters in Spring in the Azalea District makes the winters in an 80-year-old house completely worth it … what broken pipes, icy hardwood floors and drafty windows? 🤔 I forgot already. #comeonspring #azaleadistrict #tylertx
Happy Saturday ☀️ Happy Saturday ☀️
Salt Lake City is always magical ✨ Salt Lake City is always magical ✨
2022 had its highs and lows for sure, but scrollin 2022 had its highs and lows for sure, but scrolling through my pics from the last twelve months made me realize how blessed and content I am. Prosperity, love, and peace have been ours in abundance, in spite of the pain of losing my dad. The second picture is the last picture of him… the last time I saw him. 💔 But God has been good to my family this year and 2022 is ending far better than it began. 😄 #2022inreview #thanksforthememories
Who wants a Christmas tour of my home? 🙋🏼‍ Who wants a Christmas tour of my home? 🙋🏼‍♀️
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
That’s it. That’s the tour. (Slide two). 
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
It’s a new trend I’m starting: bare Christmas tree. Lowe’s tag still attached (so quirky and unexpected)! Christmas ornaments still in boxes. Coming soon to an Anthropologie window display near you. 
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Every year I think, “next year I’ll do better. Next year I’ll have it together.” And then, here we are on the SIXTH Christmas that we’ve been in this house, the sixth Christmas I’ve dragged our chaotic bunch of Christmas mess out of a chaotic garage I still haven’t unpacked from our move six years ago. 
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Maybe this year is the year I’ll organize it all and put it back neatly so that by Christmas number 7, it will be smooth sailing. People will flock to my social media to see how I’ve pulled everything off SO PERFECTLY. Next year will be my year. 
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Seems every year there’s less and less bandwidth for all these things. There’s more grief and stress, less money. More demands, less grace. 
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I put this sign on the wall in my office so I could keep it in front of my eyes: Love. Joy. Peace. And all that. I am SO unlike Jesus most days. So lacking in all of these character qualities. And that’s WITH waking up most mornings and spending my first 30 minutes with God Himself. 
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
How lost would I be without that? Geez. I can’t fathom. I REQUIRE being transformed by renewing my mind every single morning, and even then, responding to people and life with love, joy, peace and patience doesn’t come naturally. 
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
It’s the goal, though. 
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
This weary world needs that from us Believers during this season, more than ever… even more than an Anthropologie-window-display worthy Christmas home tour. 
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I’m working on both.
Instagram post 18046618504353300 Instagram post 18046618504353300
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Copyright © 2023 · Ella Theme by Code + Coconut