Like cool breezes and turning leaves signal the coming of fall, murmurs of our country’s potentially eminent financial vortex can only signal one thing….I’m buying another house!  Yipppeeee!  Seriously, when God handed out interesting timing, I clearly wasn’t smelling roses and picking petunias….I was first in line, baby!

We’re back in Montford, but NOT in the historic district part of Montford which means one less headache and one less stack of forms to deal with.  If I want to side this thing in purple and green argyle vinyl, I can.  I won’t, but I can, and there is a certain sense of liberty about that.

So you want to meet the new lady don’t you?  Drumroll please……..

This one is exciting because it represents a whole new set of challenges than the last.  Starnes was a petri dish of toxic biological experimentation, but the floorplan was good and¸ aside from taking out a wall, we didn’t change anything structural.  With Houston, we’re playing “Fun with Floorplans” and I get to massage my spatial rejigging muscles – I bet you didn’t know you had those…they’re located in the lower thigh.

Speaking of tearing things up, this is a good place to address a nagging pet peave of mine (or at least I like to act like it’s a pet peeve). The confusion about the difference between an interior decorator and an interior designer.

I like to explain it this way using visual metaphor.

This is what an interior decorator does:

Same nose, same jawline….different foundation that doesn’t match her neck color.

This is what an interior designer does:

That’s right….I can cut open your face and rearrange things, only in my case, your face is your house and I do clear it with my contractor first.  Frankly, I like doing the decorator stuff too, but this project will involve actual plastic surgery in addition to a fresh coat of paint.

So, here’s a house tour, starting with the first floor:

Reflected behind me and the trusty Arnold is the front room, complete with fireplace that WILL be fitted with a gas insert.  Here’s a closeup of the grooviest mirrored tile you’ve ever seen:

Do you think I’ll win a Griffin Award for preservation if I manage to incorporate this into the redo?  If there is right in this world I will!

Dining Room that will cease to exist once the walls come tumbling down.

Kitchen….duh.

This….

…and this…

…..will be expanded to make a master suite. 

Back room off the kitchen which will become part of the larger kitchen, living, dining area.  So what do you think?  Should I leave the dropped ceiling?  (kidding)

The upstairs has three bedrooms and a bath.  Nothing major going on up there - just resurfacing everything, making the closets bigger and changing out the bathroom.  The major reno. will be going on downstairs.  

Next post, I’ll run my floorplan changes by you.  I’m getting uber excited!!!

In closing, I just want to say that, as God as my witness, with dying carrot in hand thrust towards a vivid Southern sky (movie reference anyone…come on, it’s easy), I am going to keep the budget in the forefront of my little head this time….in the fore-er front than it was at Starnes.  SERIOUSLY!!  seriously.