Let's Get This Party Started!!

Hi and welcome!

So here is a little background to my new adventure.

In the late 1940's my grandfather, Henry Walton, bought a double lot in the suburbs of Orlando.  Those suburbs are now in the heart of Colonialtown, 4 blocks from Mills 50, and in an amazing in town neighborhood. On this lot on an empty street he started building his new home. He was an architect, so he knew what he was doing :) .

Over the years the house grew as his business grew, rooms were added, porches became more rooms, walls of shrubbery were carefully cultivated...  And wood paneling was installed...everywhere.

So, 3 decades after he died, and 5 years after my grandmother died the house was on the brink of leaving the family. I decided to turn my world upside down and leap into the unknown and buy the house (with my brother and Dad as my partners in non-crime) and bring it into the present.

Now, the journey begins as I dig into 70 years of family history, wallpaper, wood paneling, carpet funk, and a few surprises I want to document the adventure and help others envision the possibilities with the own mid-century time capsules.

My hope is that I can modernize, clean, repair and update this space while still retaining the mid-century modern charm. I wish to cling to the quality craftsmanship, but shed the damaged, broken and outdated decor that increases energy bills, allergies, and water damage.

And so it begins:

REMOVE THE SHAG CARPET!!!

50 year old carpet has no charm. What it has is extreme funky smell, allergens and fills the room with despair and sadness.

So without delay, what did I do first you ask? I can't find my before pictures, but here it is with an old lady cat.

I had been DREADING this process. The smell I expected, but more than anything I thought I would have to do tedious cutting to get it in small enough pieces to get in my trash can. Luckily old carpet apparently turned to disgusting dirt powder. The backing just ripped like paper! It was glorious!!  It took about an hour to pull it up and get it outside, along with the powdery plastic padding underneath. I scraped and swept that up and found....  another floor!

And for my next entry I will examine the wonders I found underneath it...