No room for tablescaping

Have I told you that I have a builder house in the 'burbs with little character? I attribute this to the "battle of the sexes" that every married person has. Mr. Mise en scène is a dyed in the wool new house buyer. The oldest house in which we have ever lived was built in 1967. It was literally a little pink house. The brick was physically pink! Try coordinating shutter colors with that!

I, however, am an old house lover, preferably one built in the late 1800's to the 1920's. The house above is more my vision of my dream house. Growing up in our 1950's ranch, I was jealous of the friends who lived closer to downtown and in an old house. Mind you, the ranch was pretty nifty, too, but couldn't compare to a bonafide niche-filled old house.

So, when we moved from Okie-Dokie land to the Washington D.C. area, guess what we bought? A brand spanking new builder house, of course! I had always dreamed of building a new house someday. This dream is the twin of the old-house rehab dream. In my dream, I would pour over floor plans, selecting the one which would accomodate all the changes our family would encounter from grade school to college to grandkids. I would choose just the right balance of public to private space. I would consider the graceful curve of a barrel vaulted ceiling over the soaring loft of an arched ceiling for the foyer. I would spend hours sourcing elegant lighting, comely door handles and exquisite, yet functional, flooring. I would choose the correct layout for the kitchen, suggesting design alterations if need be, better to change on paper then to wait until cabinet load to fix a flawed plan. And, finally, most importantly, there would be a sweeping staircase, worthy of Prom and Wedding pictures.


Well, when we finally built a new house, what did we get? Do you want fries with that? Yes, it was the fast food equivalent of house building. Everything was an upgrade, not much of an upgrade, more an upgraded price than an upgraded item. There was a horrible kitchen layout, no sexy glazes for the cabinets, no flooring beyond home center basic. Granted, we had our choice of green diamond or tan diamonds in the vinyl, and a selection of the ugliest laminates I've ever seen for the countertop. And most importantly, there was no Prom/Wedding-worthy sweeping staircase. The stair case is a narrow straight run with ugly neo-Victorian newel posts. I nearly cried.

So far, we have fixed the kitchen, replaced carpet with wood floors in the family room, and painted away the builder white. And this brings us to today. At this moment, I am stuck below ground, corralling the cats, and listening to clanging, banging and rumbling noises that make me fear for the safety of my beloved buffet a deux corps. Another Metamorphosis is under way, a much needed and long overdue replacement of the carpet in the dining room and living room and foyer. So glad we have the home theater up for my entertainment!

So today, there is no tablescape Thursday. There is no table to scape!
Below are the before's and the state of the kitchen! Monday, there will be afters for Metamorphosis Monday.







Be sure to visit Susan's site for more Tablescape Thursday Posts!