I’m in decorating limbo. I live in a house that we’re trying to sell so I don’t really want/need to put any more money into it at this point. We have another fixer-upper that is soooo far away from the decorating stages that I’m betting it will be months before I even think of styling it. My mind is overflowing these days with all the ideas I had for our current home that I never got to see to fruition and also with new ideas for our next home. But I can’t act on any of them. So, I’m relying on teeny little tweaks to hold me over until I pass on to the other side of this designing standstill. One such tweak has been the removal of the wood shutters from the Underdog.
I don’t know why, but those things were driving me bonkers. They’re painted plywood and the color, design and craftsmanship are all so-so. Every time I looked at them it was like hearing fingernails on a chalkboard. My lack of fondness for them must have been pretty apparent as Handy Hubby stopped by the Underdog one day on his way to work this week just to remove them. I had actually pictured myself wreaking havoc on those shutters, but he beat me to it. Oh well, I’m just glad they’re down.
Handy Hubby discovered the shutters were hung by screws that had been drilled into the mortar of the brick exterior. Supposedly, the removal process was quite easy. The shutter removal revealed tons of insect or spider nests that had been camping out behind the shutters.
Obviously, the entire exterior of the house needs power-washed eventually and that should take care of the groty nest remains. But I think taking down the cringe-worthy shutters has improved the look of the Underdog’s exterior a billion percent.
It’s already looking more mid-century modern versus elderly and neglected, don’t you think? Not to say I’m totally against shutters, but I’m digging the mid-century vibe that the house is giving off now. With a new {maybe metal?} roof and front door, the Underdog will really perk up. There’s nothing like conducting a youthful facelift on a 53-year-old house! She’s coming along.
It’s the little aesthetic improvements like these that get me all excited because I can start to see what the house could look like and where we’re going with all the non-design-related projects. These are the small moments I’m clinging to while I wait in decorating limbo. So I wait…
images: all Dana Miller for House*Tweaking
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