Our Biggest Mess: Stuff we found in the walls
on May 30, 2012, Updated Jun 27, 2024
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What a beautiful day! I am trying to get things whipped into shape around here because carpet is supposed to be installed tomorrow. You heard me right: carpet. This is the fun part of remodeling; getting all the finishing touches that make it feel like home. The carpet has been drama, like the cabinets, so hopefully it will really go in – not a moment too soon, either. Our besties from Chicago are coming to stay with us for the weekend, and I’d love for things to be really nice and comfortable for them.
Now onto what I’m sharing today. This little treasure was not actually found inside the wall, but I feel like it goes in the same category. As we prepared for demolition in the kitchen, I removed the drawers from the kitchen cabinets and took them out to the barn to save for later. I pulled one drawer all the way out and found a little black and white picture stuck in a crack on the underside of the drawer.
This was my first find in the house and I was so excited about it. The picture is of a lovely woman and her two young daughters. The back of the picture reads “Outside Buckingham Palace – 1954” in beautiful, handwritten print.
I assumed right away that it was the woman who used to live here with her children, but I had the opportunity to ask one of her daughters about the picture and she said that it was not her mother. Her mom had never been to England and neither had she. She didn’t recognize anyone in the picture and didn’t know who the people might be. Curious and curious.
I’ve kept this picture near my kitchen plates during the remodel and would take it down occasionally to look at. The picture has kept me curious and intrigued. Who are these people and how did the picture make it into the hands of the previous owners? The picture has been more than a fun old photo though; it has been a connection to the past. It has tied us to the history of this house time and time again. Sometimes I am so selfish and only think about what I want from this house and how I can’t wait to live in it fully and love it. Occasionally though, I stop thinking of myself and think of the long years that this house has been a home to others. Babies were brought home to this house, birthday candles were blown out year after year under its roof, meals were eaten, fights were fought, people lived here. I’m not the only one who has called these four walls home.
I received a wonderful email from a woman who came to this house as a child. It was the home of her grandparents. She told me of parties, learning how to cast a fishing pole in the front lawn, flour kept in a drawer, and irrigation water that wasn’t hooked up to a sprinkler system like it is now, but flowed down the street’s edge where she would play in it. It was so much fun to hear the stories of her past and think of the previous owners in a new light. They were parents, grandparents, and friends. Not only did they live here, but they invited those they loved in. I like to think of the women in this picture as people they loved; their besties sending them a letter of well-wishes from England.
Oh, don’t you just wish we could see more time than the present? I’d love to be able to watch the past like a movie.
A friend asked if I’d post a better view of where the hutch is in the kitchen, so hear you go:
Isn’t it coming together great? The back of the bar is on, the stools are painted, life is good.
I’m not sure how I feel about it so close to the stove. I thought about putting it on the opposite wall, at the other end of the table. The problem with that is you would never see it; sitting at the table would be the only time you would really look at it. I like it here because you can see it from the living room. When the carpet comes I’m going to get all of my pretties out of the barn and really move in! Won’t my milk glass cake stand look great on it? I plan on using the hutch as a seasonal decoration piece too, like a mantel.
There you have it. Treasures past and present.
And- you can find five other posts of things we’ve found in our house under the “Our Biggest Mess” tab at the top. 🙂 Thanks for reading.
Thanks for posting these pictures! I love how it turned out and I especially love your color scheme. Crossing my fingers that your carpet comes soon and Home Depot gets their act together.
It just makes my eyeballs happy to see how beautiful your kitchen is. I was wondering too if you have cabinets going to the wall and then returned them when you found the hutch fit perfect next to the stove. I am so excited to see your pretties out. So excited for your carpet too.
Everything is looking so great Melissa. I feel so bad that I haven’t been out to see it and bring the kids out to see the chickens. I am almost done with the Kitchen (it had better get done this weekend) and then we have to plan a get together. I am really glad that you have a kitchen now 🙂