New Year, New Life, New House

Dusting off this old blog for one Gothic Martha Stewart home tour. Because, whoa, things have changed around here. In the past six months, I'm suddenly in the middle of a divorce from my husband who I'd been with for 26 years, we sold our house of 17 years, I moved 40 miles away, and I bought my first house of my own. One way to mend a broken heart is throw yourself into renovation and decoration projects, so since Christmas I've done nothing but fix up this 1920s storybook bungalow to be my perkygoth manor.

Let me show you around...

Here's what the living room looked like before I got to work. These are photos from the real estate listing so they're very beige (blah!).

And this is what it looks like now.

The walls are painted a pale purplish-pink. All the trim and baseboards in the house are glossy black.

My beloved vintage chair & settee.

I painted the fireplace in a deep cherry.

The framed art on the fireplace is my SCA Award of Arms which is covered with hand-drawn bats.

The hutch is filled with vintage china & crystal. The couch is new & quite comfy.

The living room opens up to the dining room. Before photos...

Those were really crappy sconces -- talk about cheap & no character! They were an insult to the period style of this house.

Dining room now...

New dining table & chairs, which are upholstered in black & white script. 

The walls are painted in a very dark purple that took many coats to achieve. 

I wanted the wall colors to go from light in the living room to darker in the dining room as you enter the heart of the home.

Inexpensive yet fabulous crystal sconces from Amazon & a mirrored console table make this the swanky gothic '20s bar it deserves to be.

The bathroom, at least, had '20s charm as-is.

Just needed some accessorizing.

Since the floor tile was grey, I used grey & black, which also keep it from being too dark in such a small room.

Had to add some storage.

There are two identical bedrooms on the first floor. They were staged in such a dull fashion.

One is now my home office (not pictured because it's still a mess), and the other is my bedroom. It's kinda my favorite thing.

My black cat loves this fluffy black rug.

The headboard is black velvet.

The house came with these custom black-out blinds, so I mixed valances with full curtains since they're just for looks.

My mom helped me paint every room. We were originally going to stencil these bats, but it wouldn't work. So I drew each bat on matt black vinyl Con-Tact paper & cut them all out, then stuck them on the walls.

This dresser used to belong to my father. I've swapped out the knobs a few times.

I've had this dumpy little desk since high school. It will not die! So I covered the top in glittery black vinyl & the sides in pink stripe vinyl, bought a mirror & clip-on lights, added a little chair, & now I have a great dressing table

One side of the table has a shelf, where I keep the books I intend to read in bed. Someday...

I bought a wall-mounted jewelry armoire.

Now I can see my jewelry; things aren't jumbled up in boxes or piled in drawers.

All the closets in this house are walk-ins. I have a tower of shoe organizers to the left, plus shoes on the wall. On the inside of the door are my scarves. My frequently worn clothes hang in this closet, while jackets & dressy items are in the office closet.

My new home also has a sewing/craft room upstairs that I haven't unpacked, plus a sweet little turret room that I have super gothy plans for. But decorating the living room, dining room, & bedroom were essential so I could start living here and feel settled in.

I'm still not happy about the route that lead me here, but the place I landed is sweet, and I'm making it truly mine.