Changes

I've not posted my Good Morning here since August 7th, when I changed computers and email addresses. I never heard any feed back, so I have to presume that no one noticed.
In the past year I have made many changes in my home and my life.
When I was growing up, I asked Mama what was her decorating "style" (being a snotty know-it-all teen, I was sure I knew all about decorating). She called it "early children". In later years she upgraded a lot. Well, I'm now there. Years and years of "make-do" and hand-me-downs have given way to a few nice things. I have made changes - big or small - to almost every room in the house. It also took living here more than 8 or 9 years to get to that point. Until this house, from the time I moved out of my parent's house I never lived in one place longer than 5 years.
Not in order by time line, the changes have been:
Starting outside, this year with the help of my friend we had a wonderful garden. It was (and still is) very productive! Lots of pretty things have been planted, and the yard is gradually becoming quite pretty.
Since last spring my husband has had to use a walker; and is pretty much unlikely to ever not need it. The steps were a hassle, so we needed a ramp. Well, if you have an "ugly" porch (just a cement slab), and have to build a ramp, you might as well expand it enough to have a real porch! Which I did, and absolutely love!
The first "room" is the back bathroom, and that's the one place no change has been made yet. I plan to buy a smaller profile sink to make the room more accessible for DH with his walker.
The laundry room now has the first brand new washer and dryer I've ever owned. Well, there's a year old now, but were bought new. I've also added a larger chest freezer.
In the den I replaced a falling-down entertainment center with a really nice wood 3 piece system, and also got a nice rug for in there (carpeting is yucky). Also last summer I replaced an ugly light fixture with a nice ceiling fan. Today I added some new curtains.
In the kitchen, of course there's little I can do. I won't buy new appliances in a rented house (not the ones that came with it). But I have added the most wonderful old hutch cabinet; I "upgraded" the kitchen table (vintage 50s style, huge and I love it); and today changed out the curtains.
In the dining room, I changed out an old beat up shelf to a very nice dresser. Even though it's "meant" for a bedroom, I changed the knobs and it's just perfect as a buffet. Last year I finally managed to replace old wood dining chairs with some antique ones that belonged to my grandmother (after replacing the seats and then cleaning and replacing the needlepoint seat covers).
In the living room I was given a nice cream colored wing chair. I found a nice recliner wing chair at a furniture store that was going out of business. I got a nice rug, and a pretty braided rug for the summer.
In "my" room I've made a lot of changes. I got a nice "real" desk (as opposed to a door across file cabinets). I inherited Mama's sewing table. I replaced a mish mash of plastic cabinets with a series of ClosetMaid cabinetry. I also got a very nice comfortable desk chair!
The bathroom doesn't have much I can do, but I did get a new shower curtain. :)
The bedroom has had a lot of changes. I replaced a series of unmatched open shelves with 3 large storage cabinets with doors. That alone was a huge improvement! I added a nice recliner for the days DH's not able to walk around the house very well. And, I gave away the old (big, heavy, but wobbly) bed frame and got a nice new smaller one, and even got new sheets, blanket, pillows, comforter, and bed skirt.
The guest room is still a room in progress. At one time, just over a year ago, I had a lovely guest room. But, I actually rarely have guests. I gave away a large dresser (matched the bed), and dismantled the bed. I still have to get rid of a box spring. The room now has 2 dressers (both antiques, one was my great-aunt's), a sleeper-sofa (so it can still be a guest room), a small scale recliner, and a bunch of other odds and ends. I have 2 large cabinets that need to be assembled that will go in there (and when they're done, things from the front hall shelves will be moved into the guest room/library so the front hall shelves can hold medical supplies).
All of the huge, heavy TVs have been replaced with smaller flat screens. And, I admit, I got some "toys", including a new sewing machine (because the old one is in the shop and after 3 weeks they still haven't gotten around to it).