Moving To A Schoolhouse 1: Small Living Room on a Budget

My dear friend, Mary Elizabeth, is strong, creative, and never indecisive. Within a month, she decided to sell her home here in Applegate and downsize even further, to a new Senior Living complex just a few miles away.  In a matter of weeks, she has listed her home and moved to a newly renovated schoolhouse here in Falmouth.  We've enjoyed helping her.

This is Plummer School. It was built as Falmouth High School in 1931. and then served elementary students until a few years ago. As in many communities around the country, these beautiful old school buildings are finding new life as senior apartments.

It's kind of sad to see old school buildings giving way to modernization and yet, as a retired teacher, it makes me happy that they are not being torn down. In fact, Plummer School is on the National Register of Historic Places. Here it is just before renovation began. I can almost hear the ghosts of students past, gossiping between classes before the bell rings.

Each classroom makes a perfect-sized apartment for one or two people. Mary Elizabeth chose a small one bedroom unit , only 612 square feet. She looked at larger ones but liked the view hers has; it faces west and overlooks the old playground, which has been updated with flowering trees and walking trails.

So # 204 it is! Home Sweet Home!

Mary Elizabeth's living room is only 11 feet by 15 feet and has to do double duty as a dining area.

There were many challenges to decorating this room including : 1. Mary Elizabeth has a piano,  2. She wanted to bring her little electric parlor stove with her, and 3. Mary Elizabeth is on a limited budget. 

Although this is a work in progress, here's what has been accomplished so far. The walls are a warm beige; the woodwork is off-white. Neither can be changed.  I love the huge old school house windows and high, high ceilings. Both make the room look larger than it is.

We haven't spent much on this project so far (or should I say Mary Elizabeth hasn't; she always says hanging out with me usually costs her money!).  I love the curtains. We found them for only $12.99 a pair for 84" at our local Rhode Island Job Lots store.  Total cost to dress two huge windows" $26.00!

Mary Elizabeth loves both farmhouse and coastal styles and already had a lot of accessories we could use. I love the arrangement she did on her blue shelf above the stove. We updated further by adding the 24" tobacco basket which we found at T.J. Maxx for only $12.99. As you can see, there is still "stuff" on the floor to the right of the stove waiting to be unpacked . . . eventually.

While we were at it, we added a few accessories to Mary Elizabeth's front entrance. Since she spent her career working for AT&T, the wall phone was a must. The distressed chalkboard for messages and phone numbers was a Goodwill find (new) for $11.00.

And behind the door, we repositioned Mary Elizabeth's coat rack from her Applegate home, along with her "Falmouth" sign.

This is the living room before she moved in, taken from the window wall and facing the kitchen.

Mary Elizabeth found this adorable table and chair set for only $50.00 at one of her favorite antique shops. It's perfect here!

Today, DH and I went over to Plummer School to help Mary Elizabeth hang shelves and bedroom curtains. There's still a lot to do but I look forward to updating the blog with progress in the bedroom and storage areas of this cozy little classroom turned home!

So . . . can we live comfortably in smaller spaces as we age? Yes! 

Can we do it on a budget? Absolutely!

Can it be fun? For sure!

This post is linked to:

Homestyle Gathering 3 at My Wee Abode
Best of the Weekend Link Party at Calypso In the Country
Blogging Grandmothers Link Party at Grammy's Grid
Amaze Me Monday #300 at Dwellings
J & J Link Up #178 at Plunky's Second Thought
Flaunt It Friday #435 at Chic on a Shoe String

Home Tour: A Coastal Maine Farmhouse

Last week we were camping in mid-coast Maine when a dear friend invited us to Sunday brunch at her ocean front 1880's farm house. A beautiful active woman in her 80's (who still models!), our friend is known as a fantastic cook, so we couldn't wait to go.

What we didn't know was that she is also an interior decorator extraordinaire with a home that belongs in the pages of Country Living magazine.

When you step onto the side porch, the first thing you see is this old blackboard, covered with the words of a favorite poem about life by the sea. The old camp chairs are in the side entry, just outside the kitchen. I love that they are numbered!

 The little kitchen is filled with vintage cooking utensils, fresh flowers, herbs and antiques. 

Our friend is an artist at heart. She sees everyday objects as beautiful. On the way to the living room, we pass this old door hung on the wall . . . a piece of art.

She works on her watercolors in front of a big window looking out at the Atlantic Ocean . . . beautiful even on a foggy morning.

And decorates on a shoestring, using her creativity to transform flea market (and roadside!) finds.

The old iron beds in the guestroom are positioned so that they look out at the ocean.

  I could spend a week cuddled under one of those quilts listening to the sounds of the sea.

In the corner of the living room is a writing desk, an old table really . . . covered with books, notes, sketches, family photos, and yet another view of the ocean beyond.

Every corner of this home tells a story . . . 

And welcomes you to sit for awhile.

Breakfast was served on the old screened porch, with the ocean just outside.

The jam is home made and the Nasturtiums are from the kitchen garden.

No words are needed to describe this view!

I loved the little yellow playhouse hidden in the side yard.

It is surrounded by native wildflowers, which are listed on a board on the side of the playhouse!

 Here's a peek inside!

And this is the house from the driveway. There is a lighthouse just up the road.

The straw hat bird house on the door of the old garage bids us "Goodbye", although I really wished I never had to leave this place.

As the blackboard by the door says,

"I go down to the edge of the sea,

How everything shines in the morning light!"

Indeed it does.

This post is linked to:

Style Showcase #42 at Savvy Southern Style

Talk of the Town #136 at Knick of Time

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage

Flaunt IT Friday #412 at Chic On a Shoestring

DIY Salvaged Junk #439 at Funky Junk Interiors

Happiness Is Homemade #234 at Bluesky at Home

Sundays at Home at Little Farmstead

Amaze Me Monday #277 at Dwellings