A New View and a New Look

Last weekend we celebrated father's day at the family cabin . . . and ever since we got home I've been wanting to check old photos of times we've spent there over the past thirty years, but I have not gotten to it . . . maybe for a future post.
It was 1978, when my parents bought some land with a horse barn on it. My dad's biggest dream was that it be a place for his grandchildren . . . his first granddaughter having just been born. Gradually, on weekend trips to the lake, the barn was made into living quarters, beginning with cleaning out the horse manure and pouring a concrete floor. It was years before we had a kitchen with running water and a bathroom in there. Final touches were done one summer in the early 1990's . . . when bathrooms got finished and the whole place got painted and wallpapered . . . country blue and red with red apple borders, blue doors and railings . . . you get the picture.

When Shaun and Kristal moved here this Spring, an interim job before paperwork gets completed was needed . . . so doing renos on a family cabin was a good answer to their need and our desires.

One of the best changes made was to move the kitchen table to another spot, making room for a bigger kitchen and putting the kitchen sink, that used to face a wall, by the window.

 

The old gas fireplace, which heats most of the house, got a new facelift, or should I say back lift?

The kitchen table got painted, new chairs purchased, and moved into a space created by tearing down a wall near the sitting area . . . a room that was basically junk storage... now ready for grander purposes.



You can still see the apple on the back of the newly painted old high chair.



Very old, saggy couches were moved out of the sitting area. It was easy to do when there was such a good deal to be had!

The bathtub got re-caulked, the toilet a new lid. A new curtain, bath mat and paint, finished the bathroom nicely.

Upstairs, the blue railing and the dark panelling got painted . . .

as did the bedrooms. Bedding and accessories were purchased to give each room a theme. Old dressers and tables were re-purposed or painted to match each room.

The rec-room got de-cluttered and room was made for two large couches. Lots of room to hang out now.

Even the space around the firepit has undergone some changes over the years, the biggest change being the size of the circle gathering around it. After all, when this all began there were seven people in the family. Now there are 32 going on 33 in the Fall and 34 in the Spring! I know Dad (Opa and Great - Opa) would have been very pleased with the efforts made to include more family . . . and keeping his dream alive.  It was a happy Father's Day!