I've probably racked up a solid 30,000 steps un-decking the halls of all the formal and dated decor that we inherited with the river house when we purchased it last week. Thankfully, the bulk of the furniture will look more appropriate once the accessories are updated with things that reflect my taste. My decorating goals are fun and informal, which seems appropriate for a weekend home.
We were able to hire the seller's handyman to remove heavy silk drapes and fabric blinds covered in dust from all over the house. Just that one change really brightened up the place. I'll never understand why people hide fabulous views with window coverings, but I'll stay off my soapbox about that. He also climbed up the big ladder, something I'm not comfortable doing, to remove dried flower arrangements and other knick knacks from display ledges.
A friend helped me load up at least 30 boxes of books on the shelves in the living room. Our local library's annual book sale will benefit from that donation. We've been able to use the garage as a staging place for things. One side is for items going to a local consignment shop. That's helping pay for replacement lamps and bedding. The other side is where we've placed items that will either be reused in the guesthouses, or donated to a thrift store where the proceeds go to area churches.
Over the weekend, we decided to take a break from emptying out decor to investigate the river. With 2100' of Guadalupe River frontage, it ranges from warm ankle lapping shallows to a deep channel with springs that's nice and cool. I love that the area right at our stretch of beach where the cliff steps end is the perfect depth for an old school webbed lawn chair to chill in the water.
Tomorrow the painters get started covering dark and dated walls with fresh coats of a lighter color on the entire interior. Our contractor kicks off his work in the kitchen Monday. Next step in the process is to select the outdoor planters I want to keep, and farm out the rest to friends. I can't stand clutter, so many of these pots have to go. I'm guessing there are probably 40 pots and planters of varying sizes, shapes and colors outside. Plus plant stands and those kinda creepy lions feet thingies that hold the pots off the ground. It's just entirely too many to be hand watering and stumbling over on the porches and decks.
Speaking of stumbling... old graceful here opted to wear water sandals instead of my brand new blue water shoes. My mistake, especially when exploring an unfamiliar stretch of river. Thanks to the mostly rock bottoms in the Texas hill country, it's often a march up and down as you traverse along the riverbed. Sure enough, I snagged the front of my sandal on a rock and seriously sprained a toe on my right foot. It doesn't appear to be broken, but it's a startling shade of bruised right now. In a separate stumbling incident, I didn't realize I was headed up the shelf into the shallows, lost my balance and scraped my knee along the rocks. I'm sure I've added yet another scar to the ones I've collected over the past 50 something years. Even though I'm the first walking wounded at the river house, it was worth the ouchie to enjoy the views up to our Cliff House. I've always wanted a home with a name!
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