Just over a year ago, we loaded up U-Haul trucks and trailers and made the trek from Colorado to New Jersey. Yes, I drove a truck with a car trailer behind it for 1,760 miles through the plains (easy), Chicago (not so easy), road construction (annoying), and New Jersey (positively frightening)!   This was another one of those “don’t do what we did” moments, or a “bad decisions make for good stories” instance.

The past year has been an exhausting string of projects, but we now have a livable, and in some places, beautiful home. One of our most recent projects was to buy some furniture and decorate the rooms. Trying to combine a century-old home with a large stash of modern art and some family heirlooms in yet another style proved to be too big a challenge for me. We had help with our furniture selections and placement from Marian at Rider Furniture. We loved the plans and the couch and chairs that we found there.

We also have enjoyed perusing the enormous warehouse of antiques at Empire Antiques. The first time I wandered the aisles, I could imagine getting lost among the items stacked from floor to ceiling. Among other things, we have purchased turn-of-the-century light shades, an occasional table, and two beautiful settees. Glen is a veritable fountain of knowledge about old houses and everything in them.

I was delighted to have Cranbury’s own, Linda Morgan, take all of our stuff and arrange it into a pleasant place to live. If you have any idea of just how quirky and eclectic our things are, you know what a difficult task it was. But with this final step, our main floor is (mostly) finished.

And now, what you’ve all been waiting for: before and one-year-later photos. (I can’t say after photos since there are always a few more things to do!)

Parlor

This room just needs a rug and we are finished! We enjoy hanging out in this room talking with friends or reading.

Before

The parlor includes a conversation area chairs and ottoman from Rider Furniture. It also include furniture from my family and a settee from Empire Antiques.

Hearth Room

A few things still remain to be finished in this room, but we can now comfortably spend time together as a family. Unfortunately, the fireplace doesn’t work at the moment. Rather than trying to repaint the fireplace bricks, we decorated around it.

Family Room

Family room is nearly finished. Couch is from Rider Furniture, settee was found at Empire Antiques.

Foyer

Even when it was in need of repair, the grand staircase and fireplace made the foyer stand out. We didn’t need to do anything other than finish the floors, fix the plaster and paint the walls and trim. The light fixture is original; we only replaced one prism.

Grand Staircase

Entry

Dining Room

The walls and ceiling in the dining room were in very poor shape. Luckily, the original chandelier was intact. We are in the process of reupholstering our dining room chairs and look forward to having guests for dinner.

Dining Room

Kitchen

Everything had to go from this 1946 kitchen. We still need curtains but otherwise the new kitchen is complete!

Stay tuned for the second year’s projects: Shutters, Landscaping, the Attic, the Porch…