Our House - In The Middle of Our Street

Our house it has a crowd
There's always something happening
And it's usually quite loud  
-Our House by Madness

A few blogs ago I decided to list items that would be in my dream home. Shortly after that blog post we found a perfect little house, on a perfect little street in our favorite Tampa neighborhood, Old Seminole Heights. This neighborhood is not the most expensive, trendy part of town you'll find in Tampa - It's kinda middle of the road - which is one of the things we really liked about it. The Hillsborough River is nearby, there are beautiful oak trees lining the sidewalks on just about every street. The entire area reminds us of the neighborhoods just a few blocks away from downtown Florence, AL or Tuscumbia, AL and that's probably got a great deal to do with why we love the area so much. It feels like home to us.

Tampa is divided up into several small neighborhood areas and there's a lot of neighborhood pride in each one. I love it because even though you live in this HUGE city - you still have a small, hometown feeling in our neighborhood. There's lots of porch parties where the entire neighborhood is invited. There's picnics and ice cream socials. There's a farmer's market on the lawn of the high school just down the street from us that's open on Sunday afternoons. There's an elementary school around the corner from our house. There's a Starbucks down the street and there's an adorable dog boutique next door to a sandwich shop/catering place on the other corner. We could not be happier with what we found.

I loved the house we purchased in Tallahassee. I was homesick and having a home that was all my own to paint and fix up as we pleased went a long way to ease my homesickness. But this house in Tampa is the kind of house I always wished I could have. We've been in it since May and I'm still in love with its cute porch, hardwood floors and its charm. It's a great place to call home and come home to.

I've got some plans to post before and afters of the house as we've fixed it up. Of course, it's a constantly changing work in progress - but that's the fun of it isn't it!?

Our house before the builder/remodeler purchased it in August 2011. I believe it was a 2BR/1BA with no central heating and air.

Our house in the listing after the builder/remodeler had done extensive renovations and upgrades. It's now a 2BR/2BA Bungalow. Those stone/masonry walls go all the way up to the roof - which is handy in south Florida where termites abound.

In May 2012 - just a few weeks after we moved in we painted the door and window casings with a blueish purple - hung our star and set out our plants.

The living room pre-renovation.

Matt started painting the wall the day we closed. We moved our mattress over that evening and never spent another night at the rental house.

The living room after we moved in. The builder added columns to divide the large room in the middle of the house. He also added a china cabinet next to the fireplace by reversing a closet in the kitchen. We moved the living room to the area around the fireplace and the dining room to the front of the house.

The living room after we had lived in the space for a while and gotten more settled. We found the replica of the original "Keep Calm and Carry On" poster in the United Kingdom pavilion in EPCOT. My garland is made from pieces of driftwood. The photo above the mantle is one I took of Elizabeth Lake when we were in Glacier last summer. Curtains are from ikea and homemade. The chairs in the middle are from a thrift store in Tampa.

Here's the mantle decorated for fall. The halloween decorations are up now - but those pictures haven't been taken yet.

Our Fall front door.

We've got some cooler temperatures here this weekend. Our highs in the low 80's and lows in the high 60's - that's about all the fall you're going to get here in Tampa. The best part is the break in the constant humidity. You finally don't feel soaked after walking from your house to your car.

Happy Fall Y'all!!