1962--The Bedrooms

(Ten years ago we had an opportunity to go back in time. A customer allowed us to rent her mother's house while we were between renting and owning. Her mother had passed away two years before, but the house was untouched waiting for the granddaughter to graduate from college. It had been beautifully decorated in 1962--and stayed the same for 37 years.

Scroll down to the bottom and read up to read my descriptions.)


This is my last post about the 1962 house.


There were three bedrooms. One at the end of the hall, then turn left and there were two more. The end-of-the-hall bedroom appeared to have been a guest room. When we lived there it was just light storage and the ironing board. Each bedroom had a NICE sized closet in it. That was unusual for the time.


The next bedroom was for the two daughters. There were two twin beds and the table between the beds. Across from the beds was a built in desk that spanned the length of two windows. The BEST part, though, was a wallpaper mural on the wall behind the beds. It was a line drawing with minimal color of a Paris scene. The room was painted in muted pinks and tans. The lamp between the beds was milk hobnail glass and a ruffled lampshade. I was expecting a poodle somewhere and found it in the mural. Two black poodles being walked by a stylish lady.


The entire upstairs floor was covered in linoleum. We lived there from July through November. They may have put small rugs near the beds--at least I hope so. It wasn't too cold while we lived there, but I imagine January would have been crisp when getting out of bed!


The final room was the parent's room. There was an entire matched set of blond furniture. A tall chest of drawers, dresser with mirror, bedside table, and headboards and footboards. Plural. They were twin beds! Just like Rob and Laura Petrie!


We pushed the beds together, pushing the mattresses so that they touched in the middle. But, I have a confession to make. I LIKED having separate mattresses. No, our marriage isn't in trouble or anything. It was just so nice having my covers stay where I put them. It was so nice to have the bed stay still when my husband moved around in his sleep. It was like having one of those beds where you dial your mattress firmness separately. It's probably just me. I like to SLEEP when it's time to sleep.


I jokingly broached the subject of twin beds when we moved into this house. If memory serves me I think there was a snort and then he went to unload some more boxes. As he walked away, I remember thinking that it wasn't such a bad idea...


(In case you've become concerned about our relationship, we have a queen mattress and we BOTH sleep there!)

1962--The PINK Bathroom

I've shown the first floor and described the basement of the 1962 house we lived in for four months. Now it's time to go upstairs.

When I walked up the stairs (covered in the shag carpeting, of course), I arrived at a long hallway/landing. Upstairs was all linoleum that had a blond wood look to it. I guess carpeting was preserved for the more "public" areas. The first door on the right was the bathroom.

I opened the door and was greeted with a confection of pink! The fixtures were pink, the ceramic tile on the walls was pink. The curtains and shower curtain were white eyelet. The sweetest little white wicker clothes hamper stood beneath the window. Above the sink and toilet were glass shelves. The walls were wallpapered in pink and white "mod" flowers. I was thrilled.

Ever since then I have been a fan of pink bathrooms. At the time I didn't realize that the whole pink craze during the 50s-early 60s was because of Mamie Eisenhower. HERE is an article about the extent of the fad and Mamie's reasons for her decorating choices.

The website with the Mamie article is specifically about Pink Bathrooms. Scroll down to click on lots of pictures.

If I had a 50s house to decorate, I would definitely embark on convincing my husband to have a pink bathroom. With black accents. Until then I have my memories and this website to encourage my dreams.

1962--The Basement

In Florida there are no basements. If you dig too deep, you'll have an indoor pool. So, when we moved Up North we were excited at the prospect of living in places that provided the extra below-ground space.

Our first apartment was a vertical half of a 100 year old house. The floors sloped and the electricity was a game of Russian Roulette. I became very proficient at changing those old round fuses. They were located in the basement. The dirt floor basement. With giant cast iron pipes hanging down. My favorite pipe was the one that I had to learn to duck under at the bottom of the rickety stairs. I learned that the hard way. It was a matter of "feel" because the light was a bare bulb with a pull-string. In the middle of the basement.

To the left of the stairs the wall went up about three feet and was filled with sand. I found a kitchen knife sticking out of the sand once. We decided not to dig into that area in case we found a body.

The spiders were supersized with GIGANTIC webs. It was rather frightening.

That was our first experience with a basement.

Then, we moved into the 1962 house. I don't have pictures and it saddens me to this day. I will do my best with my words:

There was a light switch. At the TOP of the stairs. That was cool. I peered down the strong, painted stairs and took courage. When my eyes arrived at the floorspace at the foot of the stairs, I knew I was in for a treat. The owners were avid Bridge players. When they finished the basement, they used the suit symbols as a decoration square in the linoleum. Among other things, they would play Bridge with friends on a weekly basis down in this basement.

I confidently walked down the stairs and turned when I got to the bottom. Couches! An old 1960s TV. A phonograph! Orange walls, parquet floor. Lights everywhere! Bright, cheerful, and even the spiders looked accommodating.

Also down there was the laundry area. Lines were strung the length of the back area for winter and wet weather drying. That was because there was NO dryer. Just a 1960s vintage front-loader (yes!) washing machine.

I could picture the phonograph playing some Elvis tunes for the teenage girls' parties, probably some Sinatra for the Bridge parties. I suspect the TV was stored there when the updated one was brought into the house and placed in the living room.

My faith in basements was restored.

1962--The Kitchen

Now for the kitchen. It's a galley shape. Wait 'til you see the wallpaper choice in here!

The cabinetry is all metal. The stove is in spectacular condition. It is wide enough to have lots of space between the burners and two ovens. The oven on the left (no window) was about half the size of the one on the right. All the cabinets were still filled with dishes, pans, pots, etc. Even the cookbooks and coupons were still there.

The little piece of counter you see at the bottom right is a desk area. The phone (attached to the wall of course) is there. A drawer with phone book, pencils, etc. is underneath, and there is space for a high stool. (ETA--The phone there was a new one. The one UPstairs was the one attached to the wall. It's been 10 years. My memory is fuzzy!)

To the left of the stove is a broom closet. To the left of the broom closet is a 1/2 bath (unusual for that time). To the left of the bathroom is the door leading to the basement.

The carpet on the floor (Oh I WISH I had a closeup!) is the sage color with orange and yellow dots! It is NOT shag but a very flat, nice carpet. It, too, was in fantastic condition. While living there I spilled something on it. I was horrified! 37 years and it looked practically new and I'M the one to ruin it?? I made it my goal in life to get that spot out (and succeeded).




ALL of the appliances in this house were vintage. There was even a washing machine circa 1960s in the basement. No dryer, though. That's what that clothesline in the backyard was for!

This couple must have been a little bit upscale. Besides the 1/2 bath and nice furniture, they also had a dishwasher. That baby still worked, too! The frig, too, was vintage and very roomy. The board in the back of the room is actually a pull-down table. The daughter told me that she and her sister would sit there and do there homework sometimes when their mother was getting dinner. To the left of that table was the back door.



While I was living there the washing machine finally died. I was aghast. THEN the dishwasher overflowed. I thought I was going to die. I figured out what I had done wrong (I had stopped it to answer the phone by opening it slightly and it continued to fill with water. Dishwashers have come a LONG way since then). I figured the daughter was going to throw me out for sure when it appeared that I was staining, breaking, and flooding everything!

That's all the pictures that I have. We did a video, but it's on a VCR tape and I can't upload it. In my next post all do a quick word description of the 2nd floor and the basement.

I hope you're finding this interesting. It was such a great adventure getting to travel back in time and live there. I just can't do it justice, especially without pictures!

Sadly, the granddaughter remodeled it when she graduated from college and moved in. If I had known she was going to do that, I would have packed the couch and taken it with me!

1962--The Dining Room

From the long living room with it's many purposes, you walk toward the left back of the house and into the dining room.

There actually IS a TV in the living room. It is relegated to a far away corner, across from the end of the desk. You'll see it as you look into the dining area.

In the dining room, you'll see the same curtains as used in the living room. Unseen on the left is a credenza in Danish modern. It was still filled with all the serving pieces and linens for meals. I made use of them while we were living there. On the right is a floating shelf with a curved shape to it that could be used as extra serving space. On the wall is wallpaper. Throughout the house is lots of wallpaper, all of it vintage.

I'll post the picture here, but if you'd like to see it up close go HERE and the picture will be "clickable." Scroll down past the two living room pictures.



I'm not a fan of carpet in the dining room. I have it now, which is why I'm not a fan. I have to say, though, that after 37 years of use, the short shag used in this house was still in stunningly good shape. Maybe I should consider shag next time.

The door you see to the right enters the kitchen. I'll do a post about that tomorrow.

Clickable pictures

A surprise! 1962--The Living Room

Thanks to all this decluttering, I have finally located some pictures I've been chomping at the bit to find!

Before we moved into this house, we were renting an apartment. We were one week away from closing on a house when the deal fell through. The apartment was already rented and we needed to bout OUT by that Saturday. We were effectively homeless. We put everything in storage and rented a hotel room.

My husband is a paint contractor. We were praying about what to do and God reminded my husband of a customer of his who owned her mother's house. Her mother had died two years before and the lady was saving the house for when her daughter graduated from college. My husband gave her a call and she was happy to have us rent her house on a month by month basis (and also do some paint work while we were there).

The kicker was that the house had been decorated in 1962. Tastefully. The mother was such an immaculate housekeeper that everything was in AMAZING condition considering 37 years had gone by!

We lived there for four months and we had a ball stepping back in time. Everything was so wonderfully put together and yet very functional and compact.

I'm going to show you the pictures in three posts as I want to write about specific things. I have only five photos and only of the first floor. We did not get any of the basement or the upstairs. I'll have to just describe them. (These pictures were taken before we got a digital camera, so the processing was what it was. I tried to brighten them as much as I could.)

The mother's color scheme was one I've considered copying. She used orange, sky blue, and sage green. You'll see it throughout, carried from one room to the next and into the kitchen.

I'll start with this picture. The room is long and narrow, the length of the front of the house. In this corner you see a cozy nook for reading or talking. The chairs have the three colors in them. The rug is wall to wall short shag. It was sage green with every few strands being the orange color. The wall is blue and sage "antiqued" paneling. Notice the floating shelf above the fireplace and the kid-pleasing orange-ish chair that spins around. Also notice the glass block on the wall at the bottom of the stairs. At the base of that rectangle of glass is a window box with fake ferns. I found that out when I tried to water them.

The above picture was taken from the little desk in the corner. As you'll see in the next pic, the desk was situated to make a little "office" area with floating shelves behind it. My FAVORITE part of this room, however, is the couch. The couch has polka-dots in, of course, orange, sky blue, and sage. I wanted that couch. I love how the room was decorated in such a way as to create three separate functional areas.

When I finish a post and "publish," I am never able to click on the picture and have it go to a new screen and be bigger. I can do that on other people's blogs. Will you please click on the pics and see if they work? Let me know if they don't. Then let me know how I can make it do that!

Tomorrow: 1962--The dining room.