how we started out



This coming week we will spend time with two different couples preparing for marriage.
We love doing this and consider it a privilege to speak of our own marriage into their lives.

We can not do that without a time of reflection.

I thought it might be as good as time as any to document our first home.

It was an apartment.
We did not own it...
we paid rent.

We selected the apartment building close to the Safeway store that my beloved worked as a clerk.
This allowed him to walk to work...
and come home for lunch and again at the end of the day.

I did not love the long hallway that gave my creative mind cause to jitter...
nor did I enjoy the underground parking which seemed dark and on more than one occasion I felt fearful.

What I did love about the apartment was that we were there...
together.

We filled it with our wedding gifts and our own furniture that we had saved carefully to buy.

The avocado braided rug was from my 90 year old paternal grandmother.
She did not know she bought it...
my Dad told her she bought it.

The macrame hanger was made by my sisterbylove Heidi...
who knew I loved indoor plants.

The little ceramic pot at the end of the room with the little palm tree..
I still have and use now and then for a splash of pink.

The coffee table and end tables made of pine were gifts from my beloved's parents.
They are still in use.

The TV was black and white and we were thrilled to have cablevision.


The bedroom...
was dreamt about for months.
The bedroom set was a gift from my parents.
My mom quilted the soft yellow quilt and I made the afghan and bed skirt, shams and pillows.
OH..are those my white slippers on the bed?




Here is another one of our living room.
The couches...in that trendy autumn hue...
we bought.
The large arm chair rocked my babies while I nursed them.


The kitchen.

The tiny little yellow plastic framed picture..
and ceramic canister set ...
and  the wooden tray my beloved made in woodwork.

The little footstool is where I sat..
when I talked on the phone..
which was wired to the wall.

It was good.
We were in love and though we dreamt of owning our own home...
we were happy to be just the two of us...
in our first home.

all for now...



Comments

  1. You made that apartment into a home! We had similar items in our first apartments, as were stylish for the era. Perhaps when we are very very old we will again live in a one bedroom place and I hope if that happens we will still make our place as happy and homey as possible.

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  2. Wasn't it a sweet time of life? There are many of us, I'm sure, who will look at your pictures and think "that's just like my old....". Your first nest looks very cosy, indeed.

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  3. You created a beautiful first home, Lovella. Just as charming and welcoming as can be. Oh I had forgotten that style of sofa. We purchased one with a income tax refund one year about 1982 perhaps... It featured a cabin in the woods in those autumn hues. Thank you for the trip down Memory Lane and a sweet one it was, too.

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  4. How fun...to see your cozy nest of long ago! Now you have me picturing my first home...and next thing you know I'll be digging up old photos. Things change bit-by-bit and we don't really notice it...until we see the old pictures.

    Have a fun time with the two couples who are looking forward to starting their own life together!

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  5. I love those pictures!!!! What fun. Isn't it interesting how so much of that style has come back in -- at least for some cirlces of people. Our first apartment kitchen looked just like that one!

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  6. What wonderful memories. Like you, I married in the era of Boston ferns and macrame plant holders. It was marvelous. We lived in a tiny four-plex and thought that it was fantastic. The thrill of having our first home was so great that the small space and tiny kitchen didn't matter a bit. It was cozy and wonderful and life was sweet.
    Thanks for sharing your photos and memories and for bringing back some happy memories for me.
    How marvelous that you're helping to shape the journeys of young couples starting out now. I'm sure you have some wonderful wisdom to pass along and to encourage those who are beginning the journey!

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  7. How great to look back and reminisce about your first home together. Ha! the good ole days when tv's were so little and in black and white!

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  8. Such wonderful, precious memories, Lovella!

    Thank you for sharing the photos and the memories!

    Deanna

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  9. This took me right back!!! My kitchen looked just like that complete with little plastic framed pictures, the vinyl flooring and the pottery on top of the fridge. Thanks for the trip down memory lane - so wonderful! I can just imagine what wonderful role models you are as you counsel those young couples!! Blessings to you.

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  10. What I saw is that your place was cute and welcoming as always! Somehow I felt right at home by this virtual tour ... as my pictures bring out similar colors and decorative design. Who would have thought that macrame plant hangers would go out of style... I think I felt kind of guilty when I gave mine away.
    I know that at the time I would have surely envied your beautiful bed with the ruffled bedskirt and pretty afghan. Wasn't it fun to make the most of what we could afford or make and be content?

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  11. That was our era as well. The colours and styles. The macrame ......didn't we all have one or two of those? Setting up that first home is a good memory for us too. Saving for those special things, arranging them, wedding gifts that helped us get on our way practically...also helped decorated. I will really enjoy your week of posts.

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  12. And look where the love has taken you. I loved all those colors...I still love them..and how you made all those special things just for you and your beloved. Your place always has the homey touch, still and how wonderful for you to continue to bless others...That's what Matter's Most!

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  13. I enjoyed seeing your first home Lovella, as it reminds me of our first apartment as a married couple! I know the young couples you counsel will be happy to share in your wisdom about married life.

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  14. Goodness!! What memories came flooding back of our first home. Our first year we each had a chair and that was all we had in our living room. We would invite our friends over and remind them to bring their own seating. LOL. Thank you for sharing your memories.

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