SCONE Tea Room

While my initial thought was to document the house renovations and post the progress, life had other plans.  But anyone who has gone through even minor renovations or building knows there is never a definite finish date.  A person really learns the meaning of patience.

Sadly, it had to be done. I’m just glad I wasn’t here to see this part.

This was used as insulation between the exterior and interior walls in the kitchen.

Eventually, things started to come together after the new floor was installed.  My sister and I cleaned up the construction mess, scrubbed down the walls, floors, and woodwork.  And after we carried in some of the furniture, we started to envision what the rooms would look like.

The living room is now the dining area.

But while construction may be done, my work was only beginning.  I had to open a very large number of boxes that were stored in the garage and inside the house. I had accumulated a lot of stuff over the past year. Then, all that cardboard needed to be cut down and taken to recycling. More items had to be purchased, cleaned, and put away. It felt as if this were a never-ending process.

I chose Smith Tea out of Portland, Oregon as my tea brand.  It was so exciting to receive the first shipment.

All of these vintage dishes had to be hand washed!

And as luck would have it, I still managed to stumble upon cute home decor like this cast iron hook with birds at a local garage sale.  It worked perfectly in the mud room.

I was extremely fortunate to get all the old furniture and much of the furnishings from local auctions, thrift stores, family, and friends.

While the breakfast nook shows a lot of wear from over the years, I refused to remove it.  I think it is one of the special features in the house.

I decided to forego refinishing all the woodwork since I neither had the time or the extra funds to do it.  Instead, I wiped everything down and used stain markers wherever there were little gashes in the wood.  The old-fashioned metal radiator covers were replaced with handmade wooden ones.

This collage of old photos of my hometown adorns one of the walls in the bathroom.

I loved setting the tables for the first time and how the old and new tableware complemented each other.

The Lutheran Church on the left purchased this house in 1930 for $7300 to be used as a parsonage.  The old church was later torn down and the current Lutheran Church on the right was relocated to a different part of town.

Then it was Christmas before I knew it and all the festive decorations were on full display.  I love this time of year!

There is a small gift shop where customers can purchase the jams and teas that are served in the tea room, as well as tea sets, soaps, lotions, tea towels, candles, ornaments and cloth napkins.

Customers from Swea City and the surrounding area soon arrived.

We even celebrated a very special birthday.

Welcome to the SCONE Tea Room!  I hope to see you!