How it began | Creepy Ghoulie's Guide to Thrifty Gothic Homemaking

Of course, I wasn’t lucky enough to move into an 1800’s Victorian manor in the English countryside.
Nope.
I moved into a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom townhouse in the Lower Mainland (Greater Vancouver area) of British Columbia in Canada. While it may not be our dream home, after many years of renting we are finally able to call this place our own.
We ended up doing a lot more work in the first few months of home-ownership than we had expected. The previous owner was a heavy indoor smoker. Not only did he pretty much “abandon ship” and leave us mounds of his junk, but I swear the entire place was coated in yellow, nasty, smoky residue. So the first thing we did was clean, and clean some more. Then we began to paint. Anything to get that horrible smell out of our home.
That’s where this all began.
delia deetz.jpg
Of course, we were never the type of people who could paint a wall beige, throw down a shag rug and put our feet up.
No.
We wanted somewhere dark.
Elegant.
Romantic.
Vintage.
And beautifully, intricately GOTHIC.

After years upon years of collecting Halloween decor and mastering the art of DIY, we began our quest.
I’ve enclosed the few photos I took of our house before we started.