To begin with...

My grandfather was a Virginia coal miner, but in his 20s moved to southern Ohio, met my grandmother, got married and had 2 children, the first being my father. They moved into The B's Hive in the late 1950's. "Intimate" and "rustic" would be nice euphemisms for the way they lived: 4 people, 4 rooms, 900 sq feet, no central heat, well water and nary a neighbor in sight. Little has changed in the intervening 50 years, except now there are neighbors on either side of the property-quiet, respectful neighbors-but they are there nonetheless.

I suppose at the time the decor was of the moment, stylish even, though I cannot conceive how faux wood paneling, knotty pine cabinets and green shag could have ever been considered aesthetically appealing.
My self-ordained task when taking on "The Hive" as my own was to try to maintain the charm of a tiny rural cottage, not to attempt transform it into a faux Italianate monstrosity or to pretend that is more than it is...but the, ahem, "decor" had to be undone. I wanted to do this on a less than shoestring budget and keeping things as "green" as possible. (What's the point of living in the country if you're gonna poison the air and soil with a bunch of chemicals?)
I enlisted my crew, consisting of my two younger brothers and their amiable friend, and kept them pacified with a steady diet of domestic beer and White Castle. We began with no particular end in mind, just an ill-defined notion of progress and improvement. Needless to say, when undertaking your own home improvement projects you may want to consider things like "deadlines" and "budgeting."

So out went the carpet which, mercifully, wasn't tacked down. The hardwood floor beneath was a muddy looking walnut color, but betrayed only minor damage. Then primer and paint on every bit of fake wood paneling in sight. My desire for a blank canvas was becoming something of a compulsion. This all got underway in mid fall so, as much as weather permitted, the "crew" and I worked in the yard as well. To be clear my landscaping skills consist of the ability to arrange grocery store flowers in pleasing configurations, so needless to say, there was something of a learning curve...But, with the assistance of brother Doug-who had worked as a landscaper in a past life-we managed to power wash all of the buildings (power washing is way fun but we ran the well out of water at least 5 times), stain the deck and cedar walkway, and build a raised flower bed with a red brick retaining wall. Not too bad for amateurs.