“Inside the Door . . .” from the February 8, 1966 Door County Advocate

Feb 27, 2025

Inside the Door . . .
One of a series of Door County homes

The weekly feature “Inside The Door” is usually written by Women’s Editor Frances Badtke, but due to icy roads and plenty of work at the office she has asked Keta Steebs, roving reporter from Sister Bay to fill her in with a few house stories from that area.

The first of several Keta will do is today’s story of how Mrs. Jake Kodanko redecorated her home around a $4.88 lamp.

She can also cook and see today’s “Pantry Door” for Mrs. Kodanko’s recipe for Onion Pie.

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Look closely, men, at that simply made, plain little lamp sitting so primly on the chest in the accompanying living room photograph. Mrs. Jake Kodanko bought it for $4.88 and Jake had to build a room around it.

At least that’s the reason Annabelle gives for talking her husband into an extensive remodeling campaign; one which not only gave her a beautiful new living room but which also included a renovated kitchen, spacious entry hall, commodious closetspace and an indoor stairway. Jake managed to work in a new office for himself.

The Kodankos, whose attractive apartment is located over Jake’s garage and working quarters (he's in the excavating business in case someone from Borneo is reading this paper), are a hospitable couple who love to entertain.

Anne’s lack of cupboard space in her old kitchen and its inconvenient outside staircase leading directly into it were prime reasons for overhauling the entire apartment. She also wanted an open-beamed living room and this was the only way she could get one.

The results are outstanding! Antique birch paneling, carefully chosen because she “likes lots of knots”, enriches persimmon carpeting and nubby, ivory drapes. Warm, highly polished woods accent both the judiciously placed “greenery” and her original, vividly splashed paintings which highlight one wall. It’s a room you hate to leave, maybe because the furniture, described by its owners as early ‘mishmosh’, is so comfortable.

Almost every piece of furniture in the living room has a history, including the $4.88 lamp, which was one of a set marked down when its mate fell on top of it, breaking itself into a thousand unsalable pieces and slightly damaging the base of its surviving partner. Anne cagily turns that side toward the window, where only a 12 ft. tall window peeper would notice it.

She rescued her handsome storage chest from its original owners just as they were loading it on a truck to haul to the dump. It now excites more compliments than its newer, far more expensive companion pieces.

“I love working with woods; the older the better,” Anne says. And, after viewing her hundred year old dining room table from which she, personally, had removed nine layers of paint, one is inclined to believe her.

Ladder back chairs, coffee cable, end tables, what-not tables — all have felt (and show) the painstaking care of loving hands rubbing their aged and tarnished surfaces into a glowing new life.

The Kodanko kitchen is a jewel. It’s easy to work in, cheerful and compact. It’s Annabelle’s favorite room. Spritely wallpapers covers one wall and ruffled curtains frame a deep-set window built to hold “lots and lots of plants.” Mrs. Kodanko designed the room and spent a solid week, tape measure in hand, laying out space for her butternut cupboards. She ended up with two drawers too many and still can’t figure out where she went wrong. Needless to say, she isn’t complaining.

The old living room (which wasn't good enough for her $4.88 lamp) is now a family room with one end set apart for formal dining. A huge, hand-braided rug nearly covers the oak floor and Anne’s own art work hangs on the wall. This is the room, David and Bonnie Kodanko, call their own. Here they view television, do their homework (David is in the sixth grade, Bonnie in the second) and play with “Puddles,” their thoroughly housebroken dog, who wasn’t always that way.

David’s “ski-hill snack allowance” has been sharply curtailed this month due to his habit of practicing dartball on one of his bedroom walls, without bothering to put up a dart board. His parents are waiting for him to save enough money to at least putty the holes before they redecorate. Fortunately, his ranch oak bunk beds, desk and chest have emerged unscathed, as has the wall covered with Packer pennants.

Cedar paneling sets off Bonnie’s typical little girl’s room, with her two favorite dolls playing key roles in the overall decor. Both costumes blend with a gay Walt Disney spread and matching drapes. An overflowing toy chest doesn’t blend with anything, so that is one reason it’s almost shoved out of sight on the picture.

The master bedroom is almost as large as the family room. A hand crocheted spread fully covers the double bed and the matching scarves draped casually on the chest and dresser are further proof of Annabelle’s love for heirlooms. All three pieces are gifts from her mother.

Her own handiwork is evident in a smartly upholstered, chintz covered occasional chair which is, she says, “The first job I ever tackled.” Its professional workmanship would do an upholsterer credit.

A muted beige wallpaper was chosen to harmonize with warm, maple furniture and as in all rooms in the Kodanko home, original works of art (many by her friend, Anita Beckstrom) grace the walls. This room would have been photographed if it weren’t for an unphotogenic radiator which one of these days “is going to go.”

A guest house “Inn Debt” provides comfortable accommodations for numerous summer visitors who enjoy dropping in for a day or two. The welcome mat is always out at the Kodanko residence, except at this time of year, when they do a little visiting themselves. Jake has just returned from a business trip to San Diego; Annabelle from visiting her sister in Oklahoma City and the two of them are leaving shortly on a Caribbean cruise.

They’ll undoubtedly be bringing home souvenirs, but Jake, for some strange reason, says, “Buy anything but lamps, Annabelle, buy anything but lamps.”