While I Am Sitting Here....

It ended up being a small ordeal to get full-frontal photos of the house in order to email them to Mel. I wanted to use a camera that was better than mine (supposedly) but the photos came out terrible! We won't even discuss the bare spots where I had pulled out the old landscaping last summer, the 50 mph winds and generally dark day, not to mention the fact that I couldn't back up any further to get a full panorama of the house or I ran the risk of falling down a steep hill and into oncoming traffic.

Regardless, I got what I could, here are some outtakes:

YES my bullet planters are full of fakedy-plant goodness. It looks fine from a distance, only the fed-ex guy comes to the front door so I'm not too worried about anyone thinking I'm tacky. Once spring and summer arrive, I will try my hand at real plants and see what happens.

So... I think we all have those kind of days where you read other people's blogs or sites and their homes look 1000x better than yours. Last week I was bumming out over the fact that my front door isn't orange, I don't have built-in planters anywhere, my kitchen sucks, my couches are all wrong, yellow siding is ugly, I wish I knew how to install pinch-pleat drapes, I will never be as DIY savvy as the girl who owns The Brick House, and holy-crap- I-need-3-matching-sconces-and-where-the-heck-am-I-going-to-find-THREE-matching-sconces....! etc etc etc. There were definately some home-insecurities running rampant around here!

But then I had to take these photos and they reminded me how much I love this house and how we came to own it. How I get butterflies in my stomach like a silly crush every time I drive up the hill towards home and see the the roof pointing out of the trees just a little bit. How there's nothing like the familiar prints of my barkcloth curtains when I walk in after a long day. How it's funny that when I googled about some Hall-Mack pieces, photos of my bathroom were close to the top of the search... how it will soon be summertime and I have a huge set of patio furniture to sandblast and repaint for the ultimate in swanky poolside furnishings... and how I have all these amazing ideas of things to do around here to just make it extra-groovy and how lucky I am to have a literal partner-in-crime who is down for any kind of project or purchase.

& I stopped feeling so inadequate. :)

What Is That Saying About The Best Laid Plans... ?

What a week! It started with one of my dogs spraining his back and suddenly becoming 70 pounds of immobile (and very sad/confused) pit bull.  His condition was so bad that my partner-in-crime had to postpone his flight for 2 days because the poor dog needed to be carried up and down steps so that he could do his bathroom business. That ended up being rather futile because the steroids that the vet eventually gave him after the anti-inflammatory pills weren't really working caused explosive... mess and stomach issues for the poor dog to the point where we had to lock him up in the kitchen to contain the chaos. P-I-C left for Italy on Wednesday and I promptly came down with a nasty cold that rendered me useless to just about everyone and everything in the house. There went my whole grand plan of house projects!

I couldn't sleep last night so I dug up the architectural plans for the house that we have. There's quite a few of them, and plenty of copies for some reason. I know we have the blueprints as well but I didn't find them. These plans are on huge sheets of paper and have been rolled but then squished under another box. Scanning them just exaggerated all the creases, so I fussed in photoshop a bit to make it look like they're supposed to be kind of ratty. Is anyone crafty enough to know a trick to smoothing out paper? I was thinking of putting a towel over one, and ironing over the towel to see if the paper smoothed out. Some of these are neat in their own way and I would love to frame them.

 

The original plans for the house (not shown) are dated 1959 and are really far-off from the finished product, which is funny. Also the original owner of the house is listed as the designer of it. He was an engineer by trade, and really knew what he wanted in house. A local architecture company drew up the blueprints and plans.

This is the aerial spec of the property, from 1971 when the carport and upper (off-kitchen) deck were constructed.

Things I Collect Pt. 2

L to R: Vintage NOS Napkins, Franciscan Starburst, Syracuse China

I want to pose the question: is one item considered a collection? I have only found one of these Syracuse China plates in "Fanfare". But I want more. I want to collect them, alas I only have the one right now.  They don't come up on ebay very often (or if they do, it's hard to find - not too many people know the pattern name). There were some sets up last night, but I didn't bid... I'd prefer to hunt them down around here & get them as I find them. The Starburst collection isn't a serious one, they're mostly for show in the breakfront.

Also, does anyone else collect other people's photos? I will rummage through boxes of photos and pick them out based on color tint, subject, clothing, or home design. It's kind of creepy but I like to just look at them and imagine the stories of the day they were taken.

This and the photo underneath are from the same roll. 

 

 

 

clearly this person had A+ taste in furnishings. I like to think this roll of photos is from a new house. Everyone is happy and showing off.

So! If anyone comes across any Syracuse Fanfare, keep me in mind! :)

Sunday Morning Virtual MidMod House Hunting in Montco PA

I did it again last night - stayed up until 4am cruising the real estate listings in the area after driving through a pocket of gorgeous homes nearby; some that were on the market.

Looking at these homes makes me happy-angry. Happy to see the angles, the lines, large windows, a random orange door or something similar. Angry when I click the interior photos and see just horrible renovations, tacky decor or just plain disrepair.  And the abundance of of granite countertops will someday cause me a brain aneurysm, mark my words.

I know I can't fault these people for their decorating choices or for anything that I find aesthetically displeasing. But in general, I'm a very opinionated person with almost zero filter from my brain to my mouth and since I can't make snarky comments to them in person, I will do it here.

So! On with the tour, these are a few of the more notable listings I found. There are 2 pseudo time capsule homes, and if any listings are repeats from the last real estate post I made, I apologize. I'm tired today from the 3 hours of sleep I had between internet scrolling and the estate sale I hit up this morning.

In no random order:

1615 Terwood  CLICK HERE to read about it!

345 Moredon CLICK HERE to check out some amazing pics.

these 3 shots are all from the same house. the listing said that the designer/orginial owner is selling it but not who the designer is specifically. CLICK HERE for the listing.

You will want to check out this listing... specifically the backyard shot - check out the sculpture back there!

technically this is not in MontCo but it's pretty sweet.

And finally, "1701 Hillcrest". Proof Positive that "time capsule" home does not neccessarily mean your jaw will drop in a good way. Ok it's really not my tastes save for the one living room with orange accent colors, but I appreciate it for what it is.

1701 Hillcrest, there are some really odd photos HERE

when your room has a spiral staircase in the middle of it, may as well put grass green shag rug around it to make it more like you're popping out of a rabbit-hole.

after a few drinks in this fake african safari room, I may give my honest opinion of the decor. :)

 There were many more homes that were rather unimpressive inside and out, yet had either one room or one specific detail about it that was interesting.  I got to see that pink bathrooms are alive and well in  NE Pennsylvania, as well as some amazing old kitchens. I will post those vignettes at a later date, just for eye candy. This week was very good for thrifting finds that I want to photograph and post tonight.