Mark and I haven't had a house since 1999. I am thrilled to have a stand alone home again...it is a luxury that I don't take for granted. I love my neighborhood...it's chock full of friendly people with too many pitbulls, which I hate....because I have a little dog.
Mark & I wanted a pared-down utilitarian look with a sentimental existentialist mood.
...ON With The Show!
In the beginning...an empty box of cream walls and white trim (nice) with wood floors (nicer)....Great light too...East and South...it's a lightfull room. It's the living room and the dining room. This is a very small house..only a little over 700 sq ft. One must only allow so much inside!
Red wall...a very pretty color, but I had to have a different color. I didn't want gray tho I love gray walls, because I wanted more warmth. A brown. But I didn't want to repeat the 70s. Must move on from chocolate. yum ;-)
This is a milk chocolate...I think it's called Truffle or Pig's Eye....whatev'. So Before:
Choosing colors:
NOW.......Painted, decorated....but with raw silk tossed over the bamboo set from the 60s, a nice heavy cotton in the same shade will by magic! become the new pillows....in the future. ...Everything is thrifted, found, or bought second-hand....except for...a few things I'm sure. That's the kitchen in the background...with white lace over the refrigerator.
Sleeping Tigger, huge antique empty gold frame, a long vintage frame with the pictures removed and nothing but the shadows and the yellow scotch tape faded stains from some children's graduation pictures from Whitman Elementary, Wilson High and uPS....weird. Another antique framed sepia photo set of 13 ladies from the early 1900's....not a dog in the bunch. Hand-carved walnut frame, and of course, Mark's Valentine's Day gift of 2010....the chihuahua in acrylic.
Big metal 60s keys.
The genie lamp on the right...yeah. Acid green 60's velvet pillow, and a Van Gogh crewel vintage pillow....Vanity Fair, and The Stranger.
Various antlers....thanks deers.
Irish hotel laundry basket keeps blankets and sheets. Military box some grammpy kept in his garage. Milk crates and wood boxes are stacked for book shelves in the corner next to the dining area.
I love the mis-matched chairs...2 are beech dogbone style and one is a 50s Boeing knockoff of an Arne Jacobsen series 7 chair. Love the bleached faux bois formica table with cast iron metal legs in the modern style. It took me Forever...to choose the fabric I'm going to cover 2 chairs with....That's a piece of faded vintage cotton with olive, chartreuse, graige, and cream modern art/Pollack scribble boxes design! Whew! Grass rug.
You've seen her before....books and mags in a basket. 50s fiberglass atomic plant stand...Look at that avocado tree!! Mark grew them, and I think they're now about 4 years old. It survived the dark shop.
All the curtains are lace tableclothes tied with ribbon on the curtain rods. The miniblinds came with the house...mixed feelings on those things.
Behind the painting are 2 rolled up 30s posters detailing the evils of Alcohol...drinking it, that is. It's a solvent. Thank god.
This is where the nightly cocktail hour begins.
On this wall, across from the couch, are 2 arm chairs, or if pushed together, a loveseat. I've used this set in all kinds of configurations since they are in reality....4 armchairs, and one armless chair, with separate cushions. There is my golden lamp that will hang in the bedroom...soon.
My Scout chair, my daytime husband that models for me, and the desk where the bills multiply after they come inside from the mailbox. The evil evil mailbox. Arch mirror, peacock feathers that spend their life in tilted leisure, and my pride......a California Pharmacist License issued to Edna Allen Bufford, July 24, 1927.
That's Mark's birthday....not the 1927 part.
The entertainment center....a few albums of the many....empty frames, my lovely mirror, and I love the big pocketwatch...goes with the big keys....I have a thing for watches, clocks and keys. Big and small. We keep the French's Mustard box because it's so Andy Warhol...and it earns its keep by holding our cassettes.
The glasses case holds glasses until they are sold. Lots of old books and brass things, old leather and wood things, and a portrait of Jean....from whom Mark gets his good looks.
So, in the times to come, I'll show more detail shots and other angles. The kitchen is next, and more work on the Bathroom...ugh! The purple and leopard Maxfield Parrish Oasis of Love bedroom is coming along nicely....
This is a 1943 home....with plaster walls, and very little original detail left. The kitchen was redone in the 60s, and the counter was redone about 5 minutes ago. But I have a kitchen and I have hot water and I am very happy.The yard work starts later this month !! Woo Hoo....time to plant daffodils and tulips and iris and more more more......
