New Directions

Isn't that the name of a dance and or singing troupe from some kind of comedy show? I can't remember. But it signifies nicely my new hopes for my house blog. I try to keep up with my other blog, which is all about the fam, but I've been sorely lagging on this house blog, since I feel like it has to be strictly relating to house progress. But there just isn't much noteworthy going on over here. We got a new (used) dishwasher from my Dad, which is insanely wonderful and beautiful (a stainless Bosch) that essentially makes the rest of the kitchen look even worse than it did before. The kitchen is so appalling right now. I don't even want to be in it. Not having a functioning dishwasher for over a month in a busy family is basically a long-term sentence to having crusty dishes pile up. On the up side, we now have a dilapidated dishwasher in the backyard, which to me lets the neighbors know that we are high class. For real.

Um, I'm off track already. My point was that I think I'll just blur the lines a little with the house blog and post about general topics in terms of the house. And things house related. Basically, the stuff I want to write about that doesn't need to go in the family blog to be read by my daughter when she's old enough to read. So, I'll do maybe some of that thing where I post images of things on other design blogs that are lovely. I've tried not to do that since it usually just makes me feel depressed about the current state of my house, but e-mailing myself links to design articles I like is also stupid. I never remember to go back and look at them... At least this way I would have to go out of my way to not look at them.

Since we found out about the Curb Appeal thing, I've been wanting to get the inside of the house up to par, since it might end up having glimpses on TV. Ah! Here are some of my most pressing issues:
1. The ceiling in the living room needs to be addressed. It's still peeled back from the old leak. And in the dining area it is discolored. There is no more leakage, and I bought the spray on ceiling texture, I just need to use it. Ugh.
2. I need to finish my Eames chairs and get the dining area mostly done. I found this little owl napkin holder at the Last Chance Thrift Store a couple of weeks ago. I know it's really kitschy, but it was a dollar and I love owls. I had a 70's owl light switch plate when I was a kid (courtesy of my awesome mom helping me adorn my bedroom in 70's decor, even though it was the 90's). So I'm not just trendy. I'm continuing a personal affection that just happens to be trendy.

3. I am not happy with the furniture placement in the living room. The couch and credenza are pretty much stuck, but I can't seem to get a chair arrangement around them that looks nice. We got a BEAUTIFUL end table from my mom, that she found at a thrift store. I'll post photos soon... But I promise, it's insane. It's all angle-y and has metal-capped feet. It's big, too. One of those multi-level tables, but unlike most of them that have old-lady swirls and curves, this one is super modern. I LOVE it. It just needs some work on the finish. There is a little bit of discoloration and some cup marks. But it's not bad. And this table feels so solid. I kind of think it was homemade. But back to furniture placement... I'm thinking I'd like to create some sort of conversation area next to the window, but I'm not sure how to do it yet. I just love the idea of having the central seating, and then a separate little conversation area. I'm just thinking the space is too small.
4. There is a problem with our stupid IKEA pendant light in the dining room. The cap doesn't sit flush with the ceiling, so you can see the wadded up cord and the icky hole in the ceiling. Thanks IKEA. I bought a surround to put between the light and the ceiling, but I have to uninstall the light to put it up. Are we finding a pattern here? Half-finished projects? Yes, I have thousands.
5. The hall light still doesn't work. The new fixture is up, but it doesn't do anything. I hate you hall light.
6. I want to find a lamp for the afore-mentioned end table. I've got a Home Goods gift card that has lamp written all over it. I'm thinking small and clean.
7. I want to create a plate mural on the wall of the dining area. I'm not liking the collection of red frames. It's just too holly-hobby looking. And I read this post on Apartment Therapy that had the most lovely instructions on how to make a good display. I want to try it. Justin is not convinced. I think I can get away with it if I find modern and non-feminine plates. But seriously, how amazing does this look? I'm even thinking I can trail it up over the doorway to the carport hall, like this image. I just love clustered items on a wall. I've just never known how to do it nicely.
OK, that's all I can do for now. I made a giant "to-do" list in my gmail, and just thinking about it is making me sad. I totally thought I was going to finish sanding my chairs tonight. But I'm still itchy from last night and I had a margarita with dinner. Excuses, excuses... But I've got two totally sanded. Two are half sanded. I'm further than I was on Monday. And I'm sanding these things with a vengeance. I hope they look good after the Penetrol goes on. I'm a little nervous that they will still look ghostly and pale, like they do now from all the sanding. I wish I knew what I was doing. Oh well. Cheers to flying by the seat of your pants!

Chairs and chairs and chairs

After complaining about how we needed new chairs, we ended up with TONS. This photo shows my Eames shell chairs just as they arrived.
Roxanne really enjoyed the box they came in.

Sadly, they are still sitting like that, but now in the basement. I did go and get the Penetrol, sandpaper and rags, but I just haven't had time to get started on them. And I didn't want to put them together only to have to take them apart again once I start shining them up all pretty. I have already started fantasizing about getting some dowel bases for them, but that dream will hold for a few years. That's what I love about these chairs...you can plan for them "long term." So amazing.

The other chairs you see are these fantastic metal/wood/vinyl beauties my mom found for me at a thrift shop in Sandy Springs. I'm in love with them. And we have EIGHT! They make a nice stand-in for the Eames chairs until I get them fixed up, and they are extremely comfortable. I know my photos are oppressively dark, but using the flash is just embarrassing. It makes the images look somehow really seedy and maybe a little pervey. I just don't like it. OK, I'm breaking my rule. Here's a photo with flash just so you can see the chair better.
The metal on the legs and back is a coppery color, and absolutely gorgeous. They may not look it, but they are very heavy, and sturdy. They are stamped "1960" on the bottom. The best part? My mom paid $2.99 a chair. Seriously. Isn't that insane? I love my mom! The only part that makes me a little sad is that when she went back to the thrift store to pick up the last two of the set of 8 she got us, they had put out 14 more. So she asked, and they told her they had about 40 of them in the back. FORTY. You could seriously open an antique booth with that purchase. But after a lot of deliberation and back and forth between me and my mom, we decided my 8 were enough. The timing just isn't right. And of course, within the week, they were gone.
Here's my little chair tableau. I love them all.

Curb Appeal: The Block

We totally made the cut. We are going to be on Season 2 of Curb Appeal: The Block! It's the Atlanta version of HGTV's Curb Appeal. And while I know that lots of vintage-minded people are dubious about the makeovers that HGTV does, we think this is going to be wonderful. The designer who does the Atlanta episodes is named John Gidding and he is really awesome. Also, we get $20,000 (aaah!) worth of work done to the outside of our house! And for the record, we think that doesn't include most of the labor on the project, which is mostly covered by HGTV staff. We mentioned in our audition tape that we love Mid-Century Modern design, so even though our brick will get painted, which we have reservations about, we are confident that the overall design will be really modern and awesome. I'm not sure yet how soon this is happening, since I just got the call this afternoon that we were picked, but I'll keep everyone posted. We are so incredibly excited, and feel like we won the lottery. We would never in a million years have been able to pay that much money to fix up the outside of our house. We would have had wonkey stoop, the cracked driveway, and the dried blood color siding for years and years to come... Yay!

I won the chairs!

Hmmm, now I'm getting four scuffed chairs. But I've been reading up on some websites (The Brick House, and Chairfag.com, which I realize is kind of an offensive title, but a great chair blog nonetheless) about how to fix them up. I'm so excited I can't stand it! They were definitely more than I wanted to spend, but they are exactly what we wanted, and I saw a similar set (same bases, almost the same color) but that were all shiny and fixed up, sell for literally double what mine cost on eBay. I'm pretty sure the only people bidding on mine were pretty die-hard furniture people who saw their true potential... But thanks to eSnipe and their bid-in-the-last-six-seconds magic, I won them! I feel like kind of a jerk bidding like that, since it keeps the price pretty low, but whatever. The chair still went from 3 to 17 bids in the last hour or so of bidding. Whew!

That alienating thing where I don't post for a long time and then post WAY too much

So, Justin had the day off work today, and called a plumber I found on Kudzu. His company is called The Plumbing Detectives, which I find quirky and charming. He had lots of lovely reviews on Kudzu and is very very local, so it seemed like a good way to go. Justin called him this morning and he showed up at 12:45pm (after originally saying he could come at 2:00pm; that's right, an EARLY contractor...). He was able to fix our funky smelling kitchen problem for $80, which apparently consisted of some kind of rag or steel wool being tangled up in the disposal. This would have happened before we moved in, and explains why it smelled so funky in there... So now, our dishwasher and disposal work, although the plumber says they are "temperamental," which I'm guessing translates to "cheap." We plan to use the disposal next to never and the dishwasher seldom. At some point, we want to re-do the kitchen, so we'll hopefully be able to replace those appliances anyways. I'm already dreaming about finding some mid-century metal cabinets somewhere... Maybe some white Youngstown cabinets??? Lovely.

In other news, we've picked up a few odds and ends since my last post. We haven't done any substantial work on anything, since we've been busy doing things like dealing with our terrible two year old and her tantrums, and I've been trying to finish up my graduate school application (barf). I'm posting some photos below of the new-ish additions.
The newest items are Roxanne's Heywood Wakefield school chairs. We bought them as a pair for $30 at a local antique shop, which I think is a great deal. They are a super cute dark orange color and they weight a million pounds and are virtually indestructible. I looked around a little online to see about getting another pair to make an even set of four, but the only ones I could find were $135 a piece. Stupid. I realize this first photo is oppressively dark, but the flash just makes everything look awful, as you can see by the second photo. In any case, we love these chairs. Now we just need to find the perfect dining room chairs. I e-sniped some cheap Eames shell chairs on ebay, but the auction ends in the middle of the night tonight, and I'm pretty sure the price will go insane before then, so I'm not hopeful. But it would be nice... Those chairs are just WAY TOO EXPENSIVE considering most dealers find them in dumpsters or in random closets of institutional buildings...
Below is the print I found at Value Village in Roswell for $6. I really love it, although I have no idea what or who the print is of/by. Justin thinks the frame looks too 70's, but it doesn't bother me. I was just excited to find something that was the right size for that spot that wasn't a million dollars... And I genuinely do love this print. I'm not sure why though. It just speaks to me...
To fill another awkward spot on the wall, I painted some thrift store frames red, filled them with shiny red wrapping paper and some super fun images from 1960's Coca-Cola "magazines" my mom handed down to me. They are basically advertisements, but veiled as guides on entertaining, with each "issue" featuring a special flower arranging section. My favorite is the one with the graceful lady who used a plant stand as a food display. As always, you can click the image to make it larger. Our camera is so bad...

My mom handed me down this super cute bear bank. He's now part of the kitchen display that is still looking weird. But he's so cute.
Our friends Jesse and Jacquelyn gave us this fabulous IKEA kitchen cart for a super generous and thoughtful house-warming gift. It is insanely practical, and I think it looks perfect under this wall cabinet. I have pipe dreams of painting the bottom part of it, but that will probably happen in like five years...
And here's where my infamous photo ended up. The hallway. It looks nice there though. I won't grumble about it too much. And you can see it from the kitchen, where the photo was taken from...
In context, here's the view looking down the hall from Roxanne's door into the living room. Sorry for the dog booty. She's always trying to sneak it into photos. Oh Katie.
And last but not least, here's a photo of the newest member of our family, Boo Boo. She was a barn cat living with my parents, but now she's ours and we are going to spoil her rotten. She's perfect. Please note the extraordinary restraint I displayed in not saying "purr-fect." Proud? I thought so.

It almost looks fancy...

We've had some snow since last Thursday. It's not enough to really make much of a difference, but it's pretty. And it almost makes the house look pretty. Aside from the weird landscaping...

We are on the hunt for dining room chairs, but with a teensy budget, we haven't had any luck. We found some we liked at West Elm, but after going there today and trying them out, it was obvious that they were in our price range because they were awful. Note to retail furniture stores, please make sure that your floor models aren't wonky. It doesn't speak well of the merchandise... But I guess we should just be thankful that it was so obvious that they were cheaply made. I guess we'll just keep hunting for the Eames shell chairs that we would really like for the table. They are just so expensive! I keep hoping to find some kind of fluke great deal on them. I'd also like to find a side table for the space between our sofa and wall. We looked some today while looking for chairs, but we don't want to spend any money on a table until we find the chairs... Of course, if I found one at the thrift store, I'd be set. I found some serious jewels last week at the Goodwill, but nothing that I was looking for. They had an AMAZING mid-century stereo cabinet with the record player still in tact, but it was pretty scratched up, and I'm fairly sure the wiring would need some work. Too much of a project for me, but it was only $20. They also had a lovely 1940's deco dresser in a really dark wood with cove drawer pulls. If I had a car that I could jam these things into, I probably would have bought it. But it was still $40... At Kudzu Antiques today, I saw a vintage cookie jar displayed in a booth that I saw at Goodwill last week, and it furthered my aspirations to someday open a booth myself. In the mean time, we are holding steady and not doing much very exciting. Oh, but look at this ADORABLE 1950's Marx dollhouse we gave Roxanne for her birthday. My mom found it in an antique shop in Roswell. I just love it. We aren't really letting her play with it yet because it's made out of tin and the interior is lithographed on, and would probably scratch easily. But she has PLENTY of other toys... (you'll probably need to click the image below to actually see the dollhouse, but I assure you, it's worth it)

First Christmas at the Lilly Ranch