Hand painted tote in grey and blue by StrandRedesign, $47

I Only Swim in Great Lakes by amylgieschen, $20

Minnesota Love by poppyandpinecone, $20

Turquoise yellow and orange chevron painted antler by MadeByCassandraSmith, $61 // Cassandra is a local Milwaukee-based artist!

Seaglass Spectrum: Aquamarine to Emerald by quercusdesign, $20

What do you think? Any lake-inspired favorites?

I love Maria Riazzoli’s blog Riazzoli! Maria has an amazing eye and features gorgeous blogs and websites regularly. (Shoutout to my best girl, also named Maria!)

Thanks to Maria, I’ve discovered fabulous talent in photographers like Daniella Witte, whose photos are seen here (top and above). In addition to crediting the photographers, I have to credit the curator–her blog is beautiful.

Images above by Daniella Witte, via RIAZZOLI.

Another super designer and photographer: Masha at Ornamelle. So much talent!

My blog roll is getting fatter by the day!

Images above by Masha, via RIAZZOLI.

Is anyone else loving Steven Volpe’s San francisco loft in last month’s Elle Decor? Sexy, comfortable, spare, and moody. Love!

The brass lamp on the cabinet is amazing.

I need to know the name of that gray wall paint color.

Article by Ingrid Abramovitch, photos by William Abranowicz, produced by Anita Sarsidi, all for Elle Decor, September 2011

Jenny Chandelier by Oly

Still obsessed with fantasizing about outrageously priced chandeliers for the dining room. Still think this would look fabulous with the chalkboard wall, acrylic chairs, and warm wood kitchen cabinets.

IKEA Majken fabric in white/light gray/orange, $7.99/yard

So I’ve been thinking green. Like army, forest, foggy marsh green.

Benjamin Moore 440 “Land of Liberty”

With Nathan’s beat up old dresser painted salmon pink.

Benjamin Moore 2009-30 “Dark Salmon”

But then I started to doubt myself. Green walls in a room where the main attraction is the beautiful GREEN blue spruce out the window? Sounds … anticlimactic.

But then I saw this!

Porch by Roger Davies Photography, via tiny.k

That is a gorgeous, deep, mossy green, surrounded by lush, green flora! What do you think? Will it work without white trim and hot Eames shell chairs? With orange-accented curtain fabric? What ever happened to “all white everything”?!

Probably never going to be within my budget ever in my life, but isn’t it gorgeous?

On Nash Island, down east of Penobscot Bay, a flock of sheep lives untended as it has for generations. This local breed provides fleeces to the spinners and weavers of coastal Maine who make our Winter Blankets. This blanket uses a winter weave-two layers of wool for warmth-and is dyed by hand using all natural materials.

Swans Island Winter Blanket, Double/Queen 90″ x 90″, $1,050

If we stick with the “guest cabin” idea for the guest room, maybe we’ll end up with something like this wool “Connecticut Blanket,” which is a bit more reasonably priced.

Connecticut Blanket Series #7 (Large Buffalo Plaid) in Natural from Kindred Crossings Farm, Queen 90″ x 94″, $160

Liberty of London Dunclare Black Cereal Bowl Set of 8 – 5.5″, $19.99

Liberty of London Dunclare Pink Salad Plate Set of 8 – 9″, $19.98

Liberty of London Dunclare Pink Prep Bowl Set of 3, not yet available

Maynard Canister – Medium, $17.99

Looks like spring has sprung!

I like Valentine’s Day because I get to spend time with Nathan and I love the color pink.

Today we’re cuddling up on the couch to watch DVDs of Lost (thanks, Hannah!) and eat pizza. Romantic because that’s two things we both love.

I hope your Valentine’s Day is filled with doing things you love, maybe even with someone you love.

Thanks to an email from Apartment Therapy’s Maxwell last November, I found an awesome new source for artwork. I’ve used Etsy and 20×200, but Print Society is a great aggregate of printed artwork, including selections from the aforementioned websites. Here are some of my favorites.

I Employ Magical Thinking by Kate Miss

Eivind by Michelle Arcila

Divining Light by Erika Somogyi

Fourth of July #2, Independence, Missouri by Mike Sinclair

Um, I guess I must be longing for summer.

Just a couple weeks ago I added this amazing Patrick Townsend Orbit Chandelier to my Wists as a potential consideration for the dining room chandelier. (I have 30 potential lighting fixtures bookmarked on Wists.) And whaddaya know, last Friday Karly from Design Crisis posted about her lust for the same fixture.

So basically, I either have completely unoriginal taste, or there’s just something in the air out there in design land.

Last night as I was trying to fall asleep, my half-conscious brain was floating out pictures of Hans Wegner Wishbone chairs. How do I even know what a $730 chair is called and who designed it? I have no idea. I also didn’t know I was obsessed with them until last night. But I am. I love them. They’d go great with the big, beaten-up farmhouse table I fantasize about having for the dining room.

Did I ever tell you that my idea for our new Christmas color scheme (green and silver) came to me in a dream? My brain is FULL, people.

I have 334 bookmarks to items I want for my home. I love every single one of these things. Do you think this is about consumerism? I don’t. I think it’s about the fact that my home is the most important place in the world to me, an expression of who I am, and a huge influence on my mood. I also just love great design.

When my mom was here for the holidays, she accused me of not having a plan for decorating the house. (Believe me, in our family, saying that someone doesn’t have a plan is an accusation.) If only she could see inside my head–I know EXACTLY how I want my home to look and feel. Herewith, just a few of my hundreds of inspiration photos.

via Emmas Designblogg

via Remodelista

via Remodelista

via Desire to Inspire

via Desire to Inspire

via Remodelista

via Desire to Inspire

via Desire to Inspire

via Desire to Inspire

via Remodelista

via Remodelista

via Decor8

Lots of new options for ottomans or coffee tables for the living room have been catching my eye lately. I like our IKEA Karlstad footstool because it’s a soft spot to put your feet up and a tray can hold your drink or candles.

However, I’m pretty over the pattern, even though it’s a nice pop of color in the room. I really like the new Grönvik multicolor cover (left) and the Ullevi gray cover.

I especially like coffee tables that are the height of the couch cushions or lower, which in our case means a maximum of 18 inches high.

Here’s Brocade Home’s gorgeous Velvet Ottoman in Apple ($1,599). Completely impractical for a house with two cats and a dog–I’d never be able to vacuum all the fur out of the tufting! The texture and color are totally dreamy, though.

Holly Becker, proprietess of Decor8, has my dream coffee table. Unfortunately, it’s from a German store and is no longer available.

I also love IKEA’s PS Bruse coffee table, which is a perfect 14 inches tall, but at nearly 60 inches long, I think it’s too long for our sofa.

What do you think? Any suggestions for great low coffee tables or ottomans?

I thought it wasn’t possible to love our house any more than I already did. I was wrong.

While my mom stayed with us for the holidays, I painted our entire common area. Chalkboard paint on the dining room wall next to the door to the carport, and Benjamin Moore Regal Matte 04 “Decorator’s White” in the kitchen, living room, and rest of dining room. If you have a family member who always serves you three home-cooked meals a day, I highly recommend having her around when you undertake home improvement projects. I don’t think I’ve eaten so well since I moved away from home.

The white makes the natural wood and brick look AMAZING. In case, like Nathan, you’ve already forgotten what the paint colors used to look like, check out these rooms in the House Tour section of the blog. In this picture you can also see the new fireplace tool set that Nathan’s Aunt Enie got us for Christmas.

The house looks modern, bright, and clean, and the wood positively glows, thanks to my mom’s application of Formby’s Lemon Oil to all of the trim, doors, and cabinets.

I love the way our dining room table stands out against the white wall.

Perhaps best of all, we finally got some storage for some of the crap that ends up on our landing strip. After priming, painting, curing, and conditioning the chalkboard wall, we hung two simple peg racks. I love the way they look against the gray chalkboard wall. At the far left is the custom handmade leather purse my mom had made for me in the Netherlands last month.

I also started stripping the brown paint from the tongue-and-groove paneling that borders the kitchen peninsula on the dining room and living room sides. We’re not sure what we’ll do with it when I’m done, but anything will be better than the monolith of poop brown!

So, do you like it? You can be honest. My mind is already made up: I LOVE IT!!

Thank God! Last week we tried bringing the tree back in the house and Barney has been fine. Lights are up outside, the tree is decorated, the other day I went to World Market and picked up some Dutch and German treats, and my mom will be here in a few days so we can bake cookies and roast ham together.

The lights along the roof line are big, clear G40 and C9 bulbs. I think the chimney needs a bold, brightly lit decoration, like a 40″ wreath or snowflake, but I haven’t been able to find anything in the right color.

I love how the exterior and interior lights mirror each other and are reflected in the clerestory windows.

I’m pretty happy with how the tree turned out, but I wish I had even more ornaments. It’s hard to find the right color green unless they’re in a multi-pack with other colors like red, purple, and blue.

I love the tree with the fire flickering nearby. Enjoy the rest of the eye candy below.

Maybe you’ve been wondering where we store all our crap, considering the fact that we have neither a basement nor a garage. The answer is this space we euphemistically call the “office.” This room is between the master bedroom and bathroom, and its windows face the patio and the back yard. The window in the picture above is actually quite large–considerably larger than the horizontal windows in the dining room and master bedroom–but it’s obscured by an old vinyl roller blind that won’t go any higher than you see here.

A dear friend asked where all the books are. Here’s the answer! We have two seven-foot-tall bookshelves, one of which you can see here. Also visible is the dog’s crate, the dog’s stereo (he listens to NPR when he’s home alone), a short bookcase full of DVDs, and piles of wrapped and unwrapped, framed and unframed artwork.

Here’s the other bookcase. I actually went through this pile of boxes last night, in search of my humidifier (it ended up being in the guest room closet, obviously a logical location). Of about eight still-unpacked boxes in this room, seven of them contain Nathan’s “mementos”–I’m using the word generously–and junk. The closet holds suitcases, a sleeping bag, vinyl LPs, my old college classwork that I need to throw away, and some office supplies. The wire shelving on the right holds my magazine collection and all other office supplies.

This shot reminds me that this room holds almost all the decorative and personal items that I should be using to give our house character. Check out the adorable knitted cupcake by my friend Dana, the garage sale candelabrum I plan to spray paint, and the box marked “candelabra, pictures” that holds all our framed photos and a white candelabrum.

Behind the utility room, the hallway turns to the left and ends with the bathroom straight ahead and the office to the right.

The bathroom has pretty standard-issue vanity and medicine cabinet.

I love our stainless steel accessories from Target. They’re the Brushed Metal Lotion/Soap Pump, Brushed Metal Tumbler, and Glass Jar with Brushed Metal Top.

The back of the toilet has a wooden tray from Target that displays perfumes, cologne, and lotion. The towels, rug, and shower curtain are old style from Thomas O’Brien Vintage Modern for Target that are no longer available.

The linen closet is behind the bathroom door.

Like most of the doors in the house, the linen closet doors slide open to reveal the shelves.

Behind the shower curtain, the tub is lined with white ceramic tiles. The window in the shower has the same wooden frame as the windows in the rest of the house, so we have to keep it covered with a shower curtain liner. The fixtures are separating from the wall and I’m pretty sure the moisture behind the tiles is growing the mold that has spread to the grout lines in the bottom left. Eventually we’ll have to replace the entire enclosure with new cement backer board and some beautiful mosaic tile.

The floor is vinyl sheeting that’s in great condition, so it will have to wait to be replaced until we win the lottery and remodel the whole room.

The vanity is inoffensive enough, but really not my style. It also has way more storage than we need–those drawers are far from full.

Next time we (finally!) wrap up the house tour with the “office,” a.k.a. the junk room. Scary!

You may have spotted it in the tour of the dining room. It’s the first of what I previously called our “problem areas,” but they are, as Mrs. Limestone calls her box room, my secret shame. Well, not so secret any more.

First up is our landing strip, a term I borrow from Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan’s Apartment Therapy: The Eight-Step Home Cure. This glass-top, silver-painted oak base holds umbrellas, change, sunglasses, planners, maps, keys, and other crap that really ought to have a proper home elsewhere.

The most relaxing, freeing landing strip I can imagine is something super simple, like this landing strip inspiration from Apartment Therapy. But there’s just no way. A tabletop surface could work for us–we had a smaller one at our last apartment, though it overflowed onto a bookshelf for piles of mail–but the shoes, THE SHOES! We really like having a few pair of shoes each by the door.

And that’s why I want a big, fabulous credenza, where I can stuff the necessities and close the doors to hide it all.

At the end of the hallway from the main living area, you enter the master bedroom. Straight ahead is the window that mirrors the one in the living room. This one looks into the blue spruce in the back yard. To the left are the his-and-hers closets with an alcove between them.

Here’s the view through the window into the backyard. Not a million-dollar view, but definitely a selling point.

To the right from the doorway is the bed. We were lucky to have my mom’s best friend Monique meet us in Milwaukee to look at houses with us. When she saw these clerestory windows in the master bedroom, she thought of a bed her parents had in their basement that would fit perfectly under the windows.

When we moved in, Monique disassembled the bed, packed it into her husband’s truck, and drove it to Milwaukee from her home in Michigan. It’s a mid-century piece with built-in nightstands and drawers under the bed. It fits perfectly with the color of the trim and doors in the house, and its low-slung shape seems made for the space under the windows. Thank you, Monique!!!

The duvet cover is the West Elm Organic Cotton Pin-Tuck Duvet Cover in sea spray. The bedside lamps are IKEA Antifoni work lamps in silver. Now that I’ve looked at the IKEA website, I’m kind of wishing we had gotten them in black instead! Thoughts?

From the bed, here’s the view of the closets and alcove. The dresser is Nathan’s childhood dresser. Above the dresser you can see some paint swatches of colors we’re considering.

This is the view out the window when sitting on my side of the bed.

On the right is Nathan’s closet, and to the left of that is the door back to the hallway. Next step on the tour is out that door and to the right. Join me!

The trouble started when we went inside to gather tools to prep the tree. Barney disappeared for a moment. This usually means he’s consuming–not just destroying, but consuming–half a roll of toilet paper, so we were suspicious. He came when called but was walking slowly. I thought he must have been ashamed at being caught doing something bad.

While Nathan started unwrapping the tree in the carport, I grabbed Barney’s leash. Instead of responding with his usual Going Outside Happy Dance followed by sitting to get his leash put on, Barney stumbled toward me while listing to the side. Then he slid to the floor and laid down. Once I got him outside, he laid on the ground motionless while Nathan trimmed the tree and screwed it into its stand. Nathan had to lift Barney to his feet to get him to follow me into the house.

Nathan hauled the tree inside and it looked great! I decided to wait overnight for its branches to fall. Half an hour later, Barney’s behavior had returned to normal but the area around his eyes had swelled to twice the normal size. His “eyebrow” area was huge and the skin, stretched out and visible through his fur, was bright red. The swelling is visible on the left in the picture below. The eyebrow usually sticks out about half as far.

Dr. Nathan administered a couple of doses of antihistamine and Barney responded within minutes. He was looking lots better and I had high hopes that we would be able to keep the tree.

A few hours later Barney’s muzzle started to look a little red. Before I knew it, it had swelled up to twice its normal size. Lips, muzzle, snout, everything–huge. Once again, Nathan played vet, and kept pushing antihistamines for the next hour, to no avail. So Nathan moved the tree out to the carport and I vacuumed up the evidence and threw our clothes in the laundry. At bedtime, Barney’s face was still swollen and itchy, and he was rubbing his face with his paws and against the floor. Today the swelling has gone down considerably but he’s not back to normal. For comparison, here’s a shot of what his muzzle usually looks like from a similar angle. Not a very convincing comparison, I know, but trust me!

So additional Christmas decorating is on hold. Our new $50 Fraser fir will probably be living outside for the next month. Some preliminary Googling suggests hosing the tree down and letting it dry outside may reduce allergens (possibly mold), but that seems unreasonable when the temperature is below freezing. Other types of pine trees, especially those less fragrant, may be better for allergies, but I’m not excited about a $40-$60 gamble when Barney was so clearly uncomfortable. If we can find one cheap enough, it may be time to go artificial. Better for the environment anyway, right?

Sorry I’ve been MIA this week. When we got back from Vegas, Christmas exploded in my living room. Here’s a sneak peek.

This year I’m switching our color scheme from red and silver/white to lime green and silver/white. I was hoping to use these sprays on the garland below but they aren’t visible from a distance, so I made a bouquet instead.

I strung the garlands with lights and some old glitter pear vase fillers I got at Target a couple of years ago.

This was about as crafty as I get. I used floral wire to attach the pears and some faux berry sprays to the garlands.

I also attached sprays to this berry wreath we got at Target a couple of years ago that hangs above the fireplace.

I’ll post more after we buy a tree and decorate it!

May I present the Candles and Spirits Chandelier by Dutch design firm Brand Van Egmond. It’s available at Neena’s Lighting for a cool $15,012. Don’t worry, if that’s out of your price range, there’s a smaller version for $10,542. Made of iron and Swarovski crystals. Perfect, right?

The next room down the hallway, on the right, behind the living room, is the guest room. Thanks to its horizontal wood paneling, we like to call it the guest cabin. This is the view from the doorway. The curtains are some nasty, thin, improvised fabric that I moved from the master bedroom.

The wood paneling is gorgeous but not usually our style.

Because most of the rooms in the house don’t have ceiling lights, we hung an IKEA Knappa in the corner.

Looking back toward the doorway.

Wall behind the headboard.

Looking back into the hallway.

Next we’ll do the master bedroom!

Hope you’re having a lovely day of comforting food, pleasant company, and relaxation. We’re in Las Vegas having a great time staying with Nathan’s family. I’ll be back tomorrow with a tour of the guest room.

I didn’t do any decorating for Thanksgiving. Next year if we’re hosting, I’ll definitely be taking my tips from Martha. This is Midas Touches: Horn of Plenty from Martha Stewart Living November 2007. Love the shabby-chic table and metallic cornucopia.

As usual, Remodelista showcases a home I would die to have, in House Call: Karin Draaijer in Belgium. Also as usual, it’s difficult to imagine that style translated to our modern ranch in Wisconsin. I think the solution may be to invert the formula interior designers like Draaijer use. Instead of featuring modern furnishings in ornate settings, I’ll need to feature ornate furnishings in our modern setting.

The textures in this room are amazing. I love the idea of using highly-textured textiles in a neutral next to a pale, soft color.

This bathroom is great inspiration for a “someday” remodel in our house. It looks like the tiles were laid without grout lines, so they almost look like monolithic slabs. I’m also way into the cantilevered toilet. For some reason cleaning around the curves at the base of the toilet drives me nuts.

When you head down the hall from the living room to the back of the house, the first door is to the laundry room. It’s on the left behind the kitchen. (Please excuse the laundry baskets.) The window looks out onto the patio behind the carport. On the left you can see the built-in cabinetry. There are upper and lower cabinets, as well as a tall broom closet. There’s also a super-retro laundry tub. On the right is the woven blind that covers the furnace and water heater.

Above the washer and dryer is a closet rod. It’s great for hanging things straight out of the dryer, or line drying delicates.

This is the woven blind that covers the water heater and furnace.

Here’s what it looks like when the blind is raised. I think the previous owners installed the blind and it’s a great idea. It’s much more pleasant to look at than all that machinery.

Next time: the guest room.

I have to give serious props to whoever is doing the set dressing and styling on Lady Gaga’s videos. The sets on a couple of them are out of this world. To honor the upcoming release of Lady Gaga’s new album, The Fame Monster, let’s parse the interior design elements of “Bad Romance.”

Anyone who knows how much I love white can see why I love the video for “Bad Romance.” Add suspended diamonds, a baroque-modern mirror, plenty of Alexander McQueen-designed clothing and accessories, and a considerable creepy factor, and you’ve won me over.

This carved white bergère/wingback has me wild. I want one in every room. (Also, our first glimpse of McQueen.)

Bathroom remodel inspiration? (More McQueen.)

The amazing mirror. I’ll take three.

Mirror detail. Looks like the frame is more abstract than actual leaves, florets, and dentils.

Sparkly AND white!

Diamonds. Suspended. In. Mid. Air. I like to pretend this wasn’t done with CGI.

Diamonds on the dance floor … (Plus McQueen.)

Diamonds in the air …

DIAMONDS!

Head-to-toe McQueen.

White subway tile in a running bond pattern. A classic choice, and one of my favorites for bathrooms.

White mounted taxidermy (super trendy a year or two ago), white headboard, white bedside lamps.

It looks like the bedside lamps are Kartell Bourgie Table Lamps. Pretty expensive thing to torch at $460 a pop. (And more McQueen.)

For another way to examine the “Bad Romance” video, check out Gear Live’s 10 Gadget Sightings in Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance Music Video.

Check out the whole video below.

The living room runs along the opposite side of the house from the carport. This is the view from the carport door, past the kitchen peninsula, and into the living room. The windows behind the couch are visible from the exterior here and here.

The living room is embarrassingly IKEA-fied, but I love every bit of it. It was also a great solution to furnish a room with stuff we liked in time for our first round of visitors, who arrived two days after we moved in. The sofa is an IKEA Karlstad loveseat in Linneryd natural with a chaise add-on unit. The ottoman is an IKEA Karlstad footstool with a cover that I can’t find online. The end tables are the IKEA Stockholm side table in white/golden brown. They’re topped with Lykta table lamps in white. I love the Lykta lamps because they’re made of 100% glass–base, shade, everything is glass!

This is the fireplace, made with the same brick as the chimney visible from the exterior. I would love to replace the fireplace surround. It seems super ’80s compared to the rest of the house. I’m kind of into the concrete hearth, though. The rattan chair is the IKEA Vibbyn, which we got on clearance right before they stopped making it.

From the floor-to-ceiling window next to the fireplace, you can see straight through the master bedroom at the back of the house, out a similar floor-to-ceiling window, and into the blue spruce in the back yard. I hate the fact that the wood paneling on the wall at the left is painted brown. I really wish it were still natural, like it is in the guest cabin (that part of the tour is coming soon).

Next to the sofa is the “front” door, which is opposite the door from the kitchen to the living room, with the coat closet next to it.

The coat closet and the door from the kitchen to the living room are examples of the sliding interior doors in the house. Of the 12 interior doors in the house, ten of them are sliding. (The two standard doors don’t have adjacent walls with sufficient space to slide away.) I think it’s a great solution for a small house with narrow hallways.

This is what the kitchen door looks like closed. It reveals the wall that is hidden behind the door when it’s open.

Next up is the very exciting utility room.

Here’s a great Eichler designed by Anshen & Allen from the book Ranch Houses: Living the California Dream by architects David Weingarten and Lucia Howard, photographed by Joe Fletcher. (Please forgive the messy patch in my scan of the two-page spread above. I don’t have Photoshop.)

I love the pops of white against the mahogany paneling. Houses like this make me seriously consider putting terrazzo floors in our house, despite my association of terrazzo with elementary school buildings.

The white terrazzo floors, white painted wood beam ceilings, and dark mahogany paneled walls create the perfect contrast of materials and colors. The photo on the right shows the view down a hallway to a typical Eichler atrium. We have a similar (though narrower) vista from our living room to the master bedroom, also interrupted by a sculptural chair. (Our chair, however, is IKEA Vibbyn, no longer available.) The location of the chair has always disturbed the sight lines in our house for me; maybe if the chair were of a smaller scale and more interesting provenance I could actually get behind it.

More information
Ranch Houses: Living the California Dream by David Weingarten and Lucia Howard
Photographs by Joe Fletcher
Published by Rizzoli 2009.

As you enter the house through the doorway from the carport, the dining room is to your right, along the front of the house.

This is one of the places where I love the use of the clerestory windows in our house. In the dining room, they make it possible to sit at the dining room table with the blinds open at dusk without feeling like you’re on stage. They also frame the view of the neighborhood to emphasize trees and sky, rather than pavement and cars.

Right now, the peninsula between kitchen and dining room features a framed poster with a saying by Hilaire Belloc, printed at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts.

This is the view from the wall next to the door from the carport, across the dining room table, and into the living room.

The dining room table is a gate-leg design by Thomas O’Brien Vintage Modern for Target (no longer available). The chairs are IKEA Tobias in clear/chrome plated.

The view from the living room back to the door from the carport. Artwork is by our dear friend Betsy Barnum.

Living room is up next!

First up is Paul McCobb. The credenza above, available from Modern Living Supplies at 1stdibs for $4,800, was made in 1950 for McCobb’s Planner Group collection. There’s something about the Planner Group designs that has just the right taste of a traditional or rustic influence. They’re almost Shaker-like in their simplicity.

My other favorite for vintage credenzas is Florence Knoll. I love the complementary textures of the rosewood grain and the Arabescato Vagli marble in the version above, available from Converso at 1stdibs for $3,500.

I’m also partial to Knoll credenzas with white doors. They’re kind of like an inverted version of the BDDW Lake Credenza. This one is the Florence Knoll Low Credenza available from Lost City Arts at 1stdibs for $6,500.

Images courtesy Modern Living Supplies, Converso, and Lost City Arts.

]]> http://wedgewoodparkmodern.wordpress.com/2009/11/13/credenza-fantasies-continued/feed/ 3 Nicole Paul McCobb Ebonized Grass Cloth Credenza at Modern Living Supplies Florence Knoll Rosewood Credenza at Converso Florence Knoll Low Credenza at Lost City Arts http://wedgewoodparkmodern.wordpress.com/2009/11/11/house-tour-kitchen/ http://wedgewoodparkmodern.wordpress.com/2009/11/11/house-tour-kitchen/#comments Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:00:18 +0000 Nicole http://wedgewoodparkmodern.wordpress.com/?p=107 ]]>

Come on in!

From the carport door, the kitchen is to the left. In the bottom right of this picture you can see the peninsula that separates the kitchen from the dining room. Through the doorway is the built-in cabinet in the hallway that leads to the back of the house and the bedrooms and bathroom.

This is the hot drink station I set up on the kitchen counter next to the door from the carport. The tea and coffee canisters are vintage, the tree trunk sugar bowl is from HomeGoods, and the mugs are Arzberg Move Weiß.

To the right of the drink station is the stove and microwave. The kitchen was recently renovated by the previous owners and features new black appliances, hezagonal slate tile backsplash and laminate counters. I’m pretty sure the cupboards, hardware, and flooring are from IKEA: Ädel in Medium Brown, Lansa in 6 5/16″, and Tundra in a light birch color.

Above the microwave I have these ceramic flour and sugar canisters on display.

Across from the stove there’s a doorway into the living room. Here you can see our media setup (problem area) in profile, the “front” door on the far side of the house, and the “front” closet to the left of the “front” door.

Through this doorway to the left is a built-in cabinet and the hallway to the private quarters of the house (bedrooms and bathroom).

Here’s the peninsula with a view to the fireplace in the living room.

And here’s the whole kitchen, seen from the dining room across the peninsula.

Next up: the dining room!

Our house is a 1955 basement-less ranch with 3 bedrooms and 1 bathroom. It measures 1147 square feet.

The exterior has an exposed brick chimney that continues indoors to form the fireplace. The siding is tongue-and-groove installed vertically. The front and back façades have fixed floor-to-ceiling windows that angle at the top where they meet the cathedral ceiling. (Hi, Barney!)

The shorter windows on the front of the house to the right of the carport are wood framed double-hung windows installed horizontally, so they slide open at both sides. Most of the windows in the house are installed that way.

On the left side of the house is the carport. Inside the carport is the door we use as the primary entrance to the house, as well as the doors to access the storage area built in on the far left.

On the right side of the house is a sidewalk to what I assume is supposed to be the “formal” front door, because it opens into the living room rather than into the kitchen, as the carport door does.

To the left of the “front” door are the only windows that open differently from the rest of the windows in the house. They are crank-out windows with aluminum or vinyl casings, I’m not sure which.

Back to the left side of the house. Behind the carport is the patio. The patio is currently decorated by four plastic adirondack chairs, a propane grill, and the air conditioning compressor. Not impressive.

What is impressive is the thornless honey locust next to the patio. It’s huge and beautiful.

The back yard slopes downhill from the patio and back of the house to the neighborhood sidewalk.

Wedgewood Park does not have sidewalks along the streets. Instead, the sidewalks run between the back yards where an alley would be. A neighbor said that after the neighborhood was built, a 50-year deed prohibited homeowners from building fences around their back yards. Even though the deed has now expired, we are fortunate to live on a block with few fences, so the view is unobstructed.

This is the view from the sidewalk back up to the house.

The back of the house features a large window in the master bedroom that mirrors the one on the front of the house.

Now let’s head inside through the door in the carport. As soon as we decided to buy this house with its dark blue exterior, I knew I wanted to paint our front door bright yellow. It’s Benjamin Moore Exterior Soft Gloss 2022-10 “Yellow.”

I’m getting ready to roll out a new portion of Wedgewood Park Modern. The House Tour section will give you a better idea of what we’re working with, and will give long-distance friends and family an up close and personal sense of our space to tide them over until they can visit. Today I took more than 130 photos of the house, so it might be a couple of days before I can edit, post, and describe all of them. Hold tight and I’ll be back soon!

I have two major furniture fantasies right now. These are pieces that I think about daily and will never, ever be able to afford.

I also have credenzas on the mind because two of the three major problem areas in our home could be solved with credenzas: the landing strip and the TV/media stand.

BDDW is “a small American furniture company dedicated to the creation of well crafted timeless designs.” They make a variety of gorgeous furniture and accessories, like an amazing 72″ round leather mirror, slab dining table, and walnut tripod floor lamp. I first saw the BDDW Lake Cabinet in Desire to Inspire’s post on photographer Trevor Tondro (above). I love the cabinet in the color combination shown, which I think is an oxidized maple front with a white lacquer exterior, and was delighted to find it comes in the larger credenza size as well.

Piet Hein Eek Scrapwood Sideboard at Piet Hein Eek, €11,202

My other fantasy is the Piet Hein Eek (pronounced “Pete Hine Ike”) Scrapwood Sideboard. Eek is a Dutch furniture designer who makes all of his pieces by hand. I can’t remember where I first saw Eek’s work, but I was reminded of my love for it when my mom sent a picture of his Scrapwood Cupboard in situ at her friend’s house in the Netherlands.

Eva has a great eye for art and design. Her home is full of interesting features and classic furniture. She told my mom that she bought the Eek Cupboard before Eek was famous. A few days later she e-mailed me with a good story about investing in designer furniture:

Now I am curious too, looked up the receipt.

It was in 1993, picked it up personaly in Geldrop in a small atelier.

Paid at that time around 1500 Euro’s, too bad there was an intermediant ( I do not think it is a correct word)  in between who also needed to earn something.

At that time I thought it was a huge amount, it was my very first purchase of a real piece of  furniture after all the hand downs.

Well anyway I still enjoy it.

Geldrop is the town in the Netherlands where Eek’s “small factory” is located.

Images courtesy BDDW, Desire to Inspire, Piet Hein Eek at Studio Forbes, Piet Hein Eek, and my mom.

A late ’50s article about Eichler homes features color photos by Ernie Braun.

Fixed elements are white or natural materials like wood or brick.

Of course I wouldn’t mind if the historical accuracy of my home were enhanced by an Eames lounge chair and George Nelson bench. Classiest TV console I’ve ever seen.

Images courtesy Enter the World of Eichler Design.

]]> http://wedgewoodparkmodern.wordpress.com/2009/11/09/1950s-color-eichler-in-family-circle/feed/ 0 Nicole Eichler in Family Circle Eichler in Family Circle http://wedgewoodparkmodern.wordpress.com/2009/11/09/inspiration-ranch-house-style/ http://wedgewoodparkmodern.wordpress.com/2009/11/09/inspiration-ranch-house-style/#comments Mon, 09 Nov 2009 10:29:10 +0000 Nicole http://wedgewoodparkmodern.wordpress.com/?p=12 ]]>

As with most things in my life, I started at the library. Ranch House Style introduced me to the 19th-century history of the working ranch house, with its exterior corredor and outdoor living spaces. More impressively, though, author Katherine Ann Samon and photographer Edmund Barr featured ranch houses that had been updated without losing the essential aspects that make ranch houses so attractive, like access to the outdoors and open floor plans.

Architect Lee F. Mindel’s North Sea weekend house. I love the airy color palette.

Cynthia Rowley and Bill Keenan’s South Fork beach house, built by Donald Deskey in 1932. The sliding multi-panel front door pushes away so that the living room is completely open to the outdoors.

Rowley and Keenan’s beach house with the sliding door closed.

Another view of Rowley and Keenan’s beach house.

Cee Scott Brown’s Sag Harbor weekend house. A little too Asian-influenced for my taste, with the pendant and Noguchi lantern, but I love the colors and materials, not to mention the Hans Wegner Wishbone chairs.

Another view of Brown’s home.

More information
Ranch House Style by Katherine Ann Samon
Photographs by Edmund Barr
Published by Clarkson Potter Publishers 2003

In June 2009, my fiance and I took possession of a 1955 basement-less ranch in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was the only house we considered that was built post-1947, and by far the most modern. But from the moment we saw it in the online listing photo, we were both enamored. Thanks to its low-slung profile and clerestory windows, we took to calling it “The Frank Lloyd Wright House.”

I’ve been a design magazine and blog junkie for a couple of years now, and have only recently begun to really understand my own interior decorating style–spare, natural, comfortable, and light. When we were looking for houses, I thought that would involve something Victorian or traditional, with tons of molding painted white, giant windows, and contemporary furnishings. Ten months later, I’ve got the giant windows, but not much else is as I imagined.

Furthermore, upon research I realized our house does indeed show Frank Lloyd Wright’s influence, but only via Joseph Eichler. The house shares a few key characteristics with Eichler homes in California, like the roofline, post and beam construction, and carport, but is clearly adapted for Wisconsin’s colder climate (fewer glass walls and less outdoor living space).

So we’ve managed to furnish our three-bedroom, one-bath home with a few things we really love, and a few we’re just enduring until we win the lotto. Until then, my head is spinning with ideas and options for improvements to our home that will make it into something we truly love without pricing us out of the neighborhood. This blog will be the place to share my ideas, inspirations, and research.

The goal: redecorate in a way that is consistent with our home’s 1955 style, without instituting a program of restoration. Because our house is a home, not a time capsule.