Thanks,

JACKIE

Feel free to give me a call or email and we can discuss this further.

-Jennifer Jordon 303.712.3152
jjordon@highnoonentertainment.com

Good luck…and enjoy your time in Chicago!

In other news: i TOTALLY get your not being able to fix something after you’ve just busted it. I too have to just walk away and address is when i’m less freakin irked by the whole thing. Here i thought it was just a me thing.

And look how cute ya’ll are! I’d die for yr hair

Needless to say, the earth was gorgeous and healthy, and within about a week the grass and weeds started to take over again. I spent about 5% of my time planting and about 95% of my time weeding. In the end, I used maybe 1/8 of the lot because I just couldn’t keep up. It was exhausting!

In Texas, everything is bigger and stronger, including the bugs, the wildlife, and THE WEEDS! Gak!

Oh, and as an aside, Reading Lolita is as good as everyone says

BTW, I read “Reading Lolita in Tehran” and then I checked out the audio version from the library and listened to it in my car and I have to say that I really enjoyed listening to it!

Re: Christiane’s comment - the stove was Grandma’s, and fortunately it ended up at our place!

I had never heard of Corvallis before reading your blog. It sounds idyllic! Cute houses, good people. A few years ago, I might have thought of moving there

Of course, the stove in the pic is terribly covetous.

The tiling we did in ourbathroom is just vinyl tile, and if you want to do that it’s the easiest thing in the world!! I put it right over the old tile. I just went to home depot and picked up the supplies according to the directions. I had to clean the old vinyl really well and then put on a leveler that was suggested, which really also helped to rough up the surface for adhesion.
Also, get an exacto knife that looks like a pen. It’s soooo much easier to work with than those big bulky ones.

(Sorry I’m drooling all over yr site lately. I really must stop that.)

Maypole - The Schoolboys

In the woods there grew a tree
And a fine, fine tree was he!

And on that tree, there was a limb
And on that limb, there was a branch
And on that branch, there was a nest
And in that nest, there was an egg
And in that egg, there was a bird
And from that bird, a feather came
And on that feather was
A bed.

And on that bed, there was a girl
And on that girl, there was a man
And from that man, there was a seed
And from that seed, there was a boy
And from that boy, there was a man
And for that man, there was a grave
And on that grave there grew
A tree.

Wait, did you say you need someone to paint yr house? I’ll be right over!

http://www.elmirastoveworks.com/northstar/index.cfm

Nice price too! *gulp* Oh well.

We too are looking for atomic age colors for our Ranch house near Berkeley, CA.

The Sherwin-Williams “Suburban Modern” collection matches, for the most part, what we found when we browsed through mid-50’s editions of Better Homes and Gardens. Two of these colors are eerily similar to the cans of paint we just bought a few days ago.

You can view the colors in their cool flash visualizer, which lets you “paint” rooms in the target colors:

http://www.sherwin-williams.com/do_it_yourself/

To see the Suburban Modern colors, expand the left hand tab, select “Historic Collection”, then use the drop-down menu above the colors to select “Suburban Modern”.

Be careful, though. Our first pass at these colors resulted in 3 cans of paint being returned after we tried them on the three bedroom walls– they were authentic Coral, Seafoam (turquoise), and a bright green (which is curiously absent from the S-W palette, but you’ll find tons of green in the 1950’s BH&G photos). Yellow is missing because we reserved that for the kitchen. After we painted a few square feet to test, we realized there’s absolutely NO way we could bear to live in rooms that bright!

It’s the same thing with the yellow we chose for the kitchen. We had to turn it down about 4 notches on the color chart to make it bearable. Now we have colors “inspired” by the 1950’s.

If anyone actually has their house painted in *authentic* interior 1950’s colors, my hat is off to them.

I did do some more searching, and found a question answer section on the True Value website that had the following:
1950s Theme in Rooms

Question:
I am trying to do my living room and kitchen area based on a 1950’s theme. My couch is red my chairs are black, my kitchen table is black Formica top with chrome and black chairs. I have not yet decided on counter tops or cabinets. Can you give me some ideas?

Answer:
For a 1950’s theme the only color missing is turquoise. Usually you see the white high gloss cabinets in the kitchens of these homes. You can go to an antique store and look for 1950 Post and Life magazines to get a flavor of color and cabinets. I also suggest going to your True Value store and looking for the Color Made Simple display. Look for stripe 5T-15, it has Belladonna 3531, Rosemary Bloom 3532 and Ashened Blue 3533, all in the blue turquoise family that is reminiscent of the ’50’s. Since you have red, I would avoid the 1950 pink unless your red is a classic. Then the two would meld. And for the living room see Idea Cards (on the same display) A7, A14, A16 and A17. All three incorporate a red of some shade and hue. The other two colors on each card are complimentary to the reds and can be incorporated together or separately. Mix and match until you find the right combination for the balance of the room. This should be a fun process, so take your time.

Our car, my rake, an old Schwinn
Some skis, a green tent, a swim fin
We’re really quite poor
And we need a new door
To keep the few things we have closed in!

That’s 34 words!

http://www.pastheritage.org/PAstyle.htm

http://www.pastheritage.org/Edgewood/index.htm

You might need to put something under the knocker to protect the door paint… Unless it comes with something built-in.

http://www.cbnsystem.com/software/selector_download.aspx

I downloaded this free software in order to scope out fresh colors for the trim on my house. (I posted a sample if you’re interested in viewing it… http://serendipityhouse.bravejournal.com/entry/16092 ) My shutters are actually black right now and my front door is white.

Works great and the colors will come out transparent so you can still view the detail in your architecture. Hope it helps!

Maria
P.S. Love the red!!

Funny thing is, our neighbor came over…retired gentlemen. And he was chatting with Eric and at the end of the conversation said, “Can I try the jackhammer?” Haha. So, He tried out the jackhammer. I really didn’t have a desire ‘cause my head was spinning from the sound. It took 6 hours…because Eric had never used one before, he didnt’ know the first one was a dud. So, it took 3 hours to do half the path and then it died. He took it back and finished the other half in an hour.

Oh, and have I mentioned I love the floors? Is that Marmoleum tile?

First, I have a double hung window, so I decided to get plantation shutters that would cover up the middle bar. So, all in all, they probably cover 60% of the height of the window. I bought the shutters from coastal shutters - so DON’T go there, it took forever and they never answered my phone calls or email. I got the biggest slats I could…I think 3″ each, which is why there are only 4 on each side. After my dad hung the shutters (and I’m so happy he did, because it required a lot of patience, something I don’t have and my husband doesn’t like detail work). I went to home depot and looked at their premium wood selection. I got a 3 foot wide and 6 inches deep piece of wood. I wanted the premium wood ‘cause my assumption was that it was stronger, ‘cause I wanted to make sure it wouldn’t bow in the middle. While I was at home depot I also went to the chain department and bought a thin chain, but made sure to see that it could carry a heavier load. I didn’t want them pulling apart and then having a sink full of ceramic bits, plants, and dirt! I think I bought 10 feet or something. I also bought the hooks you see on the ceiling, I got white ones, and each one holds 40 pounds or something insane like that. I made sure to get hooks that could be turned 360, ‘cause I wasn’t sure if it would create problems with the chain if the hooks were stationary.
Then, I got everything home and spent the next day painting the shelf white with a sponge brush in semi-gloss. I did two coats on either side. Then I was getting ready to hang it, and realized the chain was too strong for me to bend. So, that’s when I decided I’d need some S-hooks. So, I went to the local hardware store and bought 4 silver S-hooks. I then put the entire thing together by laying the board across the two chains, and making a triangle with each end to loop around the board. I secured the end of the loops to the main chain with the S-hooks. I also made sure to count the chain links so that each triangle was the same size. I then went to the kitchen, and began hanging it at different heights, with the goal of getting it level and about 1-inch above the shutter. I hung the chain by the hooks from the S-hooks. Finally I figured out the right height and got a wire cutter and snipped them and voila, done. I should add I’m not sure what the cutter was, I assume it was a wire cutter, but I’m not exactly sure because it was one of my husbands tools and I was thinking he probably wouldn’t like that I was using it to cut the chain, so I never told him. Heehee. Also, I don’t think he reads the comments on our blog, so he’ll never know.

I haven’t seen simple legs for a claw-foot tub. You might paint the under side of the tub silver. Make it a little space-agey.

I second Shauna’s comments, I’m SO JEALOUS of your yard! Except for mowing and occasionally weeding, our landscaping is going to be ignored until we get finished with these big projects. We don’t have the time or the money to dedicate to it now *sniff sniff*. I think your yard looks great!

Christiane - When I first visited houseblogs.net I had no idea what a four-square was either. Then I noticed one houseblog about a foursquare, and another, and another, and another. For some general information about foursquares, I found these sites: http://architecture.about.com/od/periodsstyles/ig/House-Styles/Foursquare.htm, http://www.realviews.com/homes/forsq.html, http://www.realtor.org/rmomag.NSF/pages/arch20040628?OpenDocument,
http://www.oldhouseweb.com/stories/Detailed/12269.shtml

BTW, I *will* get those pictures of my mom’s bathroom to you. I’ve been too busy lately to make the trip over there (and the one day I did, I forgot the camera!).

Our original bath has pink everything with blue wall tile and burgundy trim. The two new bathrooms will have all white fixtures. One with blue and green tiles. The other with black and white.

Yes, there is silver in the rest of the room (chrome, satin nicket, etc). There are no plants in the silver ones yet, and Eric thinks the silver pots are too big compared to the other pots. But, at this moment I disagree…besides, I agree with Kim that the silver pots fit right in, especially since I went with a silver chain. If the pots were a tange shorter, that would be nice…

About the silver pots, are they empty now? (I can’t tell on my moniter in this early morning light…) If so, I think they’d look great with some kind of plant in them. If you have other silver elements in the room, the pots would just tie right in!

more pink

I like this one too.
You could check out the whole page of 1950’s decor print ads.
hope that helps. Looks like the trend back then was tile, tile, TILE! everywhere!

Good luck!

Laura, thanks for the advice, that is what I’m currently pondering. Perhaps I could embed a table in the middle of the page, and at least that way I’d get two columns instead of just one.

I like your (Eric’s) espresso machine - you’ll have to make me a double shot when I come to visit!

I’m sooooo happy with the kitchen. It’s really great to be nearing the end. It’s a real sense of accomplishment, especially now that we can look back at our before photos. The peach kitchen is gone!! Hooray!

Thanks again guys, Laurie

Thanks for the compliment. Of course, the computer doesn’t show the colors exactly as they are, but I’m really excited to begin the project. We asked many people, including my parents, and a graphic designer who has a great eye for color. I figure if myself, my husband, my parents, and a graphic designer all agree, then chances are much better that things will turn out good.

Kristin, I love checkerboard too. I know we won’t be able to afford a major remodel of the bathroom for a number of years, since we just remodeled the kitchen…so I thought, “If I’m going to do vinyl, I’m going to have checks!” I like it. I think I need to seal the seems on each square though…doesn’t seem like they’ll stand the test of time with all the water in the bathroom!

Yeah, switching to do home improvements…hmmmm, I’d really like someone to tile my main bathroom floor and walls, I’ll paint many rooms in your house. I like to paint.

I don’t think I can take much credit for the “easy to follow” since it’s just one page. Check it in a month or two, when there is more than one page…then we’ll see how easy it is to follow.

You did a great job on the website, btw! Very clean and easy to follow!

Are you going to leave the mahogany as is or will you be painting it? I can’t wait till we start work outside…there is *so* much to do…ugh!

With out double hung windows, we had to take out the bottom, interior window first. We had to carefully pry the side trim off the window to free the interior sash. Behind the interior sash, the is a stop (I forget if that is the technical name for it). The stop is a narrow piece of wood that runs between the two sashes. These can be pried out if the previous owner hasn’t nailed them in or painted over them 20 times. If the have, take your time working them out. Once you’ve pried one (or both) out, the upper, outer sash should pull free (thought it helps if you untie or unchain it from the weights).

I hope that helps some.

- John

For the same reason, I generally always skip the decorating shows that feature rooms redone on big budgets.

The tub looks nice…nothing like a clawfoot in an old house. Keep the tub, but try to get something more traditional for the vanity.

Either that, or take out the box and make it bigger by installing a two-switch box and you shouldn’t have a problem (a lot less work than running new wiring).

Be careful to just re-connect the same wiring without doing any cutting or anything. I’m not sure, but it looks like those wires are covered in asbestos. not a big deal if you are just reconnecting something, but you don’t want to be cutting and scraping those wires if you don’t have to.

Thanks for checking out our blog! It’s exciting to see that the information and stories we share are useful and entertaining to other renovators! I love houseblogs.net and would not have created this site without it! After lurking around and getting so much motivation from houseblogs, I thought it was time we added our house to the mix!

Thanks again for reading!! –And I’m excited to see your blog Shauna - I found blogsome to be frustrating initially, but now I’m getting better with it…the website webmonkey.com can be very useful - I used it a lot in a graduate class I took where we had to learn about CSS, etc.

Laurie

Any yay for tax returns! I wonder how others are planning on spending theirs? We’re getting flooring - finally!

If you don’t mind, I’m adding you to my favorite links. It’s nice to know a fellow ranch owner who’s remodeling, too!

~Kim

~Kim