Can you help me?

There are some things I am in need of in my new house to fully complete my kitchen. I have the blue walls, the 40s appliances, and the red and white gingham curtains (with cherries!) but I am still yearning for a few items.
One item would be a cool old bread box to put in place of this ugly wire rack.

I am also hoping to find some cute cherry kitchen towels and a vintage cook-book holder. Do any of you lovely readers have leads on any of this stuff? I want to complete the transition from house to home.

(I also need to find some good curtains for the living room.. but that will likely have to wait financially.)

Home Owners Association

I imagine there are a few of you out there wondering where I dropped off to? Maybe not, but I will tell you where I have been regardless.
We bought the 1941 Bungalow, and this past weekend was move in time! It has been a whirlwind, and we are still moving so this will be short and sweet. I thought you might like to see some pictures of our first night in the Bungalow.

The first night we had the keys we raced to the city to pick-up our 1940s appliances we purchased through craigslist. I adore them, but it was hard work getting the new (stainless yuck!) appliances out, and bringing our (new)old ones in.
We had to plug them in inside the living room while we moved appliances around, you know, to keep the beers cold!
Then we had to paint behind where the appliances would go. Once this got started, we all found ourselves a few beers deep and painting the entire kitchen. Our painting friends began leaving around 1 AM.
It was well worth it, because when I woke up in the morning, my husband had placed all the appliances in their rightful spots, and it looked glorious. I adore my kitchen, and I never want to leave it again!


I am the proud owner of my 1941 Bungalow, and could not be happier! The kids adore having their own bedrooms, my husband is happy with his yard and garage. I am happy to have a Tiffany Blue kitchen. It has all worked out quite well I would say.
Well, I am back to work cleaning our old house, and unpacking this one. I will have a full scale tour of the new house for you all soon, so you can see the magnificent woodwork and craftsmanship in this darling house. I miss you all, and will get back to reading and blogging soon!

A Little Home Decor

I had every intention of an outfit post, but this morning as I was planning blog post, my son was watching Stuart Little. It is a kid movie about a tiny mouse named Stuart Little. His parents are Geena Davis, and Hugh Laurie (yes, that is Dr. House!)
Anyway, I was half paying attention to the movie, and was struck by the amazing home decor of the Little's tiny house in New York.
We are moving into the 1941 Bunglow here in a about 3 weeks, so I have been absorbing as much decor inspiration as I can.
You must admit for a kid's movie, the set is quite stunning.

(click to enlarge.)

I loved the kitchen even if its not my color scheme. The retro fridge is a wonderful detail. You can find similar retro kitchen appliances at BIG CHILL. They make some rather charming fridges and dishwashers.

(click to enlarge.)

I am a sucker for carefully executed wallpaper design. I love how they paired the green stripe walls with checked tile floors! I would move to this imaginary house in a heart beat, but alas, I will just take to ripping off the decor instead.

Our(likely) 1941 Bungalow

As you may have read, our offer on the ugly ranch in the suburbs fell through (Thank Goodness!)
We spent a few more days sifting through a small stack of houses, til a gem dropped its price... right into our range. How delightful right?
We arrived at the 1941 Bungalow late in the evening, and immediately fall in love. The warm flow of Oil heat kept us cozy and warm as we admired all the original 40s fixtures and detail. We came home and wrote an offer right away!

Our offer was accepted and we are moving through the slow and obnoxious process of home buying. Hopefully if our stars align, we will be in our new home by early February.

Tuesday was our inspection, and I had a good feeling, because I pulled off a perfect horizontal pin-curl wave! That must account for some sort of good luck right?

I brought little Miss Margaux along for the inspection and we waited as our house was evaluated from Roof to Foundation. Naturally, instead of sitting around waiting, I took pictures of the place to share with all of you. Click any image to enlarge.




Of course there will be many more pictures to come during this exciting transition in our lives. I felt it only fair to give you all a sampling of the cutest house I could ever ask for. I am so happy and can not wait for closing so I can move in and get cozy.

Calling In Sick

Sorry for the lack of real posts. Between house hunting, which is still going on, and work for etsy I have been at a loss for time. To top that lovely cake off my children have contracted Pink Eye from preschool, so we are pretty out of commission here.

Good news on the home front though, we have toured and fallen in love with another house! So I hope to have wonderful news to report soon! Alas, only time will tell.

Wish us godspeed to health dear readers. I promise to have a legitimate post soon.

The Metropolitan Ranch

EDIT: the Offer has fallen through on this house.... back to hunting..


I am sure you are all waiting to see the ranch I have been talking about. We got the call back, that our offer was likely accepted, we will find out more details tomorrow. So, barring and disasters with inspections or appraisals, this 1976 Ranch in a quaint suburb will be the new Metropolitan headquarters.
The kitchen is insanely tiny, so hopefully we can take our equity in a few years and expand it to a massive delightful kitchen. There is plenty of room to add on to this house, because it is sitting on a 1/4 acre of land. Which is great because we plan to raise chickens and start a garden. And yes, that awful Rhododendron will be gone the moment I move in. Yuck.

Rejuvenate

Yesterday the family and I went to re-tour the 70s ranch we will likely be buying. We were trying to get ideas for how we would fix the udder horrendous-ness that is a late 70s ranch. I apologize if you own a late 70s ranch, I don't mean you any ill will, I just don't like them, and don't want to live in one.

My fella took a picture of me in the "Etsy" room of the house where I will do most of my work. It turned out quite dark, which means we will need a new window in that room to let in more light:
We dropped the kids off at grandma's house and headed to Rejuvenation in Portland to inspire our senses. We are trying to gather ideas to take our 70s ranch back to the 50s (which is not my favorite era in deco either.) We went through the salvage lot, and I cried a little. How silly of me? I love old. I need a house that is WAY older than the 70s, or even 50s. I want a nice old house with lots of old junk in it. Alas, I will have to buy some cute 50s fixtures and make do and mend this ugly little ranch.

Here are some shots of lovely old junk at Rejuvenation and my husband too. (Who can sometimes be considered old junk. HAHA!)
It was a fun day of window shopping and no-kids regardless. It was fun to spend a whole day pretending we were a childless newly-wed couple! I wish I had more days like that.

This Old House

We are embarking on a new voyage in our lives, the Metropolitan Family is buying a house! This is a first for us, so we are giddy, nervous, excited, and anxious! Of course, in looking for a home we are hunting for the perfect old house. I couldn't imagine living in a newer home, it is just not my cup of tea. We are hoping we get a nice old farm house in downtown.
My gears are turning as far as design, color schemes, and fun! Tearing up carpet, refinishing hardwoods, painting kitchens. I am excited. And for inspiration I am reading up on the Retro Renovation Blog. RR is chuck full of eye candy and resources. They know it all, vintage, salvage, and reproduction! And of course, they are also out to Save the Pink Bathrooms.

Well, I really just wanted to share that little slice of blog heaven with you. I am off to go about planning a 1940s kitchen in my dream world.