My House Obsession History

Did you know I am house obsessed?
I have been for as long as I can remember.
My Mom had this friend - Jenny Doan (who is now pretty famous I might add)
who had this house....sigh.
This house was amazing.  Like dream-a-little-dream amazing.
It wasn't in the perfect shape, it was out all by it's self on a lonely old highway, and it had a leaky upstairs claw foot bathtub that made water marks on the kitchen ceiling down below it.
But.....
I fell in love with that house.
I can still recall every nook and cranny.  Every secret little room hidden inside every closet.
I remember the built in white cabinets that held the china and was also a look through to the dining room.
My favorite was the servants ramp that went up from the kitchen to the second floor.  It was a ramp, like add a flattened cardboard box and you can slide down it kinda ramp.  Uh, yeah, we did that....a lot.
It had a very large grand mahogany staircase too.  But that wasn't near as fun.
I think it had seven bedrooms and only one bathroom on the second floor.  That's how they did it back then.
This dreamy house also had a very large laundry shoot that maybe, possibly, some children slid down instead of laundry.  Not me of course!  I would never do that.  (my three brothers may have though)

I would babysit kids while my Mom and Jenny went and played.  I think I had just as much fun playing as the Mom's did.  Talk about the best hide-and-go-seek house ever!
I remember it had huge eucalyptus trees that surrounded the property.  Every time I smell eucalyptus it brings me back to that house.  

Jenny's house was a cross between these two houses below.  

Dreamy huh?

I think the obsession was fueled by where I grew up.  

I mean I did have this house two blocks from my house, 

walking by it everyday on my way to school:

 John Steinbeck House

And the house in a town filled with houses just like it was not far away:

The Seven Gables Inn

Oh and my favorite place...ever:

 Carmel-By-The-Sea Ca

It seems I was destined to be a house lover. My Mom was and I have taught my girls to be. We love to drive around different neighborhoods to look at the houses and pretty landscaping.  It's a little harder here in Arizona.  We live in the land of cookie cutter homes and desert plants galore but sometimes, I find a gem here and there.  It makes my day!

Here are a few sites I like to look at when I need a little house obsession fix.
Enjoy!

Dwelling Gawker
Hooked on Houses
My new favorite - Tales from Carmel - up close and personal tours of houses in Carmel Ca.
My favorite little neighborhood that I can't get enough of - Agritopia
I even like this little blog - Tiny House Blog - because you never know when you may need to build a tiny house somewhere.  And man!  Can they fit a lot into a teeny tiny space.
The Lettered Cottage - has great ideas on adding charm to your house.

Naming a House

Does your house have a name?  I named my house years ago when I moved to AZ from California. Our house had a huge front garden that had a bridge you had to walk over to get to the front door.  We named it Gardenview Cottage because of the view of the garden and to remind me of home.  The houses in Carmel CA all have names like Hollyhock House, Birdsong, Canary Cottage Seahorse, and Camelot.  It's so fun to drive around Carmel and see the unique names of the cottages there.  It's my favorite place in the world!

(our front door before we made it into a dutch door)

In Victorian times people didn't have house numbers, the addresses were usually the owners name and maybe the place where the house was located or the house name and town it was in.  This was all fine and dandy until they got a new postman who didn't know anyone or the town got so big that the houses had duplicate names.

My friend lives in the cutest cottage in my favorite neighborhood here in town.  We are trying to come up with a name for her house since it would fit so perfectly with where she lives.  There are several ways to go about naming your house.  Here are a few examples:

1. Use descriptive names to describe where you live:  Sunny, Retro, Green, Shady, peaceful.
2. What's near you, Location:  Farm, Pond, Orchard, (I wish all these were outside my front door!) Hillside, berry, quail, groves, cactus, etc.
3.  What kind of home do you have? Cottage, cabin, shack, house, hut, manor, palace, retreat, cove, by-the-sea (I wish my house was by-the-sea), adobe.

Now you are ready to name your house!  Here are a few I came up with for my friend:

1. Cherry Tree Cottage (she would have to plant a cherry tree)
2. Green Haven (she has a bright apple green front door)
3. The nook ( her house is so cute and nook-ish)
4. Crown Cottage (because she has crowns everywhere inside her house)
5. Queen's Terrace (she has a cute little patio that she just finished)
6. Chickadee Haven
7. Chic Shack
8. Sunnyside Cottage (because her house is east and south facing and gets a ton of sun!)


Another great way to come up with a name for your house is to look at house plans.  they usually name each house plan with a fun name to help you fall in love with their houses.  My favorite home designer is William E. Poole  He has a lot of different house plans that make me want to move to the south and live there forever.  Some of my favorite home names by him are:
1. Belle Grove
2. Holly Ridge
3. Twin Oaks
4. Woodbridge
5. Saint Remy
6. Backyard bungalow
7. Morningside
8. Windsong
Click on the link (William E. Poole) and you can view all his amazing house plans.

Here's my favorite WEP house

So friends, does your house have a name and if not....what would you name it if you did?

♥ House Love ♥

On my little weekend get-a-way to Pasadena I fell in LOVE with the houses there.  I mean come on....houses in Cali have soooo much more personality than the houses here in the desert do.  (no offense desert)

 OK I didn't fall in love with this house but it was quite comical and it is on the corner of a busy street so everyone can see it for sure...without a doubt.  I'm sure that's what the owner intended.

What I loved most was the tree lines streets.  In the movies the characters always live on a tree lined street where there is a canopy of leaves that you drive under to get home.  I found it on this trip!  I didn't get any pictures of the houses on the beautiful drive to the Rose Bowl but I have to say that going from our Hotel to the Rose Bowl Flea Market was just as fun as the flea market itself.  The trees, houses and curb appeal was breathtaking.  The houses above in the pictures are what I like to refer to as "excuse me houses"  When you drive by one you say, "excuse me!  Who lives in that house!"  The houses in Pasadena were more realistic and just as beautiful if not more.  Remember this house?

The House in The Father of the Bride?  The house with the amazing tree lined streets?  Yep...Pasadena!  Here's the kicker.......I read that this house was in Pasadena the day after I came back from.....Pasadena.  Ugh!  Seriously!  I guess I will just have to go back!?  (photo courtesy of Dear Old Hollywood)

Anyway, I think I may have a house addiction.  When we drove by the above neighborhood where I took the pictures I got all giddy with excitement and was bouncing up and down in my seat.  I made Chelsa turn the car around and go back.  I have issues. It could be worse....houses don't make you gain weight.  Haha

These last few weeks I have been dreaming about re-decorating my living room.  I shouldn't say "re" decorate since I haven't ever decorated it in the first place.  I realized we have been in our house 5 years and I have never:

1) painted anything but the girls rooms
2) changed out the curtain rods in the living room that have never had curtains on them
3) found a rug for the office
4) found a use for the living room that is practical and functional

I could go on. 
I love Sarah's House Notebook over at Clover Lane I think I may have to make one for myself this year.  I keep going into the different rooms of my house and seeing little fix-it things that need to be done.  Her ideas is BRILLIANT as usual.

So, I'm going to start my notebook and put the living room first.  After that I just need to figure out what I want my living room to look like.  Here are a few of my fav's:

I want to re-do my old antique chair in my bedroom like this and move it into the living room.  I recovered it before....I just need to get the guts up to re-cover it again. (image Miss Mustard seed)

I just can't seem to stray far from white.  It's so darn pretty I can't seem to change my way of thinking no matter how hard I try. (image via turquoise, tulips and bliss)

I love this but with different color curtains.  Maybe yellow and cream, or sage green and cream?  (via miss mustard seed)

 

I love the white curtains, the bamboo shades, the white woodwork and the rug.

I don't know if I could do blue but maybe? 

 

I know!  I know...they all look the same!  And do you know how hard it is to find furniture like this in the southwest.  Ummm try impossible!  Oh this picture is dreamy.  I can just see the ocean out my windo if I could have this decor! (image via katie sellers)

 

I know this wouldn't work in a living room but a hallway or alcove?  

It's dreamy and makes me think of Pride and Prejudice.

(image via french garden house)

This is a little fancier.  I like it.  I wouldn't mind fancy.  Our house is so casual and comfortable I think fancy could work...in one room.  Not that I would keep kids out of it or anything.  Every room in my house is open to kids, the cat, family, friends.  When you come over I want you to feel warm, welcome and comfortable.  Like family. (impage via decorista daydreams)

This is sooo California to me.  Beach cottage.  I like it.  I'm usually not a fan of brown but this is more of a gray brown so it's working.  Love the barn doors best of all! (image via greige)

I

I love this room too!  Love the real table that is being used as a sofa table.  I also love how there isn't a TV anywhere.  only in design can you do that.  not if you have a husband and children.  (image via room remix)


I guess for now I will continue looking for ideas and wait another 5 years before I do anything (wink)

How to Make a Dutch Door

I have always wanted a dutch door.  If you read this blog regularly you know I love all things houses and not only that - all things unique and different that make a house your home.  When we bought this house it was supposed to be a 2 year deal then we would build our dream house.  We also at the time were building Tom's new office and couldn't build an office and a house at the same time and stay sane.  So we moved into this house and for the last 5 years I have been thinking we would move soon.  Soon has never come, the real estate market is the pits and honestly I feel lucky to have this house that is just the right size, just the right payment, and just right for us.  I may never get my "dream house" so I'm bound and determined to make this house a dream♥

For Christmas my BIL - Mike and my husband turned my front door into a dutch door.  After searching out all the options, looking for a used one (no such luck in AZ) and not wanting to spend a fortune they decided to use the door we had and make it work.

1st Step - cut the metal (yes metal) door in half add a hinge so there are two on the top and two on the bottom and hope it works.

 

Now don't judge me and my crooked sign above the door.  I have since hot glued it up there because that darn sign just didn't want to stay put no matter what I did! Also, I get asked a lot about my floors.  

They are ceramic tile that looks like wood.  I love them more than life it's self (JK) because they are a breeze to keep clean and give me the look of wood without every having to worry about them. 

 

OK sorry, I am getting distracted....So they cut the door leaving about an inch of space because I wanted a ledge in between the door.  Since it was a metal door and has a foam core Mike had to hollow out a section and retro fit a 1x1 piece of wood down inside that space so he could attach the ledge. 

See?  Now we have room and something to attach the ledge to.  This is a picture of the door pre-ledge.  Don't worry about those screws....they are going to cover them up with a nice piece of moulding.

Then we got a piece of 1x4 and had to custom fit it onto the door for the ledge.  

The edges were rounded so the door could open and close and I think they used a jig saw and a sander for this.  The holes were filled with wood putty and some trim was added to finish it off.

They added trim to the outside and inside of both the top and bottom of the door. 

They also added extra weatherstripping and hardware - lock and bolt.  

 By this time it was getting pretty late.  I think it took a total of two days of Mike working on it after he was done with his own work. 

The hardest part was having very little directions on how to make a dutch door.  We had to kind of wing it as we went along.  Thankfully it turned out great and I couldn't be happier!  Some caulking and paint and it will be perfect!

 Just want I have wished for!  

Thanks Tom and Mike. 

It's perfect!♥♥ xoxo

would love your comments and links if you have a dutch door or love this one♥

(I have linked up with Todays Creative Blog with this post)

Things Are Smelling Great Around Here!

Who thinks of these things?  

I had to buy this yesterday when the girl at the boutique told me about it.

We were laughing ourselves silly talking about it.

Poo-Pourri

I do have to admit........it does work.

And it smells GREAT!

So it's not a bad idea after all.

Don't-cha love the saying that goes with it?

"Spritz the bowl 

before you go.....

and no one else

will ever know!"

You can read more about it here.

Have you tried it?  

Inquiring minds want to know!

Top 10 Tuesday

10)  I love the girls school, teachers and principal
9)    I love my primary class (at church)
8)    I love Cassidy's primary teacher and activity day leader (at church)
7)    I love Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday night TV (white collar, psych, burn notice)
6)    I love my computer monitor
5)    I love my big kitchen pantry
4)    I love my doctor
3)    I love my R/O drinking water at home
2)    I love my new pillow
1)    I love houses (duh) here is my new favorite house eye candy blog (is that a correct sentence?)

House Week - Homes for Sale

Do you love to look on the Internet at homes for sale like me? It's a favorite pastime and one that I try to limit since it eats up a lot of time but is oh-so-fun!

I also love to watch home buying/selling shows. I think I need to get my real estate license so I can buy and sell homes for people and get paid for doing what I love.

Some of my favorite house shows are:
Million Dollar Listing
Flipping Out
House Hunters International

Some of my favorite Houses to look at that are for sale are:
**This little cottage priced at $100,000,000.00. Yep you read that right - pocket change!
**How about this one in Thousand Oaks it's only$29,900,000.00.
**This one is a little more reasonable at $9,400,000.00. It's in New Canaan Ct. I could move right in it has all the colors I love. Yellows, greens and lots of white! The house also has a name which I am a HUGE fan of! "Wisteria Hill" Yes, I could see myself there (except when it snows)
**I could see myself here too. The decorating has got to go but the house and grounds are my dream come true! And it's the cheapest of the bunch! (Only $7.9 million)
**North Carolina is a dream! Have you ever been there? I have and it's on my list of places to live if I ever have to move. This house is calling my name - the eyebrow window sealed the deal.
**Here's a cottage with a guest house so you can come and stay with me! I love it so much and just looking at the pictures makes me homesick for my all time favorite town - Carmel CA!
**Last one for today - Key Biscayne was one of my favorites when we went to visit this year. The view of the ocean from this house took my breath away and made the list. Enjoy!

Why do people travel to Scotland and Switzerland to see the castles? We have them right here in every state! Hope you have had fun looking at these amazing homes. I hope I don't get you addicted but if I do.....send me your favorites! My e-mail is on my sidebar (wink)

My "blog catch-up" will have to start tomorrow. I was planning on spending all day today blogging on the lap top but I have been in bed with a massive headache. I don't ever get headaches so it's been a new experience for me. Poor Tom was supposed to substitute as a primary teacher today and had to go to Church and tell them he had to teach my class instead. I felt so bad! Cassidy helped him and not only did she feel very important but she did an amazing job! She's growing up so fast!!!

This week I have a lot on my plate. The normal things like cleaning and laundry but also I have to finish painting Abby's room and paint Cassidy's bedroom furniture. I'm going to be brave and paint my great-grandparents bedroom set. It's beautiful in it's dark antique wood state but is in pretty bad shape. I think a nice new coat of white paint will give it a fresh new lease on life and will help it to last another 100 years! Don't worry, I got the battery in my cameras charged so I will take before and after pictures and post them.

I also have parent teacher conferences, family home evening, New Moon necklaces to make and a Halloween party to plan here and at school. Whew! I'm tired all ready and the week hasn't even begun!

I'm off to bed. Tomorrow for memory Monday I'll write about taking Tom to Time Out for Women. It's hilarious!!!!!!!

What's on your To-Do list this week? Anything out of the ordinary?

My Little Secret..............

I am house obsessed.
I admit I have a problem.
Did you know that I watched As Good As It Gets last night on MUTE?
Just so I could have no distractions and could fully concentrate on the house?
Yes - there is something wrong with me!

I have been helping my friend Mindy re-do her house top to bottom.
(Her house flooded then caught on fire)
I have loved every minute of it.
I know it's horrible and hard for her to be displaced of pretty much everything she owns.
But it has been so fun finding and picking out everything new!
I mean - how often do you get to do a complete house remodel for FREE?!

I have realized that I want to do this - all the time.
Build houses, remodel houses, decorate houses, create and beautify.
It's also helpful when I'm doing it with other peoples money (wink)

I was at the molding and trim place finding the perfect door trim.
I told Mindy that she would get a job at Buckle so she could get the discount and
I would get a job at the molding place so I could have access to all the amazing trim.
Seriously I was dreaming BiG in there!
Can you crave molding - cause I was!

Anyway, it has been a fun self discovery learning experience for me.

Helping people - I love
Decorating - I love
Remodeling - I love
Anything that has to do with houses - I love

So if your house floods then catches on fire and you need to re-do everything.
Call me! I'll make it a fun experience I promise♥

here are a few of my new favorite house blogs:
the old painted cottage
the lettered cottage
frugal farm house design
room service

Surprise Blogging Guest!

I went to my SIL Elena's house the other day so the girls could play with the cousins and Grandma. I walked up to her door and just had to take a picture.
Now here's the kicker........
The SIL doesn't know that I have taken the picture.
Shhhh lets see how long it takes her to notice.
I don't think she even reads my blog.

Anyway, this SIL (Tom's only sister) is the Decorating Diva in the family.
She always - and I mean AlWaYs has some new project in the works over at her house. Like her front door for example.
Isn't it just the cutest thing ever???
Love the awning.
Love, Love, Love It!
Those awnings (there are three) have been in her room,
over her kitchen cupboards
and now one of them have made a home over the front door.
Did I mention she is also the queen of rearranging and changing things?
Well, she is!
(Maybe when she finds out I have made her a guest blogger
she will give me an awning for my front door.)

She is also the master at Ebay. That's where she got this awesome doorbell.
OK it's not really a doorbell it's a crosswalk signal but it's a doorbell NOW!!!
I love it! I know I already said that but it's true!
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE IT!!!

This just goes to show you that you don't HAVE to have a boring ol' cookie cutter house.
NOPE!
You can add your own personality and make your house your
VeRy OwN hOmE!
So hit the thrift stores, antique shops, ebay and garage sales this weekend.
Add some flair to your house and make yourself
SMILE!

Picture Project

I have been in project mode over here for a few days.
I bought these frames at Kirkland Home for $12 bucks on clearance.

I love the wood and the shape but not the color or the print.
Black doesn't match my Garden View Cottage.
So I painted them.

I took them outside to paint with my trusty
can-o-spray-paint.
Love that stuff!

Then I did a bit of sanding around the edges to give it a distressed look.

Put a new picture in the frame and Wha-La!
Boutique frame on a tight budget!

I'll post a picture of all three frames once I'm totally finished.
I have one more frame to do because I ran out and Home Depot is out of the exact paint I need (darn!).

Hooked on Houses

Have you ever seen this Blog?
Hooked on Houses?

Well, I would have to say it's a blog after my own heart. I swear I am in love with houses! I have ALWAYS been in love with houses for as long as I can remember. I don't care what kind of house it is - I will jump at the chance to go inside and take a peak. This is why I love blogging. I can get into peoples homes without being too much of a Peeping Tom. Well, at least they don't know I'm being a Peeping Tom. Yes, I'm the person that loves to go driving by houses.... at.... night.....so I can see inside the windows. I'm weird I know. You don't have to tell me. I also have a photographic memory when it comes to floor plans, neighborhoods, landscapes. I can tell you exactly what that house looks like from the inside 10 years ago because I went into it as a model home. Yep - obsessed.

I also have a full (and I mean full) file on my computer and in my desk drawer of pictures of homes, rooms, gardens, landscapes, windows, walls, paint colors, themes, you name it....I've got it. I'm telling too much aren't I? Are you scared?

HGTV? I'm it's biggest fan. Extreme Home Makeover? Big fan there too! Home magazines? I should own stock - or I should have owned stock then sold when it was high because now it's low so that wouldn't do me any good would it? Dr's office visits? I don't mind because most of the time they have magazines I haven't read so I can catch up on the decorating goodness inside those pages.

One of Tom's clients is getting ready to build a house. Her DREAM HOUSE! How fun is that? She also wants one of the Realtor's to take her around town looking at homes for sale to get ideas. Um...yeah....can you see where I'm going with this? I have, of course, volunteered my services to come along and "help" her find ideas in said houses. Yep, someone has to do it right? She even has my exact taste in houses. Traditional/Cottage. I have even taken it upon myself to look up a few houses on the MLS for her viewing pleasure (and mine) that we can go see to get said ideas. I have to admit.....I can hardly wait!!!!!

So if you are as obsessed as I am with houses. Here are a few of my favorite blogs to get you inspired to spruce up your diggs in your own little masterpiece!

Habitually Chic
Joy's of Home
House #1
House#2
Sadie Olive
Ser.en.dip.i.ty
The Shabby Nest
Toast and Tables
More Ways to Waste Time
Absolutely Beautiful Things
Tori and Dean's House
(I love them and I loved their house!)
Ask Kari & Kijsa
The inspired room

O.K. That's it for now. I have to go get Abby from school. I'm sure some of these are on my sidebar but I thought I would post them here anyway. I hope you enjoy looking at them.

Hey! I have an idea?! Leave a comment with a link to your favorite home or garden site. It could be a website, blog, pictures of your house...whatever! Let's share the house love! I would love to get more ideas from all you fellow bloggers out in blogland. And I know you have a file with ideas too. Don't be shy! Share the love!!! What do you say?

Leave a comment - Share the Love!

I'm Dreaming of a White Bathroom.........

courtesy of country home magazine