our home and nostalgia

I've learned over the years, you are either the nostalgic kind of person, or you're not.  I'm nostalgic, through and through.  I think in each of their own ways, my parents were both fairly sentimental.  maybe it is genetic, maybe it is learned, maybe it is a bit of both pieces. 

I love looking through old photographs, storing little treasures in keepsake boxes, and pausing to talk about the past.  it is all good in my book.

when we bought our home over two years ago, we quickly came to learn that it had been owned by the same family since it was built in 1955.  and when one family owns a home for over sixty years, turns out they have a lot of connections to the neighborhood.

the great-grandson of the original owners is still watched a few days a week by one of our neighbors, and he will be in my daughter's kindergarten class next year.  when talking to the younger generations of the family on the front lawn I was shown this image.

immediately, I knew I needed a copy of the photo.  this summer I plan on printing and hanging it in our home, because I'm sentimental.  and I'm in love with this photo.  this was the original family who owned this home, watched it be built from the ground up.  they loved every bit of this home, and the energy they left behind is undeniable.  when we had our home inspection completed, the inspector told us he had never really seen a better taken care of house, especially one built in the 1950's. this home was loved by this family, and we love that we get to have it now. 

today, that glamorous woman in the white dress, holding her baby, sitting on the foundation of our home, is being remembered for her 97 years life.  she was one of the first and last of the original women to live on this street, in a time when women were completely the heart of these neighborhoods.  I'm sad that I never got to meet her; when buying a house, getting too personal with the people you are buying from seems to not be a good idea.  however, I'm glad we shared with her our family photo and a little story about us, and I'm glad she was able to know that she was selling her family home to another family who doesn't plan on leaving it for another sixty years.

rest in peace grace, I love when the neighbor ladies tell me stories about you.  

spring at home

if you would have asked me ten years ago about gardening, I probably would have laughed out loud.  gardening, what is that?  and me, no, not going to happen any time soon.  in my first years of teaching, I always got my pink slip due to california being in a major budget situation.  and every year, the school I was leaving would give me the obligatory plant goodbye.  thanks for the year, it was great, fast, and now you are gone, good luck plant.  and I would kill it in approximately two weeks.

eventually, I found my succulent obsession when planning the mr.'s 30th birthday party, and when those succulents were still alive on his 31st birthday, I realized I might be on to something.  desert plants are my jam.  and I've ran with that.

thankfully, I had my in-laws (gardening experts) help me spruce up our yard at our rental we had when ev was just a baby, and I started to get a little understanding of how things grow.  but not really a great handle, I was still buying plants just because I liked them, not necessary paying attention to how much sun they needed/wanted, how big they got, etc.  and consequently, nothing really thrived too much, but it worked for our time there.

however, all of these baby steps have landed me in our home now, our forever home, a home that I am very proud of the yard I have planted and seen flourish.  my raised beds have not a single vegetable, but thousands of thriving succulents and desert plants.  my backyard is buzzing with the hundreds of bees that have found a little piece of heaven in my yard this spring.  I just stumbled on a video of ev in our backyard when I first started planting it and I almost didn't recognize the space I have now become obsessed with.

By far her favorite souvenir ever. #everlymaeisthree #everlymae

A post shared by OliveEverly Blog (@oliveverly) on Oct 20, 2016 at 3:57pm PDT

I love working on little corners each season, our newest project included turning the sandbox that came with the house that ev never used into another little raised bed.  such a fun space to have right next to our stock tank pool.  much better than the pincher bug infested space it used to be.  even a nice cover doesn't keep out the tiniest of critters.

but most importantly, I love that I have a space that is truly magical for everly.  she loves playing in the backyard for hours.  she is always finding some new treasure.  like a fresh little caterpillar, or a ladybug like in the photo below, or that time I planted a new little tree and found a huge rollie-pollie colony.  she must have had 20 crawling on her arms at one time.  I remember how magical yards felt when I was her age, my grandma's backyard and the home I was born in just seemed huge and full of places to explore.  I'm glad that I can give everly a place just like that for her to play in!

 so, thanks spring, you are really feeling pretty perfect this year.  maybe my favorite spring yet. 

it started with a suggestion [stock tank pool]

I grew up swimming a ton in the brutal northern california summers.  there is nothing like a pool to keep your sanity, and I say that as we are currently in a week long stretch of 108 degree days [we sure picked the wrong week to go to lake tahoe, but a new adoption training for school has kept me from escaping this ridiculous heat].  and speaking of ridiculous, ripping apart my entire yard, and my finances, to put in a 50K pool wasn't really an option right now, but after a conversation with my sister about people turning stock tanks into pools, I was intrigued, and then obsessed, with making this a reality for my yard this summer.   and so we did it, in less than two weeks.  thankfully I had a lot of people to oblige my crazy requests, mostly my husband and father-in-law, the latter which tied down my 8 foot stock tank to the bed of his truck, and then had to retie said ties at least three times on our way home, all with an insane amount of confidence & calm. and you cannot forget my mother-in-law who volunteered to sit in the back with the tank - don't worry, we didn't let her!  but again, see the dedication I'm talking about. it was pretty endless.  ^many phases to this little project^

and because I missed my succulent garden that I left behind at our rental [not the succulents of course] I had to recreate the project, this time, acting as a mini- wall enclosing our new pool space. and the pallet that helped us get our pool home has been re-purposed as a little artwork for this space.  everly did a great job with the stenciling, she would have been very successful in the 90's.

and finally, our inflatables are from michael's, 

they are only $5 - and they let you use a coupon

so for $2.50, you better believe I have a ridiculous pool to float ratio

our stock tank was purchased from our Tractor Supply - make sure to call ahead to make sure they are available in your store, AND have them double check that the tank is not damaged before you go to purchase.  we learned the hard way, which meant a crazy amount of driving!

our vintage home [dining room]

One of my favorite features of our new home is having a kitchen nook as well as a dining room. Down the road, we will love to have our dream danish modern dining room set, but for now, we are working with more of an eclectic design.  Turns out, our picnic table made by my father-in-law and family friend decades ago is now very 'in style'.  Having formal seating for eight is exciting, and I cannot wait to have dinner parties in this little space.  Our next big step for this room will be re-wiring the lights to create a proper space for a light fixture, we are currently dreaming of these urchin designs. 
  and here is the space before...

Turns out, this home used to be four bedrooms.  And you are currently viewing the fourth bedroom. Thankfully, they took out the wall in the 70's, because this is the space we need.  This house really would not have worked for us in any other way.

I know that open concept is all the rage right now, but it isn't always as glamorous as you see on t.v. Our last home was very 'open concept', but because of the size and configuration of rooms, it just felt like I could always touch my kitchen table while watching television.  And I was over that.  Now, our house has a few more defined spaces, but still open enough to feel connected while having friends and family over.  I also love that some of my favorite pyrex pieces look even better living in a room really dedicated to midcentury entertaining.  

details

besides the dining room table and chair, everything is mid-century, little items we picked up along the way

Carlisle Metal Chairs are from Target

Bristow Metal Chairs are from Wayfair

dining room table - handmade

all other items found thrifting or antiquing, here are a few of our favorite spots:

M.A.R.K vintage

Midway Antique Mall

Scout Living

our vintage home [everly's bedroom]

Everly's bedroom took on a pretty mature feel when we moved into our new home. The main reason, she now has a dedicated playroom.  Once you take most of the toys out of a little ones bedroom, turns out, it feels quite different.  Which I guess it isn't a bad thing, since this room also doubles as an informal guest room and a place for the family computer.

here it is before we moved in...

ok, maybe there were more than a few reasons why people couldn't see past the "what?!?"  I think 'no staging' would have been the appropriate option here.

Pretty much everything [except for the giant bed] in her room came from her nursery.  We are still even repurposing her crib bumper to layer up this giant bed.  Only the 'hello beautiful' decal is new. And some paint, seriously, that wallpaper needed to go.  

see our kitchen before and afters here.

our vintage home [kitchen]

Getting to buy a home has something I always knew I would do.  It may have took me a little longer to get here,  but waiting was exactly what we needed to do.  We now own a home we never thought we would be able to buy, and it fits us perfectly.  The kitchen was really the only 'project', and the mr. and I had a pretty similar vision for the space.  With the help of our family and friends, we transformed this kitchen in about a week.  The only professional job was our Corian solid surface counters that are pretty dreamy, if I do say so myself.

here it is before...

We were always shocked that we got our house in the neighborhood that we did, for the price we did, and my mom would always remind me that not everyone could see past this kitchen.  True, I'm glad we saw past it.  And yes, I understand that it may not be every one's style, at least not anymore, but goodness, I swoon over it daily!

Our kitchen may be a tiny typical galley style, but I'm actually loving the functionality of it.  Everything is right where I need it, oh, and it has this thing called a dishwasher.  One that's built in.  Seriously, unless you have experienced a portable dishwasher for 7 years, you just don't get it.  And if you don't have one at all, seriously, it washes the dishes for you.  I get so excited every time I get to run it, which I know may rub off after a bit, but for now, giddiness people, pure giddiness.  

We originally were thinking of painting the cabinets white with a bold counter top, but I'm so glad that we reversed this idea last minute.  The white solid surface with white tile back splash is mixing vintage and modern styles perfectly for me.  

The light in this kitchen is amazing, and may be a tad intense in the summer; I'm hoping the established trees in the backyard will pleasantly surprise me when they come back this spring.  We will see.  Still, light, light, and more light.  So in love with brightness.  I get it from my dad.

details:

Corian counter tops - glacier white with integrated sink [in love]

Mineral Tiles DIY Subway Tiles [but I wouldn't agree that they give a subway tile feel, but I love them for my kitchen, just note that they are tiny]

White Spun Acrylic Pendant [over kitchen table] is from Practical Props and is a reproduction

Saucer style light over the sink is vintage, found at a local antique light shop

Cafe Curtains were made by my mom using fabric we found at Joann's

Pretty much everything else we have collected over the years,  most from thrift stores and our favorite antique spots, like Midway Antique Mall.  

There are definitely some areas that need to be touched up, and some 'first time remodeling a kitchen' mistakes, but overall, I couldn't be happier with the transformation of our cozy vintage kitchen. Bringing this room back to 1955 to match the house felt pretty good.  Eventually, we will tackle the floors as well, currently dreaming of some bold tile choices in the meantime.  

Excited to share another room here soon!