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 [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!

because we love all things vintage...and we think E does too

a few years back the mr. and I discovered one of our favorite places 

to go antiquing, Long Beach Antique Mall II

there are technically two Long Beach Antique Malls, but their second location

is my favorite

and so this is where I decided to snap a few pictures of Everly doing her first

"vacation antiquing"

because hey, having a baby doesn't mean you have to stop doing things you like

so here it is

turns out that antiquing can actually be a great baby activity

there is just so much for them to see

I love this last image, the boys are clearly pondering that giant pot

but not our E, she has already figured out that thing, and moved onto that vintage sled

 another thing I'm loving now that Everly is bigger

is we love holding her so she can see everything

and no, don't hold her like a baby

because she will cry, and if you have spent any time with her

you know she doesn't cry very easily

so you don't want to be the person to put her over the edge!

ten on ten [september 2012]

oh mondays, especially mondays after a masters weekend

at least I had ten on ten to keep me going through the day

happy ten on ten everyone

tomorrow I'm off to an all-day district training

thankfully it means I get to sleep in a tad

but man, sub plans are exhausting

see all of september's ten on ten posts here

and my other ten on tens here

keeping balance

yesterday I made some major progress in the nursery

with some help from a great friend, Jaymee from The Design Hive

I can't wait to share what we worked on soon

but here is just one of my favorite additions we added to the nursery

trying to keep balance in the nursery with new additions and still keeping to

our design style of mid-century modern is truly my focus

and adding this vintage nursery scale is just what I needed

today vintage...tomorrow Disneyland

and I'm so happy about all of that 

I could almost fly away on one of these bikes

today we visited the Long Beach Antique mall, again

no treasures we couldn't live without

but it made for a pretty nice afternoon

after that we've been resting up

and will soon be carb-ing up with close friends

because tomorrow, we get our magic on

be prepared for too many instagram photos for sure

thrifted it thursday

well, typically the thrifting gods direct me to nothing but pyrex

however, when I stumbled on this orange beauty, I just had to get it

even though we have NO room in our little kitchen

I just couldn't resist

so this Beautyware Cake Carrier is

adorable, vintage, and pretty handy

the best way to spread christmas cheer...

is singing loud for all to hear.

I started hanging lights

but decided to take a few pictures instead

until recently I never realized how much I loved the photos that

 used to hang in my dad's office

now one is mine, and hanging some winter cheer around the frame

 just makes me smile

december first is tomorrow - let's do this.

the day I ripped my adorable vintage dress

Or, more commonly known as the first day of school.
Hmm, well after my first day of middle school, I'm not saying I'm loving it.
It isn't the kids - it's more the structure of everything.
I can't tell you how many times I asked myself when morning recess was.  Talk about a wake up call.
And, the whole "getting to do the same thing 5 times", well, I'll give it some more time.
I know on most days I won't be talking so much, but today, left me pretty exhausted.
So, back to the start of the day.
I had found this adorable dress while visiting Long Beach this summer, and knew right away it was going to be my "first day of school" dress.  It's green, it's vintage, and it is SUPER teacher appropriate.  No cleavage or even knees to be seen - especially important for me in middle school!
Well, I was out the door, doing one final check in the bedroom mirror to make sure nothing was hanging off the back of me, when I hear the sound no girl wants to hear.
The ripping of a seam.  No, I hadn't eaten too much for breakfast.
I had caught the ADORABLE pocket that hangs from the side of the dress on the door knob.
Thankfully it just tore out the seam, and can be fixed, but as you figured by the name of this blog - I won't be able to do it on my own.
Maybe I'll survey the damage again, because it would make a great second day of school/birthday dress!

So, as for being a middle school teacher.  Well, I'll get back to you.

I know it will get easier.

I just was hoping for a smoother first day of school, considering I have now done this five times.

The kid's schedules were just seriously messed up, and that doesn't make anyone's day easier.

And not having enough desks isn't too peachy either.

The good thing is - I think I'm officially over not sleeping the night before the first day.

The last two years I have been out like a light.  Pretty lucky for that I think!

Unfortunately my feet didn't fare so well.  

They clearly haven't been in actual shoes all summer.

So, it's safe to say they are pretty raw tonight.  Which also complicates my outfit for tomorrow.

Positive thinking - I said it was important to my kids today.

I think I'll practice what I preach.