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G.G.’s blue Arts & Crafts bathroom

Posted by: • December 9, 2010
1920s-arts-and-crafts-bathroomG.G. lives in what I would call a classic Southern bungalow cottage — an enduring American style that was built, I think, well into the 1950s and 1960s — like this favorite St. Louis time capsule house.  He recently completed an exquisite bathroom renovation — and was kind enough to share lots of detail with us.  One of the things I like about stories like this, is that you can really see the level of intensity required to do a period renovation — this is not for the faint of heart.  Also, as G.G. points out, thank the retro decorating gods for the internet. Doing the research to pull this off before the advent of www.world-at-your-fingertips.com was excrutiating. Well done, G.G.! Heck yeah there is more →

Upload your recent thrifty finds

Posted by: • November 13, 2010

Matt on deck today, sharing his latest vintage treasures — and inviting you to share yours, too. -Pam

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So I thought I’d take a little break and share with you all some of the new treasures I’ve gotten for the my room the past couple weeks. Upload your own recent finds at the bottom of post… Pam will then move them to the gallery, below.
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To see the slide show, click on the first image, look for the description just below it, and use the arrows there to move forward or back:

Heck yeah there is more →

Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site: Historic mid century homes to visit

Posted by: • October 19, 2010

Credit: NPS Photo by Carol M. Highsmith, Courtesy of Carl Sandburg Home NHS

Matt’s back with a new contribution to our to our series on historic, mid-century homes…

Thanks to reader David for letting us know about The Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site in Flat Rock, North Carolina. He wrote:

Love your website so very much. I wish we’d had a tradition of mid century design in the UK, but alas no. I think we were about 20 years behind the U.S., until not too long ago. Check out some of the 70′s UK houses, and design. Anyway I digress, last time I was in the U.S., I was staying with some friends in Asheville, NC. If you’ve not seen it yet you should visit the Carl Sandburg home in Flat Rock, NC. It amazed me the National Parks Service have really done a great job in keeping the house like it was when Carl Sandburg lived there, even down to the original 60′s Kleenex in the living room.

– David

Heck yeah there is more →

Historic photos of Valerie’s 1954 Milwaukee home — and her pink bathroom

Posted by: • September 9, 2010

There are archeologists among us — and of course they love the treasures in their 1954 home, including photos from their 1954 home’s original construction… and their original pink bathroom. Valerie writes: .

“I started reading your blog in April while shopping for my first house in Milwaukee. My husband and I actually bought a home built in 1954 on a lovely wooded lot.  We are the second owners, however, the only room that appears to be essentially unaltered is a bathroom. You will be happy to see there is a lot of pink!  Heck yeah there is more →

14 great scenes from 1940s kitchens, bathrooms, appliances & more

Posted by: • September 8, 2010

One of the things that Aunt Pam had me do when I visited and learned the blog this summer, was to start to go through her vintage decorating magazines. This cleanings pick: Advertisements from five 1940s home decorating magazine. This job was actually very entertaining (most of the jobs get gives me are), many of the advertisements were very comical. Heck yeah there is more →

Graceland: Mid century homes open to the public

Posted by: • August 31, 2010

Our series on historic, mid-century homes open to the public continues.

Continuing on the hunt for retro inspired Historic Homes you can visit I was reminded of Elvis Presley’s Graceland, located in Memphis, Tennessee. Of course I’d heard about this 14 acre white columned estate before, but I never could have imagined the lavishness (if that’s what you want to call it) in which Elvis decorated it. The American Colonial style mansion was originally built in 1939 for Grace Toot, heiress of a successful printing firm. Elvis bought the home in ‘57. He enjoyed the privacy and security Graceland offered — plus, for only $100,000 it was hard to pass up.  Elvis immediately began extensive renovations on the 23 rooms in the house & its surrounding grounds. He added the musical inspired wrought iron gate, a fieldstone wall to match the tan limestone on the home, racquetball court, swimming pool & the infamous jungle room. Finally, he designed & developed the meditation gardens — Elvis’ preferred reflection place — where his twin brother Jesse, parents and grandmother are buried. Heck yeah there is more →

A retro pink kitchen at Pottery Barn… too bad it’s for kids

Posted by: • August 21, 2010

Pam showed me this pink kitchen set from Pottery Barn and at first glance I was excited, surprised really, that you could it all new for only for $500. And then I looked at the header and realized it was Pottery Barn Kids and they are toys…duh Matt. Anyways, I love that little kids out are able to appreciate their retro kitchen set at at young age, so they’re not gutting such beauties when they have a real  kitchen. Check out Pottery Barn Kids for more images/ information. Oh, speaking of pink bathrooms, there are over 70 pink bathrooms in our gallery. And, don’t forget to visit Save The Pink Bathrooms to make your pledge.

Gropius House: Historic mid century homes to visit

Posted by: • August 20, 2010

Fifth in our special series on mid century historic house museums…

Located in Lincoln, Mass. the Gropius House is viewed as one of the most influential homes in modern American architectural design. Built by Walter Gropius in 1938, the home today a National Historic Landmark owned by Historic New England. Walter Gropius was one of the most renowned architects of his time — founder the the famed Bauhaus school of design. In 1938 he moved from Bauhaus, to Lincoln so he could teach architecture at Harvard. Heck yeah there is more →

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