Frank's Place

Last Thursday I headed east out to Palm Springs. My intent was to join the Modernism Week festivities late, tour Frank Sinatra's House, thrift and check out the Vintage travel trailer show.

After checking out Frank's place I started thrifting and while I knew it would be slim pickings due to everyone and their mother being out there all last week but after 8 stores and only finding two things I was feeling kinda blah about the whole thing so I high-tailed back to LA and trolled Craigslist instead.


So while I don't have any reviews of the conventions or the tours, I do have so great pictures of Frank Sinatra's house...wanna see? Good.

Named "Twin Palms" Sinatra had it built in 1947 when he made his first million. He shared this home with Ava Gardner. While he only lived here for five years (moving on to more palatial digs in nearby Rancho Mirage) He did leave his mark. There's a crack in the master bathroom sink from a champagne bottle thrown by Ava in the heat of an argument.

It's got a knock out entrance. The first thing you see is the piano shaped pool, natch.

You enter through the dining room and living room. It's important to note that none of the furniture belonged to Frank. He hasn't lived here for over 50 years. The only thing that was his was the Hi-Fi set.

What struck me about the house was that it was smaller than I expected. It's three bedrooms and six bathrooms (including the his and her's pool house changing rooms). After this place he on to a 8,00 sq ft compound.

Frank Jr's Room.

Nancy Jr's Room.

I am totally in love with this bathroom. It's the main guest bathroom for the house and the smoke mirrors and pool blue tile are incredible. Add some Nelson lamps and a Flokati rug and it's just SO decadent. I think every bathroom needs a giant clam shell.

Frank and Ava's Bedroom.

So here's the famous crack. The legend is that Frank and Ava were arguing over Frank's affair with Lana Turner. Ava threw a champagne bottle, Frank ducked and it landed in the sink. It's a great story. Who knows if it's true.

Kitchen

Here's the Kitchen's Dining area. I didn't ask if that fixture was original, it's amazing.

This is the view from the driveway in the back, gorgeous isn't it? Palm Springs is so pretty and it was 64 degrees. I can totally see why everyone flocked out here and built these fabulous houses.

If you'd like to see more pictures, check out my flickr set.

Palm Springs Here I Come!

I'm off to Palm Springs for the tail end of Modernism Week. I'm going to Frank Sinatra's House, checking out the Vintage Travel Trailer show and doing a TON of thrifting.

Have a great weekend!

Dollhouse

I worked on this project in the summer and fall of last year and then completely forgot to share it. I know I keep saying that the move fried my brain but it's true.

So let's go wayyy back to 1988. My Dad got me a dollhouse. It was a big kit and we built it together. Or really, he built it and I handed him glue and pieces asking when it would be done. I think at 8 I was a little old for it but (and this might be a big surprise to you) I loved decorating it.

Ok, I'm going to show you a picture of me at that time and before you judge, I want you to think back to the 80's and remember what YOU looked like...

Maybe you'll understand now why as an adult I refuse to ever have bangs.

The dollhouse went through a few phases, as a teenager I painted it dark gray and the trim bright orange, purple, blue and yellow. I stored my cds in it.

It sat in my mom's garage for a decade or so. Last year when I moved back to Seattle I decided to bring it out of it's abandoned state and give it to my five year old niece as a Christmas present. It was in pretty bad shape. Parts of the roof were missing, all of the porches and the lattice work on the eaves was gone. It was filthy and full of spider webs.

Pretty sad right? At 22 years old it's ready to be condemned, definitely uninhabitable.

Once I got it in the basement I set to work. Here's what I did:

• Cleaned all the spiderwebs, leaves and guck out
• Glued all the loose spots
• Glue large chunk of roof back on
• Bought some shingles off of ebay and replaced all the missing ones
• Replaced a piece of the missing roof with balsa wood
• Rearrange the Corbels so none were missing in the front
• Fill in holes and gaps with wood putty
• Sanded it all over
• Prime inside and outside
• Paint inside and outside
• Paint trim

It was a big undertaking but relatively easy. The motivation of seeing a five year old open it on Christmas morning is pretty powerful. I did my best and here's how it turned out:

I'm very proud of the turn out. I wrote both my name and my niece's name in a hidden spot with the year we were each given it.

It was THE thing she was focused on Christmas morning (I mean, it was a huge wrapped present in the corner, how could you not be?) After every gift; "When can I open the big one?", "Can I open it NOW?". After she opened it she said to me "It's not really in good condition"...We all explained to her that it's an antique but I mean she's five, she calls it how she sees it.

House Tour-Sandra

Name: Sandra Soss

Location: Chicago

Square Footage: 1450

Years Lived in: 9 years

Rent or own: rent

Describe your style: cozy scavenger

Blog/Website/Twitter: www.bricolagelife.typepad.com



What's your favorite free/found item?
A Jens Risom chair my sister gave me. It came from a moving sale at the old office of the national headquarters of the PTA.





What's your favorite purchased item?
A four tier Barrister's Bookcase (and the Raoul Dufy silkscreen above it. It's really difficult to choose just one thing.)



What has been your biggest obstacle in decorating/design?
Being a renter. I can daydream for hours (and I do) about how I might redesign the kitchen, backyard or bathroom... but I can never act on it.



Is your design style organic or planned?
99% organic. I may fall in love with something at a rummage sale or thrift shop and if it's affordable, bring it home with no clear plan of where i will put it. Somehow I find a place and a few good uses for every piece.




What is your favorite spot in the house?
The living room. It is the largest room with the best natural light and has three defined areas I like to rearrange to suit the season or a combination of uses. Right now I have a work table for sewing projects, a breezy sitting area and open space for yoga (and photo sets). There are no phones, clocks, computer or TV, making it a peaceful space.





How has your style changed in the past 5 years?
I have tamed my inclination to put pattern and print on everything. But I'm basically doing the same things I have always done, using my space as an extension of my personality, an expression of who I am. The stuff changes and I rearrange the stuff.




What is your favorite resource or store?
Thrift stores, rummage sales and alleys remain my favorites.





What is your biggest decorating/design pet peeve?
I am living with one right now, the shiny white ceramic tile floors my landlord installed in the kitchen and bathroom. They are cold and hard and impossible to keep clean.




What has been your favorite design trend?
DIY. It encourages everyone to be their own designer and put their personal stamp on their home. I love that.





What is the biggest influence on your design/decorating style?
The internet. Peeking into inspiring creative interiors and artist's studios all over the world... what's not to love?




What in your home dictates how you design/decorate?
There are three things that are interconnected for me. First, the physical space because i am unable as a renter to alter the layout, fixtures or finishes. Next is budget, we don't spend a lot. And then there is our way of life (don't make me say lifestyle). Our apartment functions as my studio and my husband's workspace as well as our shared home. I tend to have projects active in several rooms at once. My husband doesn't mind this :) He keeps an office in the third bedroom where his books and scripts sit beside his golf clubs and baseball bats. We do our best to keep the common spaces cleared of work clutter. 





What is the simplest thing you have done that has made the biggest impact?
At first I thought - paint the walls. But that's a lot of work. The simplest thing is definitely rearranging. By moving the furniture, artwork, rugs and accessories from room to room, i can refresh the space and repurpose it at the same time. That's big.

all photos courtesy of homeowner. If you would like to have your home featured please send me an email or submit pictures of your home to the flickr group.

Photo Friday

I took this with my phone at the bank. It's an older building and it has these super high arches each with it's own pendant. There must be 30 or 40 of them. I imagine at night it's beautiful.

Have a great weekend! Anyone going to the Long Beach Flea Market?

FLEA

Bob and I conquered the Rose Bowl Flea Market in Pasadena this Sunday. I was under the impression that the gates opened at 9am to everyone, which I thought was way late. Turns out some VIP folks get let in at 5am. I love me some flea markets but no way am I going to roll out of bed on a sunday at 5 or earlier for some old junks. Sorry, in my life there is only one 5 o'clock and it's PM.

So 9am is the admission time for those not so nutty folks. We got there right on time. It was a typically beautiful California day (sorry east coasters). We walked and walked and walked. We saw tons of fun stuff. Weird and beautiful. Cheap and expensive. I really want to compare it to the Alameda Flea Market but I can't. They're two different animals. Both wonderful and full of junk. Like two Kardashian sisters.

So after a couple of hours trolling around and scoffing at overpriced stuff here's what we hauled off:

Wait, WAIT those aren't Eames chairs. They are "Vecta". They're a good copy and that's ok by me. I doubt I'll ever own the real deal. On my chair wish list  has always been mustard or seafoam shell chairs. So I'm pretty stoked about this find. I got them both for $45. The art is pretty awesome. Both of us were drawn to it. That was $25. Bob really loves it.

I saw Emily Henderson of Design Star there. That's the second Design Star winner I've seen at a flea market (first was David Bromstad at the Alameda Flea).

The chairs are in great condition. All I had to do was Magic Erase off some crud, use Barkeeper's Friend for a bit of rust on the legs and oiled up the shells with Howard's Feed-N-Wax. They are sexy and shiny and perfect for the new dining room. Wanna see? Good.


It's well documented I have a chair problem. I know am the proud owner of six dining room chairs for two people. Storage has always been an issue and really is now. I might sell a set. Might.

I'm not in love with the fancy chandy but I'm not going to do a big thing like change that out until we've lived here a year. Knowing me, I'd have it all swapped out and we'd have to move again.

That blue shelving unit is actually our old red shelving unit with a coat of spray paint (which is ridiculously hard to find in LA). The chairs are super sexy no?

I love them.

House Tour-Lyn

This house tour is special. It's the mommy of a friend of the blog and House Tour veteran Becke from The Vintage Cabin.

Name: Lyn G.
Location: Ontario, Canada
Square Footage: 800
Years Lived in: 2 1/2
Rent or own: Own
Describe your style: A mish mash of mid century, rustic and whatever else catches my eye!

What's your favorite free/found item?
An old wooden trunk rescued from the garbage.


What's your favorite purchased item? 
Don't laugh. My vintage chrome Sunbeam radiant heat toaster from the 50s. The toast goes down and comes up automatically when done. I've had it for over 30 yrs and still works great.

What has been your biggest obstacle in decorating/design? 
Staying focused when thrifting. I tend to love so many things from different eras I could become a hoarder. I have to walk away from a lot of things I really like, which can be very hard.


Is your design style organic or planned? 
Definitely organic and continually evolving.

What is your favorite spot in the house? 
The living room. It's the biggest, yet coziest, room in this small place.


How has your style changed in the past 5 years? 
It really hasn't changed much in the last 10 years or so. When we sold our family home in 2000 I was mostly into rustic style antiques. I auctioned off most of them when we sold the house as we wanted to downsize when we bought our next home. Mid century furniture was everywhere at the time and cheap in our small town so I bought a lot! It was great for our new space as it was smaller and cleaner looking.

What is your favorite resource or store? 
 There are about 5 favorite thrift stores that I can never divulge and a few junk places (really, they're pretty much garbage dumps!) I frequent with my daughter weekly.


What is your biggest decorating/design pet peeve? 
I have three. Stainless steel appliances, granite and glass tiles. It's all hype. To me it's overdone and, well...ugly.

What has been your favorite design trend? 
I really like what I'm seeing these days with a mix of everything from mid century and vintage to austere rustic.


What is the biggest influence on your design/decorating style? 
Thrift finds. They influence everything!

What in your home dictates how you design/decorate? 
This little bungalow, as it was built in the late 50s. I try and keep with the style/feel of how it would have been back in its hey day with a modern twist.


What is the simplest thing you have done that has made the biggest impact? 
Painted the whole house and trim Benjamin Moore cloud white to open up the space and highlight the furniture and art.

all photos courtesy of homeowner. If you would like to have your home featured please send me an email or submit pictures of your home to the flickr group.

Photo Friday

So as you can imagine I still have a lot going on. The place is completely unpacked but there is still a lot of movement and rearranging going on. I've always said that the state of your home reflects the state of your head and right now both are in chaos...I keep losing track of days and forgetting to do a "Things We Love". Sorry about that.


For some reason, that neither Bob or I can figure out, this move was the most stressful and chaotic of all of our moves. Anyway...I'm introducing a new Friday post "Photo Friday" I decided against "Foto Friday" because frankly, I'm just not that cute. It's just a way to share some of the random pictures I take with someone other than myself.

I'll probably alternate it with "Handmade Friday" whenever I discover something worth sharing on etsy.




So here's the first:

This was taken in the afternoon. There's so much light in this place and I love the way the disco ball throws it around. When my new landlady saw the disco ball she asked where I got it and I told her and in her thick German accent she said "Ya, but who buys a disco ball?" to which I replied "I do!".

Kitchen

Every kitchen Bob and I have ever had has been quirky. There's always been something odd about it; A drawer in an odd place, a funny nook, a wonky floor. This place is no exception. In the pictures it looks larger than it really is. Once you're in there it shrinks. The dishwasher is in a weird location, all the way in the back in that weird nook. Only one person can unload/load it at a time.

I got used to all the space in the Seattle kitchen very quickly. We had cabinets that were still empty. So when we got here we downsized quite a bit, I'm still getting rid of stuff. Which is for the best really. How much stuff do two people really need?

So here it is:

I'd like to do something interesting with that arch. I'm not sure what yet. Maybe a huge wall decal or something.

Did anyone notice my mixer changed colors? It totally did. I sold my old one and bought a new one before we left Seattle. I had orange mixer envy for a looooong time.