What happens when one half of a twin is torn down

It’s kind of reminds me of a Mark Rothko painting…in a tragic, sad way of course.

Walking through the neighborhood & coming home with a serious case of house envy

The first thing that is important to understand about Philadelphia (for anyone who doesn’t live here) is the tremendous amount of [architecturally] beautiful homes there are here.   The second thing to know is just how many of those homes are falling apart because the neighborhood is crap or because it’s just plain difficult to keep up with old houses.   Anyways, the beautiful homes are one of my favorite things about this city.  Everywhere I turn there’s always a more beautiful house…that I wish I lived in.  (I mean, I didn’t name this blog House Obsession for nothing.)  Everyone that knows me well, knows that I am constantly saying “Oh, I wish I lived there!”  Maybe that’s why I’ve moved so many times in my life.  There are always more houses to decorate, after all!

At any rate, today N and I took a walk to the “nice part of the neighborhood” so that I could torture myself with falling in love with every house.   I’m sure the people who lived around there wondered why we were taking pictures of their houses, but it’s just something I like to do – dream of what the insides of those houses must look like.  Anyways, here are my favorites from today’s walk.

I mean, how cute are those shutters?  I can’t even stand it!  I love them so much!

Is it possible to burn with porch envy?   I imagine sitting out here drinking tea and rocking in a rocking chair.  I think this is a former twin (like mine) where the person actually owns both halves and has turned it into a single home (not like mine).   I also love that they painted the brick.  I’m not usually a fan of that, but this house just looks so good in person.

This house is one of those that is so ridiculously huge that you have to wonder just who originally built the house.  Was he an inventor or a banker?  Nevertheless,  I certainly wouldn’t want to have to clean this huge home…nor would I want to pay the gas bill, but oh what I wouldn’t give to get to live there just for a month.   The owners must get lost in there sometimes!

There are so many things to love about this house, such as the curved porch and the two-color brick accents.   It’s hard to see in this photo, but it also has real leaded glass windows too.   Again, who built this house?!  It’s enormous!  I think you’d need an army to fill it (and clean it), but I’d love a house tour.

Okay, so this is not a photo of a house…but it IS a squirrel lantern in someone’s yard.  It’s a shame that whoever owns this house has let the lantern (and the rest of the house too) get into this condition b/c it’s seriously one of the best pieces of lawn decoration / lighting that I’ve ever seen.  The house itself was in such disrepair that I didn’t both taking any photos of it.  Such a shame…it breaks my heart.

I can’t explain it, but this one is my fantasy house of the day.  I love it’s lines…the porch…the stone wall in front…the overly bulbous top.   I hope the owners love it as much as I do.

Walking through the neighborhood window shopping like this lets me forget about all the renovation projects for a moment in my own house, and just dream about the endless possibilities of someone else’s space.  Now if only I could pick this house up and move it to the beach.  Now THAT would be a real dream house!

International Chapter of the Junior Society

I’m so loving this blog!  A co-worker of mine just turned me onto it yesterday, and I’ve been sitting here this morning digging through their archives.   Everything is SO adorable!  Yes, it is geared towards kids (or people with kids), but I think anyone can appreciate their aesthetic and the things they post about.   It was hard to pick just a few things to show, but here are the two that were just too fun to not re-post!

How much fun do you think it would be to create a BRAIN jello mold for your kids?!  OMG, I want to make one for the people at the office!  Ha!  Well, if you head over to their site, you’ll see their other ideas for creating a Mad Scientist party for your kids!!

Another post I really liked involved making a mini-terrarium!  (It actually reminds me of a post that I did last year about making terrariums in cookie jars.)  I love their version because how cute is the little chair & lamp in there?!  I also like how they etched a window on the outside.  That’s really completing the total vision, I’d say!

So anyways…add the International Chapter of the Junior Society to your list of reads.  Reading through it makes you wish you were a kid again.  It certainly did for me!

Modern Art Rugs: Fashion and Function

Is it rug week or something?  I’ve got them on the brain these days it seems.  Anyways, my last rug post was really focused on searching for major rug BARGAINS out there.   (Personally, I’m all about being thrifty, while also being fashionable. ) However, while digging for bargain rugs, I also happened to come across some designer ones that, although not in my price range, made me stop and take notice.  These rugs are all conversation starters.  What do you think?   Would you own a rug that stopped traffic and became an instant topic of conversation?  Or do you prefer something more traditional?

Doves & Stripes Rug by Luke Irwin.

Fishtail rug by Emma Gardner.

Adrift Rug by Amy Helfand.

Flytip Rug by Committee.Peacock Light Rug by Matthew Williamson.  (I absolutely adore this rug.)

Dimpled Spindle Rug by Eva Zeisel Rug.

I’m more of a traditionalist with rugs, but I could definitely own the peacock feather rug by Matthew Williamson, and I’d consider the one by Eva Zeisel.  What about you?  If you’ve got a crazy designer rug, post a link to a pic of it in the comments section!

A little Inspiration before the weekend: Faye Toogood

I’ve been meaning to post about stylist / creative director Faye Toogood for awhile now because I love her work so much.  It seems like often when I’ve seen one of those magical photo editorials (in the World of Interiors for instance) it was Faye who helped create it.   At any rate, these gorgeous images speak for themselves.

photographer: Bill Batten

photographer: Gregoire Alexandre

photographer: Tom Mannion

photographer: Tom Mannion

photographer: Tobias Harvey

Head over to her website for more deliciousness!  This was only just a taste after all!

Vera’s Back!

Recently, I had the pleasure of getting to speak with some of the lovely people at The Vera Company about their newest projects licensing classic Vera prints to retailers to reproduce & reinterpret her designs for their products.  It was so refreshing to chat with them to learn more about who this iconic designer was (because previously I had NO idea!), and also just to meet people who were so passionate about her designs.  It definitely made me excited about her too!  Apparently she designed during the 60’s, 70’s and the 80’s, and you can see that reflected in her designs.  At any rate, now some of her designs are being re-interpreted onto new items like these dessert plates so keep on the lookout at stores across the country for new Vera products.  (I seriously LOVE these!  N are you reading this?  My birthday is coming up soon!!  Haha.)

Here’s a link to stores across the country where you can find new Vera products.  But also for those vintage junkies amongst us, it turns out that with a few quick searches on Etsy and ebay you can pick up some fabulous classic Vera originals for not that much money!  I could definitely imagine the ones below framed, sewn into pillows, or even just worn as they are.  Her prints are so great mainly because they’re just so happy…and that happiness seems to be translated through the design.  I also like that many of them have a very watercolor feel to them.  Anyways…here are a few of the great vintage ones I found:

Classic Plaid Vera Scarf & Brooch Set $38 on Etsy

Classic Vera silk scarf $36 on Etsy

Geometric print Vera silk scarf for only $13 on Etsy.

Look for your own Vera originals on Ebay and on Etsy.

Ebay for rugs? Who would have thought?!

Some of you may already realize that you can find amazing rug deals on ebay, but I had no idea until just last week.  Rugs are one of those things that many of us need/want, but it never ceases to amaze me just how expensive they are.  Well, seeing as how I’ve been looking for a rug for my guest room and hadn’t found anything that I liked that was in my price range at the normal retail haunts (my price range being…as little as possible…on a rug as nice as possible), I decided to start looking outside the normal retail arena.  I started keeping my eyes peeled at antique & thrift stores, craigslist and discount places, however nothing was coming up that was both really nice and bargain priced.  So, as a last resort I decided to look on ebay… and I don’t know why it never ocurred to me before.  After figuring out the best way to weed out the crap, I was able to discover some really beautiful rugs there.  Just to prove that I’m not talking crazy, here’s a picture of the 8×10 wool Nepali rug that just arrived for the guest room.

I have to say that I absolutely LOVE it!  N and I were more than pleasantly surprised at how nice it is in person.  The wool is super soft, and oh did I mention that it came with FREE SHIPPING!  Anyways…I’m gushing.  I love it so much.

At any rate, if you’re looking for a great rug too…definitely give ebay a try.  Although here are a few helpful tips that I found useful.  1) Hit up some rug stores first to see what styles and/or countries you might be most interested in, for example I knew that I was most interested in rugs from Iran or Nepal because I liked the way they felt and I liked many of their patterns.  2) Start with a fairly generic search like “Wool Rug Iran” and then whittle down from there in the filters on the sidebar.  It will help cull down the mess that you don’t want.   3) Stick to your guns on price.  If you only want to spend $150 or less on an 8×10 Persian rug, don’t worry…there will be quite a few that come along!

I did a little more digging tonight to show some of my other ebay finds.  Here they are:

As of the time of my posting, this 7×8 rug is only at $9.50 and has Free Shipping to boot!  Here’s the LINK.

This wool 9×12 rug is more expensive at $275, but is still a great price for that size!   Here’s the LINK.

Okay, so it’s a 5×8 Pottery Barn rug…but I sometimes still kick myself that I never bought it when they were carrying it because I love the Moorish pattern so much.  Anyways, it’s HERE for $299 Buy-It-Now with Free Shipping.

This 4×7 is at $235 with Free Shipping, but they’ll take a lower offer!  Here’s the LINK.

Anyways…these are just a couple that caught my eye.  As you can see, I have a thing for geometric patterned rugs.  Good luck rug shopping!  P.S.  If you have great pics of your FABULOUS bargain rugs (and how you used them in your home), I’d love to see them!   Email me at houseobsession [at] gmail.com

Nigel’s professional debut

Nigel, my brown Boston Terrier, was asked to pose in a photo shoot last week!  Here’s one of the outtakes in his “professional debut.”  He was really working that camera.  Haha!

Update:  One additional outtake.  I couldn’t resist.  The little critter is such a natural ham.

My kitchen was featured (again) on Apartment Therapy!

Wow!  How awesome was it to wake up this morning to find out that Apartment Therapy wanted to feature my kitchen again?!  Very cool.  Thanks to Leah over there, I’m glad they liked the renovation so much.

Stormy Sunday afternoon

Today has provided us with a huge rainstorm, and hail the size of acorns.  At least the clouds and light were spectacular.