Thursday, July 30, 2009

100 Years of History

Well, we finally made it to St. Louis!

Our daughter Erin, and her husband Keith, moved to an historic district in St. Louis last October. They both have demanding jobs, so this move was pretty intense for them. They had been looking for the right house for several years and pretty much knew where they wanted to be. Painting, re-plastering ceilings and walls, installing ceiling fans, insulation, drywalling, more painting, more plastering, roof work, landscaping, etc. Need I say more, a 100 year old house needs a lot of maintenance and TLC. So then we had Christmas, then my hostpital stay, and weeks of feeling bad, so now nine months later I finally get there.

Wow, it was worth the wait!





The area they live in is a few blocks away from Washington University, (Wash U, as the locals call it) and a few blocks from Forest Park, which was where the St. Louis World's Fair was located in 1904. It is absolutely gorgeous with 100 year old tree-lined streets, and lush landscapes. It's "Close-in"; University City, St. Louis, but in a lovely gated area.


Erin and Keith

This is inside the entry.
Stained glass front door with original square brass doorhandle.


Erin has a black Eastlake parlor table. Hmmm...wonder where she got that?

Entry and stairway




Beautiful marble floor in the entry way with my grandkitty, Boscoe. She is quite the Miss Congeniality, as you can see. I call her "the ignorer". She used to slap you every time you walked by, but she's mellowed somewhat.


Erin likes a palatte of grays, taupes, and darker colors. I think these are 10 foot ceilings, and original windows with the wavy glass panes. Keith's Mom is in the process of making their draperies. Yikes what a job!





She has a mixture of furniture, that she has tied together with black paint.

They have a little Modern edge to their decorating,
that keeps things unexpected.





These beautiful hardwood floors are throughout the house.




The kids call this the "Harry Potter" door. In reality it's their entry closet.



Living Room that connects to a large sunroom
through french doors.



"Curiosity Bookcases"






Authentic cow hide rug, you can see the brand.




Monstrous television, but movies sure are fun.








The ceilings are amazing in the sun room. They remind me of a Basillica.


Upstairs stair and hallway. I love the turned original spindles.


The upstairs bath that I used has the original sconces.





Marble window ledges.



Original claw foot tub and more marble floors












This room is above the sunroom on the second floor. They use it as an office,
and it has french doors into the Master Bedroom.

Keith is a "Craig's List" shopper, and he has found some great pieces.







Master Bedroom gray-green walls.




The tour didn't include the third floor media room with a projector TV or the other bedrooms and baths. They also have a large unfinished basement with the laundry and a wine cellar.

Now we are back on the main floor again, and this is the window above the kitchen sink.


(view of next door)

They ordered this table, but are still waiting for the chairs to arrive. Vintage fan, and poster of the London Underground.



Garden window, that Boscoe has claimed as her perch, which looks out to the back yard and detached garage.






This is a beautiful little fountain and pond. The sound is so relaxing.



Back view of the house.



Concrete garden statue in honor of their dearly departed
English Bulldog, Jack Edward.
He was a handsome fella, quite the British man about town.



Back deck and hot tub.















I have photos of some of their vintage and retro poster art. I'll post those soon.

We had a wonderful time on our visit. The kids were lovely hosts and put up with me waving a camera at every nook, cranny and shopping spot.

I'll share MORE photos, next post.

Hope you enjoyed the house tour.

Debra

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

White Wednesday, Girlie Girl

I'm still trying to get organized after our trip to visit our daughter and her husband last weekend. We antiqued and flea marketed about 230 miles from St. Louis to Springfield, Monday afternoon. So now I have tons of great finds in my garage, AND I still have to download a gazillion photos.
So for today's White Wednesday I thought I would share some of the "girlie girl" white from Leola's Vintage Home and Garden in Ozark.

















































Check out Faded Charm and see all the other links to White Wednesday.

Thanks, Kathleen.


Hope you are having a great week.
Now I have to get busy.
Debra

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Beautiful Baby Bella's Bloomin' Pink Blog Party

Say that fast three times...


Did you get your invitation? It was very last minute, as Nana postponed the party, something about too much on her plate, or something like that, so I thought I'd try to help out by finding a vintage invitation, some delicious treats, and party favors.





I was away for the weekend visiting my own baby,
but I had a few things ready for a Baby Bella Blog Party.


So glad you could come.
Here she is now, The "Bella of the Ball"!


All "Pretty in Pink" with her
Mouseketteer Bow



I have a table set with a vintage pink parasol, a vintage baby print,

and a delightful little book called "A Baby is Born".






Here's the menu. I think someone requested pink champagne punch.

Not too much, we don't want to be seeing those "pink pachyderms"!



Baby Bella miniature cupcakes, dressed in posies.




Delectible and delicious petit fours.




And here is something for everyone to take home,

Baby Bella Party Favors
"Bloom Boxes" filled with flower seed for planting our own

Bloomin' Flower Garden



I'm so glad you could come to Beautiful Bella's Blog Party!



Dear Bella,

So much love and so many prayers, we are all so thrilled to see you "Blossoming"!

God Bless You, Little One.

May God hold you forever in His Hands,


Debra

Monday, July 27, 2009

What I Rescued this Weekend, Monday

We are on our way home from St. Louis this morning from visiting our kids,
so I don't have any "rescue" photos, but hopefully
I will have some goodies from the trip to share.



So for today I will share some old doll babies,
that I will lovingly dub Erin and Keith.










Hope you had a weekend full of great junk finds.
Get ready for photo overload...it's coming!
I've been waiting to see the kids "new" old house since last October,
but a few things got in the way.
Debra

Friday, July 24, 2009

The Entry, Part Deux

A couple of weeks ago I did a post on White Wednesday
of things that were white in my entry.
Here are a few more photos that give the overall view of this area.
Below is the small Eastlake chest/dresser/buffet.
The finish was already painted when I bought it.
It is highlighted with gold, and it took me awhile to get used to it,
but now I really love it because it is so different.








This is a close up of the trademark bullseye, which is part of the Eastlake motif.

The old church pew is really rough, but the black paint helps hide some of it's problems.








This is my Dining Room view from the entry.




This little black wagon holding the conservatory is one
of my favorites to decorate for holidays and the seasons.
It looks pretty bare right at the moment.
I can hardly wait for September. August is just too hot for me,
and by this time of the year I'm ready to start thinking about
cooler weather, pumpkins, and the brilliance of
the fall leaves and blue sky.







I bought a pair of these topiaries to use for Alyson's wedding,
now they are on either side of the hallway.



Little old concrete garden girl painted black many years ago.















And here's one of the "watch kitties" waiting for you to come and visit.




Happy Friday!

Hope you have a great weekend!

Debra