q is for quandie

My sister has arrived for a visit giving me the opportunity to be a tourist in my own town.  On Saturday we headed over to a yard sale on Summit Avenue in St. Paul.  According to Wikipedia, Summit Ave “remains a well-preserved example of a Victorian residential boulevard.”  We did the official walking tour of Summit through the Minnesota Historical Society the last time my sister visited, so after checking out the yard sale, we headed of down some side streets instead of staying on the main boulevard.

It was a gloomy day, and I was taking pictures with my phone which I am no good at.  I was kicking myself for not bringing my camera.  My But I’ll still share our adventure with you.

Behind the beautiful mansions you’ll find some original cobblestone alleys.

The houses just off Summit are not quite as grand, but they are still lovely and many have fab gardens.

It’s a great place to get ideas for your own garden planter combinations, or perhaps a faux bois fence.

Ultimately we ended up back on Summit Ave, where we admired some of the more extravagant homes including this one that happens to be for sale.  The price?  A mere $1,695,000 (check out this link to see photos of the interior).  Let’s buy two!

The detail on the columns of the brick house is just gorgeous.

We also peered into this secret garden.

We ended our morning with lunch and mimosas on the patio at the Wild Onion on Grand Avenue.

Today we are going to continue our tour of Jen’s house by moseying on in to the bedrooms and bathroom which are all through a little hallway off the dining room.  Can I just say, I am a sucker for a vintage built in with all of its original hardware.  Seriously, how fab are these?

The laundry shoot was an amazing invention.  I suppose having laundry facilities on an upper floor is an even more amazing invention, but I wouldn’t know from personal experience!

The grey on her walls here, by the way, is Sherwin Williams’ Light French Gray.

There are two bedrooms with a bathroom in the middle.  Let’s head into Jen’s study first, which also happens to be where she placed the dresser she purchased from me!

Aren’t her floors simply gorgeous?  I’m totally envious of their pristine condition.  She did have them all re-done before she moved in.  Smart move!  Jen was asking my advice on how to style this room.  I like the idea of a wall quote, like this example from pinterest.

This would work really well around the corner of the wall next to the yellow dresser.

I also think one of those vintage pull down schoolhouse maps would look great on the wall over the desk, don’t you agree?  If it had some yellow in it, that would help pull that color over to the opposite side of the room.

Jen’s bathroom has gotten a little makeover with paint.

She painted the walls and the base of the vanity.  I know that down the road she’d like to make some more significant improvements in here, but like her kitchen, it is spruced up and presentable as is.  I am always a little sad when it is obvious that the original sink has been changed out for one of these.  I had this style vanity in my own house when I moved in rather than the original sink.  One day I would love to find a vintage sink that would work in my bathroom.

Jen is lucky to have what appear to be the original floor tiles though, aren’t they fab?

Those blue ‘flowers’ made from the hexagon tiles are simply smashing.

Finally we come to the master bedroom.  I absolutely adore the color that Jen picked for her walls, Coral Gables by Benjamin Moore.

Isn’t it gorgeous?  A lot of us would be afraid of using this much color on the walls, but it works beautifully here paired with the more neutral tones in her upholstered headboard and her pale grey duvet cover.  The first time I was in Jen’s house the sun was out and this room just glowed with cheery coral goodness.  I am very tempted to borrow this color myself.  It would be perfect in my study, or my guest room.

And the light fixture is amazing.  Jen added this herself.  I was surprised because it looked vintage to me.  It’s perfect for above her bed.

And here is Jen’s gallery wall, which also pays homage to places she’s been.

I bet Jen will be adding to this wall over time with more pictures of fabulous places!

I hope you enjoyed your tour of Jen’s home and will join me in thanking her for letting us all have a peek inside.  I enjoy seeing what other people are doing with their spaces, especially those with an extra dose of character thrown in and I bet you do too!

Thanks so much Jen!  I hope you’ll stay in touch and keep us updated on your future projects.

Remember the beautiful yellow and white dresser I painted?  Well, I sold it to a lovely young woman named Jen via Craigslist.  As it turned out, Jen had an old dresser that she wanted to part with so we made arrangements to bring the yellow dresser to her and pick up the discarded dresser for me.  This gave me the opportunity to see Jen’s home, and I was totally smitten with it.  I loved her fantastic classic Minneapolis bungalow, her color choices, her mix of vintage and modern, and her sweet little Corgi’s whom she writes about in her own blog, Sassy Little Corgis.  So, on a whim, I asked if she would be willing to let me share her home on my blog, and she said yes!  So last Sunday I popped over to Jen’s and took a million photos to share with you.  So many in fact that I’m breaking her house tour into a two-parter.

Jen’s bungalow in the Longfellow neighborhood was built in 1925.  One of the things that drew me to Jen’s home is that the layout is identical to my grandparent’s home that was in the same area.  I also wonder if Jen’s home could be a Sear’s house.  Maybe?

Jen has a darling little entry porch that welcomes you to her home.  Her Wisconsin pillow was ordered from Etsy, and yes, Jen is originally from the Badger State.

She just moved in to her home this past April, and considering that she’s been in her place less than 5 months, I think she’s done some great things so far.  We’re starting in the living/dining room that was already painted this lovely rich green when Jen bought the house.  She brought in this gorgeous sectional from West Elm.  I love its mid-century, tailored sort of vibe.  It’s also quite comfy (and on sale at the moment)!  Across from the sofa is a fab mid-century credenza that Jen found with a little help from Craig and his list.  She has cleverly outfitted it for her TV with the components just inside the cupboard door.  Her router is velcroed to the back!  How clever is that?  Velcro, people!  Get on it.

What really impressed me about Jen’s house is the way she makes vintage feel hip and modern, giving it a breath of fresh air.

Her 1925 bungalow has gorgeous woodwork including an absolutely amazing dining room built-in that is in fantastic shape.

(Look out Jen!  Sneaky candid shot!)

That door to the left with the gorgeous glass knob leads up to the attic.  I’ll admit, I asked Jen to let me go up there.  It’s unfinished, but my grandparents had one just like it and I had to see it.  It even has that old house attic smell that my grandparent’s attic had.  You gotta love it.  Right?

Speaking of love, how about Jen’s dining set.  The chairs are from Target, sometimes they have the best stuff.  I didn’t mention this to Jen, but my dining room chairs are also from Target, but not as cute as these.  I’m tempted to run out and get these.  They look super comfy, like you could sit around and drink coffee after dinner and not have your behind fall asleep.  These chairs work beautifully with her round table, and the entire set is sized perfectly for her space.

The doorway to the right leads to the kitchen, and I believe I may have had a momentary flashback when I stepped through.  I’m telling you … my grandparent’s kitchen was the exact same size … which is to say small.  Sometimes I wonder if I am mis-remembering how tiny that kitchen was.  But now having seen Jen’s kitchen, I know I’m not.

Jen is making every inch of her kitchen count with this butcher block cart.

And as you can see, she gets plenty of light from two windows to keep it bright and airy feeling.

Now, just get a gander at this wall of gorgeous original kitchen cupboards!

Gorgeous, right?

But I am wondering about the fridge.  My grandparents did not have a fridge in the kitchen proper, it was out back in the hallway.  Jen has a fab built in pantry in that spot, see …

Anyway, there is clearly a spot for the fridge in Jen’s kitchen, but I am guessing that few houses had electric refrigerators in 1925.  Did they have an icebox there instead?  Or were the cupboards re-worked later to fit one in?  Jen is worried about being able to find a new one to fit in this spot, should this one ever need replacing, but I suggested she check out a SMEG.  They aren’t cheap, but they are gorgeous, and small.  Hey, guess what Jen?  West Elm carries one!

Here is the opposite side of the kitchen.  A simple sink and stove.  Jen painted the white tile.  It was an odd pink and purple-ish swirly mess when she bought the house, but now it is fresh and clean.  I would never have guessed it was painted.  She also painted the sink base, and added the floating shelves above the stove.

Before Jen moved in to her house, she took the time to repaint and do a lot of freshening up, like painting the tile.  I like that everything is clean and fresh and liveable for now, and then down the road she can make more expensive changes bit by bit.  I know she’d like to eventually have a nicer sink area in her kitchen, but this is perfectly presentable and functional for now.

I hope you are enjoying the tour of Jen’s cute bungalow as much as I did.  Stay tuned, in my next post we’ll see the rest of her lovely home!