House Beautiful: my own home - II

My last move with in the previous city was into this one bedroom house. I made some amazing friends for life while living in this complex. And also spent the initial days of my pregnancy here before we moved back to India. This home was where most of my furniture came in. I religiously scouted thrift stores and craigslist to find vintage mid century pieces of my choice, So here we go.

Welcome home...

The front door and entryway. 
We had a shoes and jackets closet on the left and a Jack and jill bathroom on the right.

Living and dining room all in one :)

we bought a mid century piece initially and then brought home a Drexel's Declaration dining set designed by Kipp Stewart and Stuart Macdougall. Thats the dining area with the accent wall and a peek into our tiny kitchen.

A peek into the kitchen...The cabinets were very neat and very clean line..the way I like :)

a few more pictures of my kitchen on my food blog's kitchen tour post >> Kitchen Tour 

And back to the living area- a glance at how our furniture collection evolved. I picked up some lovely lamps and accessories from the 50-60s and tried to remain true to the vintage vibe with an addition of our Crosley radio :). Though we let go a lot over time, my husband and I have fond memories of all the lovely pieces we had. 

view of our dining area from the living area.

Mantle decked up with my set of Maparachi dolls and a frame of the embroidered elephant and a few other curios :)

The mantle decked up for Diwali, our festival of lights

clicked from while on the rocking chair. Oh yes I have a thing for rocking chairs :). Read more about the rockers I owned over time > Here and Here 

A few tablescapes :) with our priced possessions

My love for plants and greens indoors :)

The bedroom

 I miss this apartment and the group of friends we had memorable times with :).

Dream home: Kids room

I keep collecting inspiring rooms like all do...loved this kids room so much that i had to share it here

 :)

source: houzz.com

Vintage Love ~ Wood, brass and leather table

C-listings are getting hotter in Atl...found this cool piece...Design is very similar to Eileen Gray side table, but could be some other designer..pl let me know if u have any info :)

The seller mentioned that table is adjustable and the surface reversible - wood and leather

Awesome isnt it!!..The round piece can be reversed...one side has a croc leather layer and the other has this beautiful walnut wood. When such pieces come by, I miss having a house and a garage :)

Looks similar to EG's table...

Amazing Antiques ~ Hall tree / Umbrella and Coat stands

Home with entryways and amazing foyer spaces deserve to be dressed up a little. A pretty looking hall tree does just that :)and works as a landing space for your keys, umbrella etc when you come home.

c-list

remember this one from Preethi's store...a colonial tile back classic

A few more options :)

halltree.com

Being this dressy is not everyonez cup of tea....but for those who love it :)..wood tones or painted white.

thehomelessfinch.blogspot

a few other hall trees with storage benches

jessicadelashaw.blogspot

A mid 19th century Early victorian hat and umbrella stand 

christies.com

A mid century modern - 1950's 1960's piece in walnut

ebay

Dressing up the entryway is easier than we think :)

House Beautiful : At Home with Petra and Lukas

A few months ago, hubby and I met a very cute couple at an estate sale. Lukas and his lovely wife Petra were there to buy stuff for their home. We spoke briefly and got to know that we shared our love for vintage homes and furnishings. In our conversation, I told them how crazy I was about the 50's neighborhood they lived in :). The Northcrest neighborhood in Atlanta is known for its beautiful homes from the post war, mid century era.  (I even told them I would love to visit their house sometime. And I was secretly hoping that they dint freak out hearing this :P)

Fast forward six months and hubby and I landed at their doorstep to pick up a beautiful side table...Craigslist Karma!! :-). As soon as we saw their house from the curb, we were in awe. I wasted no time in requesting Lukas for a home tour for DE. I am so glad they obliged. 


Every corner, furniture piece and accessory has been carefully chosen and reflects all love and effort which has gone into making this split level mid century modern home. I could go on...but the tour will be much better with appropriate inputs from Lukas and Petra :)...Over to them

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We have found our home about 6 years ago. We fell in love with its open airiness and unique, mid-century a architecture.

Our 1968 split-level with pickled tongue-and groove ceilings, dark-stained exposed beams, and white crushed-marble brick is a typical Northcrest home.

We value our mid century modern homes in the hood and we even more value our friend and neighbors. This is what makes Northcrest great neighborhood.

We did not have much furniture or accessories, when we moved in, but slowly we built a little collection of vintage and mid century modern furniture and accessories. 

We loved the decorative art and arts and crafts in general, but after we moved into the home we concentrated on the modern furnishings and  slowly upgraded here and there.

The Kitchen

Outside, our landscaping plan is based on native plants and sustainability, and is inspired by vintage Better Homes and Gardens magazines and Sunset books. 





The backyard features a woodland garden, spacious deck and an area for a firepit.

Long shot of our back yard

It was a lot of studying, reading, some missteps and lots and lots of time, but I'm happy we made that choice.

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Thank you Lukas and Petra for letting us into your world.  I am yet to get back into reality :)!! Happy weekend everyone


Images courtesy: Lukas and Petra
More about the Northcrest neighborhood: northcrestmodern.com.  A dream source for planning my future home :) 

Hello :)

Hello everyone!
My sincere apologies for being away for quite a while now. Been sick and recovering. I had promised myself to be regular with the blogs, and I haven't been able to :-(. 2012 has just begun and its never late :). A huge thanks to all you lovely people for being so patient and sending in your love.

In the two and a half or so years of DE's existence, I grew as a design researcher and vintage lover. Met so many wonderful people and each one of you has a special place in my heart. I wonder how at ease I am with people I never met in person. Blogland is amazing!! Each one of you is precious and your comments make me smile. I sincerely look forward to opening my email each day for more love from you all. Design Enthusiast (DE) being a research centric, vintage loving blog, its ever growing friends circle is a definite morale booster.

Thanks for all the love!!

Plans for 2012

Looking forward to showcase many more artists, visit and profile beautiful stores, share a lots more vintage love. Also, we shall continue our tour of lovely homes, document many more amazing antiques and find stuff on fridays :). Design Enthusiat also hopes to have more guests over with their lovely thoughts and design/decor ideas. Fingers crossed! :-) All I need is a little prayer and lots of love to keep going

Wishing Peace and happiness for all

PS: I hope to click more pics and share my tiny apartment with all you lovely people. I have been delaying sending my pics to other lovely blogs. I promised myself to do that this year.. :)

Wishes for a peaceful 2012

May this year bring in peace and good health for everyone. 

House beautiful ~ At Home with Tanya

When things dont go your way, sit back, relax and recoup to start all over again. Over the last few days, I did just that. And am back with a lovely home tour. We will be at home with Tanya of dans-le-townhouse. A Phd candidate, amazing DIYer and an excellent blogger. She is amazing...And her town house is as amazing as she is...as they say pictures speak for themselves. So lets get going on the tour

A very crisp and welcoming entryway

Tanya says.....

"Well, my husband and I are first-time homeowners but don't plan to live here very long - a total of approximately five years (hopefully the time it takes to complete my PhD!).  So we don't have the financial flexibility to make major improvements, nor can we personalize our house too much (must be sellable!).  But we have tackled what we could: re-doing the bathrooms, laying hardwood floors upstairs and giving the kitchen a "spit & polish," as I like to call it (new tiling, counters and refinished cabinet fronts).  Almost everything, renovation-wise, was (and is) a DIY project."

A glimpse of the Main floor which includes, the kitchen, dining area and the living room

Love the wonderful ottoman/coffee table with the super cool sofa

Another vintage chair with the ottoman...just swept me off my feet....and the fireplace looks yum!

Tanya's decorating mantra~ 

"In terms of decorating, we've chosen a mix of investment pieces and inexpensive "just for now" items.  Things we know we can use in our next place I don't mind splurging on - like the custom upholstery job on the vintage chair in the guest room.  But that's an exception because, with the help of our talented family, we tend to DIY. From the headboard I designed that my grandpa welded to the "Sigh" painting in the guest bathroom I DIY'd, we try to fill our home with things that are handmade and special to us. "

Lets take the stairs the next floor

She is a DIY queen...look at this awesome headboard she made herself

The "Sigh" poster and the guest room chair she upholstered

More about the house...."We painted all the walls, ceilings and trim a crisp white that allows the punches of colours I've scattered around to really pop.  Although I have DIY'd much of our art, we also have pieces by my husband's grandfather, mother, my mother and my grandfather.  I like the bright, spacious, gallery feel we have created out of a formerly run-down and neglected nightmare.

I know from her posts that she loves silhouettes...I really love the wall in their home office

A peek into the guest bedroom

Dont you love all the artwork

A persistent DIYer that she is.... she did a great job with back splash in her kitchen...I loved the finishing touches...(they needed a special mention!!)

"But, like most homes, it is a work in progress.  Along with tweaking what we have already done and finishing up some little projects, we have one major project left: a basement makeover.  We'll be starting as soon as the snow falls and it might be our most challenging project yet!"

Lovely kitchen

I cant get enough of every inch of their space...loved the master bathroom 

Fit for the queen isnt it :)

Here's the half bath on the main floor

 I was so pleased when I received her pictures. Thank you Tanya, for letting us peek into your beautiful home. 

To see how talented this young lady is, I strongly recommend you all to check out her DIYs and very inspiring posts on her blog - dans-le-townhouse.

One of the most lovable DIYs was the Felt Billy Button she made...

looks super cool..So do check it out

Images: Tanya ~ dans-le-townhouse