Home Tour Heaven: The Conclusion

I am sorry that it has taken so long to post these photographs.

I have been a bit under the weather.  

I had a wonderful time voyeuring through the seven gorgeous homes 

on this year's Park Hill Home Tour.

Now without further adieu-I will go straight to answering the trivia questions

(as promised in my first Home Tour Heaven post)

It was this charming 1934 tudor (above) that boasts a 

master suite which encompasses its own floor.

This absolutely beautiful 1932 tudor and-I must admit-my favorite house this year

evokes the ambience of Provence with a courtyard decorated in tree stump benches 

and ornate iron lanterns hanging from tree branches.  It also has the kitchen countertops made from limestone slabs that came from Denver's courthouse steps.

Another tudor-this one built in 1934

(I say that you can never have too many tudors ;-)

has the exterior of an old house but 

the interior of a mid-century modern ranch.

The fourth and final stately tudor built in 1932

has a sunroom that was featured in a recent addition of 

Remodel Magazine.

The Italianate and Spanish Colonial Revival home pictured above 

was not only the house to which I was assigned as a tour guide

but is the also the place that features a dining room 

painted in chartreuse with a coffee ground glaze.

It was truly exquisite.

I am giving less attention to the 1928 mission style home pictured above-

only because I posted the photograph in my original post.

It isn't any less deserving nor wonderful.

It is also the home of the antique cotton candy pink apothecary cabinet.

Another mission style lovely built in 1928 and again given less attention

because of the first posting and not because it doesn't deserve attention.

This fabulous home has appeared in a design book titled

"Updating Classic American Ranches"

(I so wish my 1964 classic american ranch resembled this beauty ;-)

I had hoped to take interior photographs as well but we were asked not to do so.

Of course, I saw a few people-Nikons in hand-breaking the rules.  

At that point I thought that perhaps I should have been a little less reasonable.

Before concluding-I want to say thank you to Loui of Mountain Mermaid for making a special trip to meet me on Sunday.  It was truly a pleasure to finally meet you and I look forward to getting together soon.  

May you have a weekend filled with love and laughter.

I am linking this post to Common Ground Vintage Inspiration Friday

I can't think of a better source for inspiration than a 

Home Tour featuring vintage Denver mansions!

Voracious Vintage

As the Friday work day draws to a close...I am seeking inspiration for the weekend.

Seeking inspiration always draws me to the many "beautiful home" books that I have 

stacked on the coffee table and sitting next to my bed and scattered on the kitchen island

-you get the idea ;-)  

I have a lot of them! 

You can never be too inspired right?

The lovely photographs above come from a book by Bari Lynn called Eclectic Living 

(the link to the book can be obtained by clicking on the post header Voracious Vintage)

It truly captures the beauty of vintage decorating and creates a nostalgic ambience 

of bygone eras 

-all while maintaining a timelessness that makes it appealing in the present.

This book not only provides gorgeous photographs-

it also shows you how to get the same look with your own vintage finds.

I consider myself fully inspired :-)

I am linking to Common Ground Vintage Inspiration Friday.  

Have a beautiful weekend

Home Tour Heaven

On Sunday- I am going to do something that I love.

I try to do it every year about this time.  

Only this year I have volunteered to participate rather than simply spectate.  

I am going to the Park Hill home tour.  

Seven exquisite homes built between 1928 and 1938 will be spotlessly cleaned,
 fabulously fluffed and admiringly adorned with blossoming bouquets-
so that several hundred beautiful house junkies 

(like me ;-)

can become inspired and dare to dream of living in a home as lovely as these.  

I will be a tour guide of sorts.  I will stand in one room in one particular house and spout about the type of architecture, the year it was built, who may have slept there and other interesting little tidbits that many homes of history carry and reveal through their four layers of vintage wallpaper and several dozen scratches to the original hardwood floors.  

While doing my homework for this very important position (and because I found it fascinating), I found some wonderful things about each one of these stately homes.  

For example, one of them has kitchen countertops made from limestone that once adorned the old Denver courthouse building.  

Another houses an antique apothecary cabinet that has been painted cotton candy pink! 

Can you guess which house matches which interesting fact?  

Here are a few more:  

The dining room of this Italianate and Spanish Colonel Revival home is decoratively painted in chartreuse with a tinted glaze made from coffee grounds.  

This 1932 Tudor style home boasts a rustic picnic area said to be reminiscent of 

-the Provence countryside-

with tree stumps fashioned into seating and ornamental lanterns hanging from the tree branches.

One of these houses has been featured in two home design and remodeling books.

Know which one?

And one of these magnificent places has a master suite that encompasses its own floor

-half way between the main and second floors.  

What luxury.

Here is the teaser-I am not going to tell you which house matches which fact

-at least not until next week -

At which time I hope to not only have a few more interesting facts 

but also 

to provide some spectacular photographs.

I hope you will stay tuned. 

Ode to Autumn

Ahhh Autumn....

It seemed to me that all of these photographs...

somehow seem to go together.

Perhaps it is because they have similar colors... or...

perhaps they simply speak to the spirit of autumn.  

Welcome


Photo credits: Country Home 2008, Country French, Cottage Living 2008

The Last Few Days of Summer Vacation

The kids go back to school next Monday.

Where did the time go?

I thought that I would reminisce on these last few days of summer...

...by posting photographs that remind of sweet summertime.

So long my sweet summer.

Until we meet again-next year.

On a Wing and a Prayer-Before and After

Weekends always get me thinking about projects.

So-in preparation for this weekend-I thought that

 I would post one of my (many) past weekend projects.

These are wing chairs that I purchased on Craigslist for $50

after I slipcovered them in velvet.

This a photograph of the same wing chairs before

I slipcovered them in velvet ;-)

Above is another view of my rendition.

And as a bonus...

I thought that I would throw in a photograph of what I affectionately call my

"thrift store vignette"

because all three of these items cost a mere $6 total!

I would love to hear about your weekend projects 

and 

even see a few of your thrift store vignettes.

I hope your weekend is filled with love and laughter.

Classic and Timeless

When I was a college student in Boulder, Colorado...

I worked for -what was then- a primarily family owned company called 

Laura Ashley

It was located on the charming and slightly famous 

Pearl Street Mall 

I think that if that darling little shop were still there-

I would be too.

I do still hold onto a lot of Laura Ashley things (especially catalogs)

and I am always amazed by the timelessness of the designs.

Couldn't you just see these delicate and crisp floral fabrics (from a 1990 catalog)

adorning a modern master bedroom 

or covering a casual sectional?

I suppose this is the visual definition of 

classic