Blueprints, HGTV, and Habitat for Humanity...

You probably haven't noticed, but I'm also trying really hard to make sure our remodel is earth-friendly. It's a nice idea but it really slows things down. It takes a lot more dang time and energy researching where to find good used, vintage, and earth-friendly materials than it does to just go buy it all at Lowe's. Okay, I admit I can't resist Lowe's paint chips and who wants to buy a used plumbing line? Not me!

Anyway, I decided to scour the Habitat for Humanity Restore in our area yesterday in search of a light for the kitchen and a bathroom vanity. I didn't get either, but it was still awesome. I left with a five-foot vintage 1950s mirror medicine cabinet for my guest bath ($10!!) and a huge vintage wall mirror ($29!!!). They have these stores all over the country, so google your local Habitat and check it out. They basically collect used and new building materials that would have otherwise ended up in the landfill.They use the money from the store to build houses for low-income families. Oh, and it's a great resource for people who already own houses and don't have a huge budget to fix them up. I count myself as one of those-- I always just about poop my drawers when I read articles about "cheap" $25,000 one-room renovations. Hell, that's more than I'm going to spend on my entire house!

In other news,a pile of papers fell out of the cabinet above the fridge this week. Turns out it was four pages of blueprints for the house, with the name of the home builder (Norman L. Koon) and the developer, (Gabay Development). Very cool. I want to find out more about my neighborhood, and now I have the first clues to start me on my way. Although I did notice that whoever paid to build this house moved the stove around in the kitchen,ditched a cheesy flower bed outside, and went with plaster walls and thick stucco instead of drywall and wood shingles.

On another note. I'm one of the three people left in the U.S. that doesn't have cable TV. Somehow, I don't want to admit that I like television enough to pay for it every month. Plus, I'm scared it'll take time away from other projects. Anyhoo, I have to balance my TV ideology with the fact that I am addicted to HGTV, so I often drive down to my mom's to spend the night vegging in front of her HGTV. Lo and behold the episode of Designer Finals was a makeover of a house in Columbus,Ohio. My brain spun. I often check the Be on HGTV button on their Web site, and never once did I see a request for houses in my town! Holy cow. I'm totally bummed out that I missed it. I have a few rooms that could use the touch of a young professional other than me. But maybe next time...
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The bathroom, part two, and the toilet name game...

Mission accomplished. At least partly. The robin's egg 1950s blu emy husband wanted in the main bath upstairs in now in place, the mauve carpet has been safely removed and freecycled, and the new hardware that will someday (when I have time to install it...) has been chosen. Woo-hoo! I'm almost home free. The color is Behr Embellished Blue from Home Depot. It really makes taking a shower a lot cheerier. And, it shows off the 1950s faux marble vanity top.

I did have bathroom fever this past weekend, so I started a makeover of the half bathroom adjoining the kitchen. Well, it wasn't that I was feeling like a go-getter, it's just that we are having Marmoelum flooring installed in the kitchen and bathroom of that room this week and the toilet and vanity needed to come out beforehand. I figured while the toilet was out, I'd replace it with a new one, because there was no way in hell I was putting that mid 1960s 5- gallon a flush water hog back in. Especially when it didn't flush right to begin with.

No one warned me that toilet shopping was such a humorous experience, though. I had to wonder who came up with the model name for toilets. At Lowes, you could buy a Cimaron. At Home Depot, the Harbor or the WellWorth. Silly names trying to add a bit of mystique and class to what has for all time basically been referred to as "the old crapper." We went with the WellWorth. And in a fit or irony, the same day we bought it, we went to a house party where the hostess had just bought a new toilet. I told her of the humourous names we encountered while toilet shopping and she said, "Yeah, it's funny. I think ours is the WellWorth?" Those marketing people earned their money that day.•

Up Next: The bathroom...

Let's just say the main bathroom upstairs leaves much to be desired. Mauve carpet, pink curtains. Okay, at least the original custom slant-front vanity with the faux pink marble top is intact. After all, I bought the house because it had all original fixtures. And the tub and tile seem to be original 1957, too.

The hubby says he wants the walls to be a nice 1950s robin's egg blue, the same color as the living room in the first apartment we lived in together. But first, I've gotta pull up the carpet and see what I'm dealing with here. Looks like 70s linoleum!

Christmas down at the ranch...

The eggnog is in the punchbowl and it's about time to bust out the cookie sheets and make sugar cookies. Yes, it's Christmas again! I put up the tree on Sunday. It's a vintage 1950s 6 and a half foot Alcoa aluminum tree with a color wheel my mom was gracious enough to buy me at a flea market. Of course, I did go overboard, buying a second tree. But hey, it's made of purple tinsel and it was 50 percent off. What girl can resist that?

Project two: Paint chips a plenty, turning the living room into a retro playland...

It took a good three trips to the hardware store to find the right paint chips for the living room. Luckily, I had decent floors to deal with after the mint green carpet came out. But, it's a long skinny room with low ceilings, so at first I wasn't quite sure what to do. I wanted some red, because I had it in my last house and it looks good with retro leopard print-- definitely a must. (I guess you could describe my decorating style as "Bettie Page burlesque bordello").

I am not a fan of pastels or of white walls, either. So, after sitting on the rug absorbing the vibe, I decided I'd do three walls in a light neutral, with one dark accent wall in a red. My goal is to get the stone fireplace and the built-in metal plant holder to stand out. They just kind of blend in against the white, when really they are the coolest parts of the room.

I ultimately went with American Tradition Cincinnati Hotel beige, from the National Trust for Historic Preservation paint series and Bordeaux by Eddie Bauer for the accent wall, both from handy dandy Lowe's. Just a warning: before you paint anything red, understand that it takes at least three coats to get a solid red color. It's not for the faint of heart.
So, after a weekend of painting, this is how it turned out.

Click here for a before and after living room photos slideshow

Between the camera and the Internet, it's hard to convey the true colors in the room, so if you are really motivated and curious, you'll probably want to inspect the chips in person next time you stumble into Lowe's.
But, mission accomplished, I think, on making the fireplace and the plant holder much more noticable.
Alas, for me it's back to the paint chips. Now I'm on a quest for the perfect 1950s blue for my bathroom!•