Mid-Century Madness
My husband Mitch and I are psychopaths for a variety of reasons, but mostly because we have a penchant for taking on huge projects when our plates are already over-flowing with responsibility. In the past five years we have moved nine times, renovated, leased and sold an abandoned 19th century pharmacy, fix and flipped three other homes and birthed two maniacal little boys all while living 1,500+ miles away from our nearest family members. So, true to form, we recently purchased a mid-century time capsule nestled in the foothills east of Seattle, Washington. The wood paneling is abundant, the light fixtures are stellar and the air is thick with mold spores and asbestos.
Built in 1964 on a lush wooded acre, our new home looks like a modest little rambler (that’s pacific northwest for a ranch style home) when viewed from the front, but behind this unassuming facade lurks 5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms and 3,500 square feet of retro amazingness. Let me take you on a little tour.
The Foyer
I pronounce this room “Foi-er” even though I know its actually pronounced “Foi-eh”. But saying “Foi-eh” makes me feel snobby, whereas saying “Foi-er” makes me sound like the classless New Yorker that I am. This room really sets the tone for the whole house. Wood paneling and popcorn ceilings. This is actually some of the nicest wood paneling I have ever seen, which is huge coming from me, since I typically despise it. I’m not saying we are going to keep it all, but I do think I can handle this stuff in doses. Apparently the stone floor is common in homes of this age in our neighborhood. I’m not a huge fan of this particular color or layout in my home, but working at a Landscape Architecture firm for ten years has made me a bit of a flagstone snob… maybe I should be calling this room the “Foi-eh”!
The Kitchen
Pretty amazing, right? The drawers are full of mouse poop, nails and m&ms but all in all, its not a bad layout and I love the vaulted ceiling. I’m in love with the pendant light above the breakfast bar. I just don’t understand how things like that popcorn ceiling encased beam happen though.
Hey, what’s that outside!? Oh wait… thats not outside, thats just more inside! Not a huge fan of the interior window. I love the skylight and pendant light though!
Another view of the kitchen through the dining room. Can you smell the must on those curtains? I sure can!
The Living Room
I love the lines of this room! We have a painting of Neil Diamond that may or may not have been painted by Ted Bundy that will look sharp above that fireplace. The one thing I’m not crazy about in the placement of the exterior door dead center on the wall; it doesn’t really align with the asymmetrical design of the rest of the room.
The floor to ceiling window pictured here is what sold me on this house; the view to yard is surreal with Jurassic sized rhododendrons, ferns and Douglas Fir. If any of the windows opened I’m sure I’d be able to “…smell those Douglas Fir” (all you Twin Peakers out there know what i’m talkin’ about), but for some reason, between this room and the kitchen the only operable window is the tiny one over the sink. It makes me hot and claustrophobic thinking about it!
The Deck
I love the deck, mostly because it has a locking gate so my 1 year old can’t escape. But now that I look at the picture I’m pretty sure he could take a header over the side if he climbs on that bench. And the chicken wire looks totally kosher, right? Still, its awesome to have an outdoor dining area right off the kitchen. I also like how its lit by one giant Christmas light.
The Den
We are pretty sure this used to be a covered porch at one point. I bet it gets cold as flock in here during the winter. I’m told this is really nice, expensive wood paneling but I am having trouble appreciating it. Oh look, none of the windows open in this room!
The Guest Bathroom
I don’t know if I can say anything about this bathroom that it doesn’t say for itself. I love that there is a skylight in here and I dig the angled vanity. The double chain globe light is pretty outstanding as well.
The Bedrooms
The most noteworthy thing about the bedrooms is that there are five of them. Other than that, they are pretty standard, except for the fact that only one tiny window in each room actually opens. This non-operating window thing drives me insane! I plan to demo all the windows a la Helen Hunt on Angel Dust:
The Master Bedroom
Our bedroom at our old house was enormous with vaulted ceilings, a skylight, a five piece bath, walk in closet and french doors out to a deck. But we could also hear drunks moaning in the back alley, our neighbors partying til dawn and if you left the lovely french doors open flies that were noshing on the dumpster or bum poop moments earlier would buzz in and land on your face. So, while our new bedroom may be lacking some of the bells and whistles of our old bedroom the views and serene setting more than make up for it. Not to mention that this is a good sized room with nice hardwood floors, a large closet and a Master Bathroom attached; we aren’t exactly martyring ourselves over here.
The Master Bathroom
This is the only room in the house that has been updated, though I’m not sure when because some of the tiles are cracked and the paint is bubbling above the shower. It does have a heated floor which is nice, and the shower is in good shape, but no wide angle lens in the world could make this bathroom appear wider.
Oden’s Bedroom
I can’t decide if this carpet is peach or tan, but it really doesn’t matter because we are tearing it out to expose the hardwoods underneath. The views from this room are also amazing and I can see both of the boys spending a lot of time playing (fighting) in here.
Milo’s Bedroom
This is the smallest bedroom in the house, but it is still a decent size and plenty big for the smallest member of our family! I can’t think of anything clever to say, so instead I invite you to harshly judge the paltry size of the operable window.
Downstairs Bedroom 1
Blue carpet seems like such a commitment. Did blue used to be the new black? Because I can’t imagine anything I own going with this carpet.
Downstairs Bedroom 2
An ingenious solution to the blue carpet dilemma. What matches blue? Blue matches blue! Duh, Alissa, duh!
The Downstairs Bathroom
This image doesn’t capture it perfectly, but something about the floor in here reminds me of Fruity Pebbles. Or maybe it just reminds me of the Flintstones and the Flintstones remind me of Fruity Pebbles.
The Downstairs Rec Room
I don’t know what this little room is supposed to be so I am calling it the Rec Room even though any recreational plaything will likely be in the way because, this is a major thoroughfare for the lower level. Hey look! More windows that don’t open!
The Downstairs Lounge
My husband and I have staggeringly different visions for this room. He envisions bubble-hockey, ping-pong and a pac-man table. I picture a lounge-y office space. Either way, the fireplace and the walk out access to the lower patio and water-feature make this a gem of a bonus room; a wood paneling, drop-ceiling, asbestos tile, inoperable window encrusted gem, but a gem none the less.
The Workshop
I couldn’t imagine a more perfect setting for cobbling our shoes and fixing our clocks. Those are literally the only two things I can think of doing in a workshop.
The Laundry Room
I know that when you saw the picture of the workshop you were thinking, “That is not nearly enough room to handle all of their cobbling and horological demands!” Thankfully, we have this auxiliary workshop area in the laundry room to handle the overflow.
The Lower Patio
At one point this must have been a gorgeous patio area. I can already picture myself hanging laundry out here while entertaining guests. If you squint you can see a water feature at the far end of the patio that runs from the front yard and when it rains we hear frogs croaking, though we have yet to spot the amphibious creatures. The previous owner even rigged the downspout near the deck to empty into the pond so anytime it rains it creates a little waterfall! This is just one of many amazing feature of our new yard and I can’t wait to move in so the boys can explore their new forested wonderland.
So, there you have it, our new abode! It is a little rough around the edges, but despite its flaws, we feel that we have found a magical little spot in the world for our family to plant some roots. We look forward to transforming this house into our home and hope you enjoy reading about it along the way!