Easy Breezy Halloween Masks With '50s Flare

Halloween is just around the corner! If you're in need of an easy to assemble Halloween mask look no further than your kitchen. You probably have at least some elements there to create one of these kooky Halloween masks originally worn in the '50s. Who knew paper bags could look so great? Click on the images to see the instructions full size!





If you're hosting a Halloween party for yourself or your kids consider putting together a bunch of mask making supplies and allowing guests to create their own masks. It could be a fun and creative way to entertain family or friends!

Helpful Links For Those On The Move

For the past few months I've been focused on moving and there are a lot of helpful sites that have been extremely useful during my search for a new home. Some of these sites will undoubtedly be familiar, but I thought I'd share a collection of links to sites that I visit on a regular basis because they might help someone else who is in the process of moving.



If you're moving to a new area you can find lots of helpful information at Sperling's Best Places. The site maintains a large database of facts about every town in America covering important topics such as health care, the economy, housing, crime rates and public transportation.

Sperling's Best Places - http://www.bestplaces.net



My husband an I only own one car and we have no intention of buying another one so having easy access to public transportation and local businesses is important to us. Walk Score is a terrific site that lets you know what shops, public parks, libraries and other places of interest are nearby and easily walkable from your home.

Walk Score - http://www.walkscore.com



Crime Report offers detailed crime reports of any area. Just type in the location you're interested in and Crime Report will create a detailed map with notes about local crimes committed within a 3-30 day time period or more.

Crime Reports - http://www.crimereports.com



Family Watchdog is very similar to Crime Report but its focus is on violent sexual crimes. Once you type in your location Family Watchdog will create a map that lets you know the location of sexual offenders in your area so you can make smart and safe decisions to protect yourself and your family.

Family Watchdog - http://www.familywatchdog.us



Want to know where you can get a good sushi meal in town? Need to find someone to help you move? Yelp is the place to go! Yelp gives locals the opportunity to review shops, businesses, restaurants, etc. If you haven't tried using Yelp yet, what are you waiting for?

Yelp - http://www.yelp.com



The Find Good Food site can help you find local, sustainable, and organic food in your area. If you're concerned about the environment, eating well and supporting local businesses I highly recommend giving the Find Good Food site a look.

Find Good Food - http://www.eatwellguide.org



Last bit not least, Floor Planner is a great site that lets you create a customizable floor plan of your house or apartment. You can use this helpful tool to plan out your room design and figure out if that new couch you just bought will fit into your new home. This valuable tool can save you a whole lot of time and money, and it's free to use!

Floor Planner - http://floorplanner.com

Adventures in House Hunting Part III.

The house hunting has not been going all that well. In the last month we've bid on two of the houses pictured below without success. After 3 months the house hunting adventure we've embarked on has worn me down, but I'm determined to not get too discouraged. There has to be a house out there for us and hopefully we'll find it.


Early '60s home with a fabulous original garage door


Cute storybook ranch house built in 1961


Mid-century modern home built in 1951


Atomic ranch house built in 1955

Need a new doormat?

In today's San Francisco Chronicle columnist Zahid Sardar wrote up an interesting piece about rug designer Angela Adams and her new line of doormats. These colorful designs would look great in front of a mid-century home.

The doormats were designed for indoor and outdoor use, and they're constructed from a durable material called coir which is made from the husk of coconuts. Adams decided to use coir when designing her doormats because of the material's vintage quality and natural fiber.



You can find out more about these new doormats and purchase them online at Adams' official website:
- Angela Adams

Recommended Read:
- Coconut Makes a Stylish Doormat by Zahid Sardar

16 Pumpkin Carving Tips From 1962

With Halloween right around the corner I'm sure many people are thinking about ways to spruce up their home for the upcoming holiday. This helpful article from 1962 offers great ideas on how to decorate with jack-o-lanterns that should fit right into any mid-century home. Just click on images to see them full size!

Color Is Busting Out All Over!

Lately I've been thinking a lot about commonly used mid-century colors and color combinations. Unlike many home owners today, mid-century home owners were not afraid of color. They used color to brighten up the outside of their homes as well as the inside.

I recently came across a great article about color and its many uses in an old issue of Better Homes & Gardens from 1955 that I found really inspiring. It has some great tips and suggestions that still seem incredibly modern and always ahead of their time. I hope some blog readers will find the article as interesting as I did. Just click on the images to see them full size.

The Art of the Garage Door

One of my favorite aspects of mid-century home design is the creative way builders and home owners designed and decorated garage doors. Since I've been home hunting I've come across a lot of wonderful garage door designs and I've also dug up some great articles about how to spice up your own garage door that I thought I would share here. Hopefully these great articles will give other mid-century home owners some ideas on how to add a little flair and style to their own garage doors. Click on images to see them full-size!

Garage Doors (1952):




Garage Doors (1954):


Garage Doors (1961):


If you'd like to see more photos of mid-century style garage doors I highly recommend visiting the Modern Garage Doors group @ Flickr. You'll find lots of inspiration and colorful ideas there!

Save the Pink Bathrooms!

One of my favorite mid-century sites is Retro Renovation run by Pam Kueber who also created the wonderful Save the Pink Bathrooms site.

I love mid-century style pink bathrooms and decided to scan some images of them from old decorating magazines I have so I could share them here (click on images to see them full size in all their pink glory!). You can also see many more pictures of pink bathrooms at Pam's "Save the Pink Bathrooms" Flickr group.

Pink Bathroom (1955):


Pink Bathroom (1956):


Pink Bathroom (1961):

Decorating Ideas to Steal From Mad Men

CasaSugar just posted a nice piece called Decorating Ideas to Steal From Season Three of Mad Men. I'm a Mad Men fan myself so I enjoyed reading her decor tips. Below are a just a couple of my favorites but check out the whole article for more great suggestions.





Love the basel chair designed by Jasper Morrison.





This oil painting by artist Alan Robinson is fantastic but a little too rich for my blood. Well worth the price though if you can afford it!

Adventures in House Hunting Part II.

We've agreed that we need a home with at least 1000 sq. ft. of living space and we decided to focus on trying to find a mid-century ranch house. We personally prefer the style of mid-50s and 'early '60s ranch homes, plus they tend to have more room, the ceilings are higher and the layouts are more open. But the larger size also means that they're a bit more pricey so that's limited our options.

Finding an affordable ranch home in a decent location that's safe from flooding won't be easy but we've expanded our search. Below are some examples of wonderful mid-century ranch homes in the area. Most of them need some work since they've been modified over the years. Only the last three are for sale but the first house caught my eye and I had to snap a pic of it. If it was for sale it would probably be too pricey for us.









Will one of these be my new home? Only time and bidding wars will tell!

Adventures In House Hunting Part I.

When we first started looking at homes for sale we noticed a lot of really cute mid-40s and early '50s homes that were available.

These houses were often in nice locations (which often meant out of the local "flood zone") and some still had original features. But they were also a bit pricey and very small. On average they only had about 700-800 sq. ft. of room. Occasionally the ceilings were also rather low, which was hard on my 6 ft. 5 inch husband.