Tuesday, May 21, 2013

The prettiest Orlando craftsman home.





I don't live in the Orlando area anymore but I have to say—traffic and attractions aside—I appreciate the city a lot more now that I'm older, and I love that it's home to a lot of cool young creatives who are doing interesting things, like Anna Bond of Rifle Paper Co. (whose headquarters is actually in my hometown of Winter Park) and Lauren Bradshaw of Walnut Animal Society, whose beautiful home is featured in the images above. Lauren is actually moving to Los Angeles, but her craftsman-style home, which she and her husband renovated after they bought it, is so charming that I wanted to share the images here. Homes with lots of character: Yes, please.

In other news, as you know, I've been hemming and hawing over decorating my own house for, oh, the four years I've lived with it (well, minus the first year, when I was just so happy to get a pretty coat of paint up over the hideous matte red that was there when I moved in), but—if all goes according to plan—I'm going to be moving to a bigger place sometime next year. So here's what I want to know from you: Do you apply the same rules to your house that you do to clothes—i.e., work with what you've got now, not what you might have a year from now? Or is it better to wait and not invest in something you don't think you're going to stay in much longer? Thinking about how little in life is actually guaranteed, I'm inclined to go with the former, but I'm curious to know your thoughts, too.

P.S. One of my other all-time favorite home tours: Rebekka Seale. (Those bees!)

2 comments:

  1. My situation is a little different since we own and will likely stay in the same condo for a while, but still, I'm faced with some decisions lately like whether to invest in hardwood floors. My gut is telling me to just do it and start benefiting from the change as soon as I can, since I surely know we'll want/need to do it before selling if that day ever comes. It probably won't because I swear I love this condo more than life itself :)

    Anyways, I'm ALL for making your home yours while you're in it. I highly HIGHLY recommend the blog Radical Possibility for inspiration on how to do this with rentals and/or on budget. She does such a lovely job and is so fun to read! http://www.radicalpossibility.com/

    On the furniture front, maybe pare down some of the pieces you know you don't want to keep and get some good intermediates from thirfting that you can makeover? If you're not DIY, maybe some updates from IKEA that are always easy to pawn off over Craigslist will do the trick.

    Happy decorating!

    Eileen
    www.leanerbythelake.com

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  2. Nice! I especially like that archway.
    As far as your question goes: I know your situation is different, but I'd say do the most important things right now, meaning the ones that will give you the most pleasure. I bought my house 5 years ago and am planning to stay here another couple of years. I've done a lot of home improvements in this house, though most was to either update it to make it safer or a more attractive sale later, or to do something I knew I'd really get a lot of enjoyment out of. Other than that, I'm not sinking a ton of money into it that I'd never get out of it, you know? ; ) But at least some of the decorating stuff you do can be brought with you to a new place, I'm sure.

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