Amelia Studio

Holiday Catch-Up

I just thought I'd pop in and say hello. We've been keeping busy here, and apparently uploading photos is low on the priority list.

It turns out the '50s house we wanted (a few posts ago) is still on the market. So we've been working hard to get our house ready for market, and it often just feels like treading water when we're also taking care of three little ones. Miss C has gouged wet spackle multiple times and drawn on freshly painted walls. She's into everything these days. If we miss the boat on that house, we'll be OK, but I'll be exhausted either way.

We've been doing our advent calendar every day. The girls really love the activities. Well, most of them -- the miniature trains at Union Station were a little much for everyone. We aren't a family that does well with crowds. We've also been trying to quietly burn a candle every night. The quiet part doesn't always happen, but that's to be expected. What would Christmastime be without giggling children?

New Chair Upholstery

Lately I have had about 50 browser windows open at once because I have been looking at upholstery fabric and can't make up my mind. For some reason, my mom has this nice little mid-century dining set sitting in her basement. She and Lloyd like to go to auctions and estate sales, and they somehow ended up with this stuff, probably because they know my sister and I like this style. I'd love to use the table right now, but my kids would destroy it with their daily art projects, and the dining room is really the only place for them to work. So for now, I am settling for the chairs. Our current woven chairs are totally falling apart. The new chairs need new upholstery though.

I've narrowed things down to these eight. On the upper left, we have Eclat by Knoll in bark and silver. I can't find these online, but my neighbor works for Knoll, so if I pick one of these, I was hoping she could get me a few yards. But these have so much light color to them, I think they might not be the best choice in our house (messy children). They are my favorites though.

On the upper right, we have a couple Maharam fabrics. These might hide stains a little better. In the lower left, we have Knoll Topography in alpine, which I found on eBay. Then in the middle lower left is Robert Allen Oakfield in pacifc. In the lower middle right, we have Robert Allen Modern Lines in sterling. Finally in the lower right, we have a Duralee fabric in seaglass.

The lower left Knoll would probably hide stains best, but dang, I like a pattern. So now I'm leaning Maharam (upper right two).

Help me pick, please!

Look What I Won!

A few weeks ago, I entered a drawing on Bliss for a $50 gift certificate for Lisa Leonard Designs. And I won! Yay!

I chose the teeny tiny initials necklace. There is a charm with an initial for each of my girls. I've been wanting one of Lisa's mommy necklaces for a while, but I wanted to wait until M was here and was definitely going to be named M. Isn't it pretty? I love it even more in person. Get yourselves one of these, mommies -- you will love it.

Thank you, Lisa and Mrs. French!

Sea Wall

Thanks for your patience on that last post. I like to babble about houses, and I just wanted to write about our home search for posterity. When I was in middle school, I used to ride my bike around to construction sites and sneak into half-built houses. I've been obsessed ever since.

Anyway, I finally got around to framing a number of pieces of art that I had been collecting. My mom showed me this page from a magazine (lower right) a few years ago, with a wall of vintage seascape paintings. I've been wanting something like this since then. I didn't limit myself to paintings, but I would like to collect more of that type of thing.

On the upper left, I have last year's birthday present from Chris: a painting/pinhole piece by Heather Smith Jones. This is from her "oceans and wheat" series, which seemed appropriate for me, an ocean lover in the middle of the country. E has been really interested in this piece since I hung it up. She keeps asking me the name of the artist, and she has started imitating the lines of colored dots in her drawings.

The other pieces: one of my Holga photos (upper middle), an eBay find that reminds me of my honeymoon in Moorea (upper right), a polaroid transfer purchased years ago at an art fair (lower right), and a seascape photograph by Rachel Saldana (lower left).

I think I could fill my whole house with ocean art. I've been eying this guy's photographs for a while now.

And no, my frames do not all line up perfectly. I am letting go of this. Letting. go.

The Two That Got Away

When Chris and I first found out that we would be welcoming a third baby into our lives, we started toying with the idea of finding a new home. We currently live in a three-bedroom 1950s modern home that we love very much. We've been here eight years, and I would be terribly sad to leave the place where we brought home all of our babies. The space works well for us right now, but once the girls are older, it will be tight, and I'd rather be in our long-term home sooner rather than later. I had to switch schools a lot as a kid, and if I can help it, I'd like to be settled before E starts kindergarten.

A few months before M was born, we came across a house that was partially finished, but construction had stopped when the builder went into bankruptcy. The builder's bank lead us to believe that we could possibly get a very good deal on this foreclosure. The house wasn't really our style, but the idea of finishing it off with a more modern style, living in a low-maintenance newer home, and having lots of neighbors with young children were all appealing reasons to look into this. So we started getting bids from contractors, choosing finishes, etc. We figured out what we could afford to bid, and put in an offer. The bank didn't seem to be up for negotiations, which was surprising after they repeatedly told us to "just make an offer." We didn't want to get in over our heads financially, so we let this deal die, leaving us with only a foot-tall-high stack of research paperwork.

After M was born, I continued to look at houses, simply because it has always been a hobby of mine since I was a pre-teen (should have been an architect). I came across this 1957 home down the road from us, and started doing drive-bys. It took me a couple weeks to mention it to Chris, and when we drove by, there happened to be an open house. We went in and loved it. It had been well-maintained, but not updated at all. It would be a lot of renovation work. But it just felt like home. We loved the old paneling and the two-story globe lights. It reminded both of us of our grandparents' homes. The paneling and bathrooms reminded me of my grandparents' house in Chicago. After hemming and hawing for a while, we decided to call our realtor for one last visit before making an offer. The next day he called and said the house had just gone under contract that day. So we waited and we lost it. It was an awesome house and a really good deal. I'm kind of bummed about it.

On the upside, we can continue taking our time fixing up our home and getting it ready to sell. But now I'm kind of confused about what kind of home I want. Easy-to-care-for cookie-cutter house, or a mid-century stylish home with lots of renovation work? My heart is still in the mid-century homes -- they just feel like home to me. But I can see the appeal of a newer home, too. I hope a good deal comes our way again, and this time we'll be ready.