House Crush of the Week

I knew it was high time to start my own blog when I realized that I had over 50 pictures of houses, decor in restaurant bathrooms (yep), paint colors in strangers' homes, furniture "just because it was awesome...," (you get the drift), just sitting on my iPhone at all times. 

Anyhoo, I figure I should share the wealth of my fabulous house photos that I have taken over the past couple of months.  Although I feel like I "know" every house on my driving and walking routes, I am sometimes surprised by something unique or beautiful that I have never noticed before!  I am constantly snapping pics of houses around New Orleans (and when visiting other cities) for posterity simply because they are neat and worthy of remembering. 

Check out this one.  I am always obsessed with conversions of doubles into singles.  This house looks like two doubles connected by a closed-in portico.  I have never seen anything like it. 

Enjoy!

Left side of the front of the house....love love love those shuttered-in spaces on conversions of old porches (Usually they are bathrooms or massive walk in closets!)

Cute address on the shady oak outside, too.

This photo allows you to see that there are two "sections" (identical to each other) facing the street.  The house literally looks like two doubles attached by a recessed entryway/hallway.  Nifty!

Ignore the work truck!  See the entryway and "hallway" between the two large single sections. 

Also, note the great ground cover and the well-done stained and bricked sidewalk.  No treacherous New Orleans sidewalk for these homeowners. 

I wish I could capture how the entirety of the house sits on this corner lot in a quiet and tree-lined stretch of Uptown.  Sorry for the tiny pics.  If someone out in blogland knows the owners, give them a heads up that I love love love their home!

Cheers,

JSH

P.S. If you are ever moved to snap a shot of a great home exterior (wherever you are), please send it in!  There is so much eye candy surrounding us in our daily routines, and I know I seem to forget that sometimes. 

Privacy Please

When we moved into the new casa, we encountered an interesting "problem" that needed to be solved right away.  You will understand the emergency circumstances in a moment.

Our guest bathroom has a beautiful large window.  It lets in a ton of light and the "view" consists of leafy verdant trees.  "What is the problem?" say you.  Well, let me just put it out there because there is no delicate way of saying this.  The toilet is eye level to the side yard and the glass is translucent....no frosty treatment, no stained glass, no built in blinds.  ZERO privacy.

We obviously sought out complete privacy for our guests and ourselves, but the idea of blocking out the light with a solid window treatment seemed depressing.  However, anything sheer just would not do...unless we wanted our neighbors to be treated to a constant peep show.

Very much a problematic engineering issue.  Regular fabric or bamboo roman blinds (my personal preference for all windows) are hung from the top of a window frame and then rolled up to let in light.  Well, duh, the toilet is next to the bottom part of the window instead of the top part of the window.

I must have had design ESP because I filed away this idea in the back of my mind sort of knowing my next Nola house would present some kind of weirdo window issue.  I thought this was a genius way to handle "privacy at the bottom of the window" issue.  Reverse roller shades!

Both of these images are from the Cottage Living (RIP) Idea House in West Hollywood.  I will pull my issue from my archives (RIP, II) to provide more information on the designer, etc.  

If reverse roller shades can be executed, why can't reverse roman shades be executed?  They can! 

Our Roman shade with faux pleating at the bottom for purposes of a lil visual interest....didn't want there to just be a big flat piece of fabric affixed to the window.   (Please inquire with me if you need the name of a truly fantastic and affordable seamstress for shades, drapes, and any other household fabric projects) 

I hope this is a solution for you if you live in an old house with funny issues like this one.  It was an easy and affordable solution to installing wooden interior shutters...and it definitely matches the aesthetic of our house more than the aforementioned shutters.  

Cheers, 

JSH

P.S.  The fab fab (fabric) is from Calico Corners.    I love CC as a source for very very affordable fabric.  Their lines are becoming progressively more youthful and hip, too.  

P.P.S.  The shower curtain is from Pottery Barn Teen.  Yep, I said it.  I asked my alterations lady to add the thick strip of solid green fabric along the bottom to "customize" it a bit.  A great and affordable way to make a "big box store" find your own.