On my last day of "mom" freedom-last Thursday, I decided I needed a guilt-free inspiration day. Bachman's has been hosting their idea house for over a year now, and I've been able to catch quite a few of their different themed events. For some of the other seasons, I've been accompanied by Happy Girl, the Shrimp, and the "Kims" (friends and co-creatives), but this time I went solo and decided to bring my camera to share my day with Cheryl and you all! Cheryl just told you how she had been to this home for a huge estate sale many years ago, but she hasn't had a chance to get back and see what the Bachman's team has done to transform and inspire! Kudos to Bachman's for coming up with a great marketing idea and getting this west-end girl to visit the Lyndale store at least 3-4 times a year!
The house is located right next to the Lyndale Ave. store. I purchased my $5 ticket over the phone and picked it up at the store. Every hour, they let a certain number of people in, and it's a self-guided tour. The house is open Tuesdays-Sundays, seasonally.
As I enter the porch, I'm greeted with a favorite of mine and Cheryl's-lockers! And what a color-wish I would have found those!
As I begin to look around, I'm thinkin' that this decor is looking a lot like our "industrial garden" theme that you all were greeted with at our May sale. Lots of metal, wood, leather and succulents, with a little tropical vibe. Totally different than the home's spring theme of European gardens.
I just love the gray-greens of succulents planted in old galvanized containers. Several of our customers have said..."I saw this used as...at the Bachman's Idea House". We love that people are getting out and getting inspired to use junk creatively!
The entryway showed a great way to use 2 vintage chairs creatively-form and function!
The tropical vibe was definitely overt in the dining room, set up for a summer dinner party.
Loved how they took simple garden fencing to surround the light fixture.
I always enjoy what they pull together for the kitchen. It's such an artful use of easy to find vintage items.
Love the green walls-they repaint the house to coordinate with each season's themes. The vintage olive green glassware reminds me of what the Shrimp seems to be buying these days! Just remembered...my mom used to have a "strawberry" kitchen! Anyone else have that kitchen theme when they grew up?
I love the garden gate hanging on the wall. This reminded me of mentioning one of my favorite decorating tips-layers. When you take a great architecture piece and hang it on your wall-a gate, a shutter, a window, a screen, a ladder, a picket fence-you create a backdrop that can stay, with the ability to change out whatever's hanging from it seasonally! I'm a fickle decorator, and like to put a minimum of holes in my walls. This trick gives me true flexibility. You'll see more of this layering effect throughout the house.
Wooden thimbles used as drawer pulls! What a concept-could use them on a dresser, or even just a little storage drawer.
The bath off the kitchen uses the same layering effect...and wait, what's that cool corner shelf?
Cheryl-we have 2 of these galvanized scoops at the store and were picturing them as summer beverage servers, but I love the idea of using them as a corner shelf!
Moving on to the Living Room and Sunroom, they were a soothing mix of greys, blues, browns and greens. These are my comfort zone colors, and I love all the earthy textures-notice the layering, again.
It's all about texture! Metal, wood, leather, ceramic, succulents, in all so subtle tones. The sunroom, which is located adjacent to the Living Room had interesting-looking shelving, which hosted a few vintage fans. I'm not a cat person...but are these cat-climbing thing-a-ma-jigs turned into shelves? Love the concept!
Also noticed...are you all starting to notice a return of wallpaper, like I am? I am personally kind of tired of years of plain, painted walls, and can get excited about a few rooms with some pattern as a back drop. I think they've improved the glues, so their easier to take off, when your decorating scheme wants to change.
Let's check out the bedrooms upstairs:
A very soothing master bedroom. All the textures used downstairs, but dressed up a little with the addition of some brushed silver and gold. Still noticing all the layering? The framing of everything was taken to a whole new level in the bathroom:
Framing the letters "T.P." is sheer design humor! Holding the T.P. is also oar holders from an old row boat, which makes me sing to myself...row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream! Perfect as you're sitting on the toity-right?
The boy's room is all about skateboarding:
Yeah-more lockers!
The girl's room was all garden-y and fluttery!
I had to buy one of the pop bottles so Happy Girl could imitate them with all the fabric scraps and zippers we have floating around our house. Don't you love the glass-less window placed on the ceiling with the pendant light and paper flowers hanging from each of the grids?
The final room upstairs was staged as a media room. There was definitely a circle theme going on here! Got any negatives and film laying around your house? We've got lampshade skeletons at the store.
When you finish touring the inside of the house, continue on to the backyard for a glimpse of summer activities! There was a 10 year old birthday set up in the garage:
Using paper to decorate is hot! Everyday items like pop cans for vases, paper lanterns, lunch bags, and paper plates can be used as cheap, disposable, recyclable decor!
The shed was adorable dressed up as a working/studying hideaway. Old book pages decoupaged walls and garden elements decorated the walls.
Outside there was a table all ready for a summer party-notice the table imitates a garden "bed", complete with antique headboard and footboard at either end. We have a set of 6 cute shabby chairs in the store that look just like the ones used here.
I couldn't miss the hose art behind the shed. I love the idea of taking something purely utilitarian and turning it into art. Isn't it great that hoses come in all fun colors now?
And speaking of utilitarian...how about turning spreaders and wheelbarrows into garden features? We have 3 spreaders in the store right now...make this idea work in your own yard!
Well that's the summer-theme tour! Hope you can attend yourself when the Fall Idea House rolls around. In the next couple of days, I will be doing some "catch-up" posting. I've been taking pictures, but have a hard time finding enough time to sit and blog! I want to share my gardens with you, and some spring/summer recipes! Check back soon!
PS-I apologize for the extreme over-use of the word "love" in this post, but I'm too lazy to think up other adjectives right now!
