This American House

DIY

Let There Be (Motion Activated & Battery Operated) Light

01/13/2014

We love the big stairway that leads to the second floor of the Dream House but we don’t always love how dark it can be. Yes, there’s an overhead light (actually, a ceiling fan, which will eventually get switched out for a standard light fixture) but there are times (like the middle of the night) when we find ourselves walking up or down a very dark stairway. To say it can be a bit treacherous is an understatement. Browsing around at The Container Store, I found the perfect solution: a motion activated and battery operated LED floodlight. And the best part is that it was super easy to install. Here’s how I did it:

dream house, Frank Lloyd Wright

House Stewardship: To Honor & To Grow

01/09/2014

The “real” and original Mr. Blandings, author Eric Hodgins, built his dream house in Connecticut in 1939. The cost overruns in its construction, comically portrayed in the book and the film Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, eventually (and sadly) put a damper on Hodgins’ own dream. He was forced to sell the property in 1945. After writing his best-selling book about the experience and then selling the movie rights, he attempted to buy back the Dream House, but to no avail. Nearly 70 years later, his dream house still stands in Connecticut, having passed down through a series of other owners, including Anne Edwards and Stephen Citron, who talked about their life in the Blandings house back in 1992 in The New Your Times.

Our dream house, too, has passed through a number of owners in its 96 years of existence. Unlike poor Mr. Hodgins, the couple who built our house back in 1917 enjoyed over 40 years in their dream home. There were some transient owners who followed them before another couple took up its stewardship for another 30 years. And now, Mr. and Mr. Blandings have moved in.

before & after, decorating, DIY

Before & After: Taming the Colors in the Guest Bedroom

01/08/2014

We hosted a few guests at the Dream House over the holidays and there’s nothing like house guests to light a fire under my decorating ass! No matter where we’ve moved over the years, the bedroom has always been one of the first rooms I’ve put together. I reason that after a long day of unpacking, we’ll want a nice, comfortable place to retire at the end of the day. With the impending arrival of guests a few days after Christmas, starting with the bedrooms seemed especially important.

I had already bought a full sized sleigh bed at a thrift store before we even closed on the house, which is why it’s included in the “before” photo above. So the next big thing to work around was the color. Goodbye, mauve and navy blue walls!

decorating

Mr. and Mr. Blandings’ Dream House Wish List

01/07/2014

American System Built Home Vase
$999 from ebay seller Nicole 7376

As I mentioned in one of my first posts, we’re attempting to outfit the Dream House in secondhand goods. We’re doing this, in part, because we’re on a very tight budget, but also because that’s how we generally decorate our homes. Still, there are the occasional shiny, new items that catch our eye. Often they’re out of our budget and yet sometimes we can make it happen.

I once heard that you first have to envision something before you can make it happen. Perhaps by collecting all of the things we want and posting them on the WISH LIST page, we’ll be letting the universe know to send them our way. If they happen to be secondhand, all the better. If we can figure out a way to DIY them, that would be the best yet.

Go to the WISH LIST.

— J. Blandings

American made, dream house, Frank Lloyd Wright, Our Story

Giving the Dream House Its Birth(W)right:
What We Know About Our American System Built Home

01/06/2014

Part of the fun (and challenge) of becoming the stewards of a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home is in being able to speak to its pedigree and history. While we do know some of the story behind the Dream House and its place in Wright’s career, there is much more to learn. But here’s what we know so far:

First of all, it must be mentioned that we owe a huge debt of gratitude to previous owners, who gave the house its “birth(W)right”. The evidence of their care and hard work in getting the house identified and recognized as a Wright work was compiled into a folder which was left with the house. The folder is teeming with the fruits of their research: letters, information, and photos from scholars, architects, and the now-deceased daughter of the original owners. It has provided a terrific head start for our research into the house.

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Archives:

Let There Be (Motion Activated & Battery Operated) Light

House Stewardship: To Honor & To Grow

Before & After: Taming the Colors in the Guest Bedroom

Mr. and Mr. Blandings’ Dream House Wish List

Giving the Dream House Its Birth(W)right:
What We Know About Our American System Built Home

LIVING HISTORY IN THIS AMERICAN HOUSE: AN AMERICAN SYSTEM-BUILT HOME DESIGNED BY FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT | 1917

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Archives:

Let There Be (Motion Activated & Battery Operated) Light

House Stewardship: To Honor & To Grow

Before & After: Taming the Colors in the Guest Bedroom

Mr. and Mr. Blandings’ Dream House Wish List

Giving the Dream House Its Birth(W)right: What We Know About Our American System Built Home

LIVING HISTORY IN THIS AMERICAN HOUSE: AN AMERICAN SYSTEM-BUILT HOME DESIGNED BY FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT | 1917

Find us on Facebook

Sign up for This American House Emails

Giving the Dream House Its Birth(W)right:
What We Know About Our American System Built Home