Friday 25 July 2014

HOME SWEET HOME: A 1950's House With Some 1950's Features

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So I know ya'll dying to see inside the front door that is now our home - one that we actually first visited for an estate sale. So I thought I'd start off with some background and share some of the original features that are still to be found within. Built in the early 1950's, home was one of many built during the expansion of Detroit's southern suburbs just north of eight mile. Population growth came with the expansion by Ford of it's somewhat local, Highland Park plant alongside increasing racial tensions within the city and the post war boom.

Sixty years later and the house retains some of it's original features most obviously within the bathroom. While I love the gordy blue tiling, for many it would be a total no no. Considering the age of the tiling, it's in a really good condition - it would seem wrong to tear it down, plus it suits the house,  so we'll just be taking off the peeling wallpaper and repainting.

Bathroom
Bathroom

1950's bathrooms are recognized by their brightly coloured tiles on every wall, often in white, blue, green or pink and edged with a row of black tile trim. Bubble glass windows, black soap dishes and towel railings alongside somewhat matching floor tiling make up the final pieces of the bathroom decor.

Another typical feature of this era is the laundry chute into the basement (second photo down in this group) - although when they finished the basement ceiling it's now blocked but can probably be unblocked in the future. Throw in some original doors, hinges and door knobs, a couple of vintage tie racks for good measure and we're onto a winner. There's even an old workmen's table in the basement.

Door Chaute Ties

With owning a lot of vintage things - furniture, pictures, book and everything in between, having a vintage feel and backdrop in the house creates a great atmosphere. Everything feels like it belongs here a little more. While the old windows will eventually be replaced, I hope we end up being caring, loving caretakers to take all these original features into the future and maybe salvage and add some back in.


20 comments:

  1. My boyfriend's parents have the same tiling in their bathroom. I love it!

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  2. I love the tiling! Plain white bathrooms are boring. It's been so long since I've seen a doorknob like that, but we had them in the house I grew up in ... I have no idea when that house was built, but maybe it's of the same era?

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  3. I love the tiles!! Your house looks beautiful, so homely :)

    Jess xo

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  4. Yay for new house photos! It does indeed look like a 50's house, quite like one my grandparents built and spent the rest of their days in. My house was built in the 20's so it too has some interesting features, as I'm sure you can imagine. It has some original doors, but only the French doors have the glass knobs like your house has. In the kitchen is a tiny closet with a pull out ironing board. I'd never seen one of those until I moved in, having lived in newer houses mainly. I've done quite a lot of updating over the years, but have kept all the thick skirting boards and molding that are characteristic of a house from that age. Those, plus the thick plaster walls and tree trunk sized supports in the basement, certainly make it feel like a more well built home than ones constructed these days!

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    1. There's some great vintage kitchens out there still - I love the ones that have the little space for rolling pins - the certainly had ingenious ideas for storage and design in the past that's for sure!

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  5. Those are some great details! I would love to buy a 1950s ranch house but my husband would want something much bigger.

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  6. The tiling makes me think of swimming pools when I was younger and I totally love it. It's such a lovely blue. I keep saying to Kami that when we move into our next house our bathroom and kitchen have to be perfect cos I don't want to have to rip it out and start again like my sister is currently doing. Makeshift cupboards in her kitchen and a green suite in the bathroom? No thanks! Haha.
    Debi x

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    1. Yeah we saw some interesting bathrooms and kitchens that's for sure. The kitchen was probably installed in the 80's, maybe the 90's. Its practical and it's not bad - I think the peeling wallpaper and old style counter tops lets ours down a little but all the cupboards are sturdy so it's more of an appearance issue that luckily can be fixed!

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  7. Oh wow, I bet it'll be so much fun to really get this place back to its former glory! It's so nice that you're not ripping out every inch of character :)

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    1. Yeah others might have taken a sledge hammer to it as soon as but we love it! Luckily the things we're changing are more recent updates!

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  8. I really like the bathroom, I think a nice colourful bathroom is great to wakeup to. Mines just white and off white... it's quite dull. It's nice that there are some of the original fixtures and such, no need to replace them if they aren't broken.

    Pretty sure there is nothing old about the apartment we live in, it's pretty modern looking and is above a decorating shop so I can't see us being very vintage here ;)

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    1. Urgh i've never been one for white in houses - I guess it's because i'm kinda messy and I couldn't be doing with all the need to keep it clean constantly. Anyway the blue goes with the seaside feel I eventually want to work on there! That and I can never justify the expense of ripping something that's perfectly fine out just because.

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  9. My sister in law just moved into a home that has the exact same tiles with the black outline but hers are pink! She isn't a fan of them so they are going away. Glad you are loving your new home :)

    Jessica
    the.pyreflies.org

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    1. Yeah, if they had been pink or green then this post might have taken a completely didn't spin! But the blue is very livable luckily!

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  10. Love the tiles and the laundry chute! Glad you're keeping some of the original features xx

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    1. Yeah that laundry chate is pretty nifty and just for novelty sake I want to reopen the other end haha!

      Sadly I think the door knobs will be getting replaced in time, what with the incident at 4am the other day of turning the handle and the knob coming off in hand and being trapped in the bedroom. Well trapped until I sleepily unscrewed the screws with something off my key ring.

      Now I see why most people replace the vintage door knobs lol.

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  11. Oh my goodness, the house I grew up in was just north of eight mile! Your home is lovely! I love older homes, they just have so much character! Mine was built in the 40s and we have doorknobs like that too. At first we thought they were kinda weird, but we've grown to love them and appreciate their history.

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    1. Thank you and being a lot closer to 8 mile makes trips into Detroit a lot quicker that's for sure!

      I agree with you about the character, while we were house hunting, we had a luck at one new(er) build but yeah, that had more issues with it structurally then any of the older ones! And character?! Yeah it had non of that. Having gone around so many of the older homes with estate sales, while generally they have a similar layout and style, they have so much more going for them plus they have an established garden and trees too!

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  12. I really love the bright bathroom tiling in older houses. There was one house that we considered renting that had gorgeous tiling in the baths, mosaic tiling in the breakfast nook, and 2 netted balconies. SO gorgeous!

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    1. There's so many houses here that still have original 50's kitchens with the huge porcelain sinks and all the tiles - shame they often were so small too once you get your appliances in there's not much room for anything else!

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