I have known that wallpaper is back in a big way. And I am even totally supportive of it, but never seriously considered using it in our current house.
This past weekend we went estate sale-ing and my mind has been forever changed by the most incredible use of wallpaper I have ever seen. We visited a beautiful old mansion (I think it would qualify as a mansion) in Geneva, IL. Every part of the house was beautiful, from the custom built-ins to the original woodwork and windows.
But, the use of wallpaper in that home still has my head spinning. I took some pictures and I seriously have been looking at them all day, I am so head-over-heels in love.
I think this house was already pretty cleared out before the sale, so there were only a few furniture pieces left. But the ones that remained gave you a picture of how beautifully color coordinated this house must have been in its prime. The green in that lamp and the little bookcase and how it ties into the wallpaper just so, have me all misty-eyed!
This bathroom had possibly my favorite wallpaper of all. The colorful explosion of sweet little florals is just how I’d want my bathroom to feel. Why are we all so afraid of color anymore? I guess because color can be done in a not-so-great way… but I shouldn’t let fear of that stop me from going bold with color. Look at the reward!
Does anyone know anything about wallpapers? I’m guessing these are 70’s patterns.. based on the bright colors. But, I really have no clue. I spent hours on eBay after we got home, trying to find similar patterns. But I didn’t have too much luck. And I was also reminded that paint is insanely cheaper than wallpaper… 🙁
Again, it’s these little things that get me… Do you ever look at something and it’s so sweet and beautiful that it makes your heart hurt? That’s how I feel about this house. It gives me the feels in a serious way.
This was kind of a fun one. I would never choose that color or pattern together, but somehow it’s actually cute. The curtains just elevate it a notch and somehow make it acceptable to me. I didn’t take pictures of every room in this house, there were a ton of rooms! But I did try to captures the ones with the boldest wallpaper.
Again, I just adore this sweet green print. And something about the little lion there and the rocking chair below…. Whoever this lady was, I LOVE her. In the library of the home, I found a little notebook full of fabric clippings and notes from her textiles class in the 1960’s. It was such a special peak into the life of the woman who wallpapered the heck out of this house.
There weren’t many things left, so I actually didn’t buy anything from this sale. Although the rugs seriously tempted me. The home had an amazing selection of beautiful vintage rugs. I just wasn’t sure where I would put any of them. That is kind of the rule for our thrifting: if you don’t know where it will go, don’t buy it. I do occasionally break this rule if the item is under $20 or so.
This wallpaper doesn’t do a lot for me, but it fell in that ‘bold’ category so I had to capture it. This was the third story, and the little bedroom attached to this bath had the cutest vintage Magical Kingdom map framed and hanging on the wall.
This is a horrible picture…. But I wanted to show that the entire stairway was wallpapered in a tropical green print! How amazing is that? This was actually the second staircase, presumably it was the servants’ staircase originally. And it led to the kitchen, which was also covered in a similarly tropical paper.
Now that is seriously bold! I could never do this in my kitchen, but I have so much respect for this lady. She deserves mad props for somehow making this crazy look work!
On the estate sale listing online, the sellers advertised that they had extra rolls of wallpaper for sale. I seriously wanted that stuff. But as we walked into the home, I saw another lady walk out with the rolls. Ahhhhh, I was heartbroken… Although, it looked like the only rolls were of this leafy tropical print. Which is still super cool, but doesn’t hit me like the bright floral prints do.
Cue the butler’s pantry…. Wha What??? I know right? The craziness just doesn’t stop. Serious mad props to this woman. Butler’s pantries seem so romantic in older homes, but do they have a purpose in the modern kitchen? I don’t feel like they do. It seems like life these days are all about integrative kitchens where the cooking is done out in the open while entertaining guests or spending time with the family. Like who wants to go into a pantry closet and cook, right? I don’t know, I want to love them, I just can’t justify them practically in modern life….
I so wish I could have seen this house in its glory days. It had already been pretty cleared out, but imagine how beautiful it must have been all styled up with furniture and accessories!
I didn’t take too many pictures of the formal rooms… But I had to capture this little moment in the dining room. This wallpaper feels a little more formal than my personal preference. But, the color play along with the built in wood work still moves me here.
If there was one thing in this house that I would’ve really liked to buy, it was this sweet floral painting out in the porch. I have a thing for colorful artwork and this one was seriously happy and bright. But at $125, I just couldn’t pull the trigger. That probably was a good price for the size of the piece, but I just didn’t have a definite idea of where it would go. I do slightly regret it though….
After we got home, I looked up the address and found it’s recent sale pictures on Realtor.com. Since I already showed you my crappy phone pictures, I thought I’d add the professional real estate photos too for a better feel for the home.
I do have a beef with real estate photographers though. I get that their job is to capture a space and make it feel as large as possible. But I feel like they miss the ‘special moments’ in a home. Sure, their pictures use a wide angle so you can see the entire room, but somehow they just do not capture the real life feel. For instance, Better homes and Gardens would never publish your typical real estate photos in their magazine. They don’t tell the story or give you the vignettes that make the house a home. But, shouldn’t you want your home to look like a Better Home and Gardens feature story? Like wouldn’t those types of pictures help it sell better than some fish-eye view with too much HDR?
Sorry, I will get off my soap box now… but if you know a good real estate photographer that does home sale photos with soul, I would seriously like to see their work.
