Thursday, July 30, 2009

CASA MARGARITA - PART ONE



This is the outside of my ex-house in Chicago. It is in Rogers Park, which is as far north as you can go and still be in the city of Chicago. It was named Casa Margarita because of the color. In some light it looks more green; others, like this shot, it appears yellow.
The front, enclosed porch. It was only place in the house I could use the Mexican tile and not have it look ridiculous. This is a prairie-style house and Mexican tile is definitely not in keeping with the style.

This was the library/living room. The fireplace was some hideous color, so we painted it teal. What you can't see is the entire wall of bookcases and the original pocket doors.


This is the bathroom on the first floor, with the original green and white tile. This shade of pink was truly the only color that looked good with the tile. Then I found a fabric for the shower curtain that allowed me to have more than just pink and green in the room. The shot is a bit blurry. It was a very hard space to take a picture of.


The family room, with the area to the left and the kitchen to the right.
Can you find all 5 cats?


The fireplace in the family/dining/kitchen area. The flash is making the walls look less green than they really are. See above picture for the green color.
My dream kitchen, even though I don't like to cook.







Another view.
An old chest and curio cabinet I painted.
Close-up of chest top. I painted this all by hand, with no taping to make sure the lines were straight. I think I did a pretty good job, especially since I can't really paint or draw.

As I said before, when you live in Chicago and the sun tends not to shine very often and winter lasts about 8 months (or so it seems) you have to do something to brighten things up. My way was to paint every room a different tropical color. All of these were crayola colors. These pictures are of the first floor, though I left off a couple of rooms. The house had 3 floors plus a full basement that was also painted using the leftover paint from the rest of the house.
Tomorrow, I'll post the second and third floors.

8 comments:

NicNacManiac said...

Oh my gosh....wait...let me pick up my jaw!! This is fabulous...what a fun and whimsical home!! I know that every time I would enter the front door, I would have a big grin on my face...this is great!! Terrific painting on the chest (no tape...really)
Can't wait to see the rest!
Hugs xOxO, Nerina :)

Winchester Manor said...

Hi Tamerie,

It's fun to get to know your personality a bit more! You are obviously a fun and vibrant person and your ex-house is truly an example. I LOVE IT! I adore your little chest too! Okay...I only found four cats and the one sitting on his bum is hysterical!!!

xoxo
Karyn

Serena Lewis said...

I love all the colours too....happy and fun! You did a great job on the chest, Tamerie!

Laurel said...

Oh Sweetie! This is so so great!!! I love the colors!! So fun and so warm and sunny!! WOw- I lived in Chicago when I was litle and I never saw a sunny place like this!! I love that you hand paint without tape. That is my style as well and I always love how stuff turns out imperfectly perfect!
Love to you!!
xxoo-

Julie Marie said...

Hi there Tamerie, hey, I think I found all five cats...too cute!

Janet said...

Being (originally) an Illinois gal I can definitely relate to the gray winters. Your house looks like such fun! I love all the bright cheerful colors....never a dull, boring day in that house!

debra@dustjacket said...

Oh that's great, so nice of you to share too :)

Hey if that's a cat on the floor, I think I got the five, just love them. As Karyn said that one was hilarious.

xxx

Unknown said...

I love all the color!!! I am not surprised by it at all, cause it is really you! wow!