Get Your “House Fix”
Here are some fun links for you to check out if you need to get your “house fix” today:
Over at Retro Renovation there’s a post about the classic Cary Grant movie “Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House” (one of my favorites!) and photos of kitchen styles from that era (late ’40s). You have to stop by to see the red kitchen that has a wallpaper border featuring vegetables that appear to be dancing and singing in some sort of conga line (click the photo to enlarge it so you can see the veggies close up).
Read about The Swelling McMansion Backlash on MSN’s real estate page. According to the article by Christopher Solomon, cities are finally saying no to Hummer houses and starter castles with energy-consumption restrictions, petitions and outright building moratoriums.
Or, for a laugh, go to Charles Hugh Smith’s website to see his tongue-in-cheek concept for a new magazine called “This Old McMansion.” This month’s features include articles like “Horrified Homeowner Discovers: ‘My Entire House Is Made of Fake Veneers, Glue, and Wood Chips!’”
Daniel McGinn, the author of House Lust (read my interview with him here and my review of House Lust here) has an article on Newsweek.com called “Affording Your Dream Kitchen.” It’s about how one lucky couple got a $45,000 renovation for just $7,000 by having their house featured on HGTV’s “Spice Up Your Kitchen.” An interesting look at what goes on behind the scenes.
February 26th, 2008 at 10:37 pm
Hey - great links! I need to see that movie - I’ve never even heard of it, but the poster looks great.
February 27th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
I like the movie “Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House” it’s very cute and wow Cary Grant looks a lot like George Clooney in that picture. And that’s also very cute.
February 27th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
Fat Stylist– Did you happen to see Regis Philbin interviewing George Clooney on the Red Carpet before the Oscars? He called him a modern-day Cary Grant. He does have some of that old-Hollywood charm that is sadly lacking in most of today’s leading men.
Maya–the movie is so much fun. Cary Grant plays an ad exec in NYC who decides life in the country will be much more peaceful, so he sets out to build his dream house. Hilarity ensues.
One of my favorite scenes is when Myrna Loy’s character gives detailed instructions to the painter about the colors for each room–”I want a soft robin’s egg blue, but not too pale a blue,” etc–and when she leaves he turns to his assistant and says, “Did you get that? Blue, green, and yellow.” (Does anyone remember the exact quote?) I think I’m going to have to watch it again this weekend!