General Posts

As Julio will tell you, I’m not exactly decisive. I tend to agonize over the simplest decisions. Sadly, this is especially true when it comes to rehabbing the bungalow.

I can spend months researching something as simple as a kitchen faucet. But even if I do eventually place an order, I will drive myself crazy wondering if I’ve made the right decision. I’m always absolutely certain I could have found something better – the “perfect” whatever – if only I’d searched a little bit longer.

What does this any of this have to do with Photoshop, you ask? Well, we really need to find a rug for the girls’ playroom. As you’ve seen in recent photos, the floor up there is rather bare and uninviting.

playroom in its current state

I’d love for Chloe and Ginger to be able to sprawl out comfortably while they play or read books, but that isn’t really an option on the cold hard floor. Click to continue »

A few months back, a local photographer – Kim Campbell of Campbell Salgado Studio – came to the bungalow to photograph the insanity! Actually, it wasn’t all that insane – just a relaxing couple of hours of parents, kids and pugs soaking up the sunshine and smiling for the camera.

Click to continue »

A huge thank you to everyone who voted for us in 1912 Bungalow’s Make the Season Bright contest. Because of you, we placed third, winning a Home Depot gift card! We’re very happy — for while the contest may be over, our home improvement projects never seem to end!

Just in case you haven’t already heard, there’s a contest going on over at the 1912 Bungalow site.  Prizes include an Otis light fixture from Schoolhouse Electric, and two Home Depot gift cards in the amounts of $75 and $50, respectively.

Bungalow Insanity at the Holidays

Just upload a photo of your home decorated for the holidays and vote.  You can vote for your home, or for someone else’s home, but you can only vote once a day.  Voting ends December 23.  And if you don’t have a photo of your own home that you want to enter, you can always vote for us (posted under Bungalowgirl – Portland, Oregon).  A new light fixture would definitely make our season bright!  Happy holidays!

I've had to redecorate this room so many times, I'm getting dizzy.

Our Christmas tree has been up now for about a week and a half. In that time, I have had to redecorate the bottom third of it no less than four dozen times. Our littlest one, who turned one in August, is completely entranced by the tree. She calls all of ornaments that are in any way anthropomorphic (snowmen, animals, elves, Santas, etc.) “babies” and insists on pulling them all off - one by one - to give them kisses, leaving a pile of destruction in her wake. 

Several times a day, our tree is pretty much naked from about 30 inches above the floor on down.  I know what you’re thinking. I’m thinking it too. “Where is the supervision?”

A big thank you to Dan Mark, an architect, architectural historian and house genealogist who has been following the posts on our home’s genealogy. Dan has generously augmented the information collected by Dawn of Bungalowcious with several fascinating discoveries of his own.

One Dan’s most exciting finds was this biography of Edwin Sylvester Burgan, the 1910 occupant of our home. Found on page 720 of the book History of the City of Spokane and Spokane County, Washington (Vol. III, S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1912, Spokane-Chicago-Philadelphia), the bio explains that Mr. Burgan was involved in several business ventures at the time of the 1910 census, including serving as President of the First National Bank in Spokane, Washington and serving as the President of the Burgan and Springer Hat Company of Portland, Oregon. Busy guy!

Dawn from Bungalowcious has done it again (and no, I’m not referring to her kitchen, although it IS gorgeous and you should absolutely go look at her photos if you haven’t already!) 

Dawn has a gift for house genealogy and has very kindly put her skills to work for us, digging up lots of fascinating historical information about our home. On a recent trip to Portland’s Cental Library, she was able to discover the following: Click to continue »

As I mentioned in my previous post, it rarely snows in Portland, so Sunday’s blanketing of the area was an unexpected surprise.  Apparently, it may snow AGAIN on Wednesday and Thursday.  I know most of our neighbors hate the stuff, but I really love it, especially at this time of year.

We usually have to settle for crocheted snowflakes in Portland, but not this Christmas!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Julio snapped these photos of the front of our house on Sunday.

a rare sight: our bungalow dusted with snow

 Snow is fairly unusual in these parts, so a white Christmas is a rare treat for us!

wow! looks like the neighbors got snow too!