Posted byOffbeat occupant: Adrienne, science & museum educator, jack-of-some-trades
Other occupants: BFF husband and Ruby, the squat cattle dog
Approximate square footage: 1000-2000 sq. feet (between 92 sq. meters and 185 square meters)
How many bedrooms? 2
Lives in: Oklahoma City
When did you move into this home? Summer 2010
Let’s start with the neighborhood. What’s it like where you live? We live in an historic Victorian neighborhood on the prairie. Our neighborhood is among the most eclectic in Oklahoma City, and includes everything from hipsters, and wealthy politicians to hippies and low-income families. My husband is within biking distance of work and we are able to walk to many of our favorite restaurants and bars.
’70s kitsch in a Floridian mid-century modern
A Siamese cat, a boyfriend, a girlfriend, and a glittery gold carport: these are just the tip of this bright retro Florida home.
What makes your home offbeat? We furnished the entire home with family hand-me-downs, found items from big trash day, and IKEA. For us, thriftiness fits into our general ethos of living cheaply and eco-consciously. Our home reflects who we are, where we’ve traveled, and things we and our friends make. That, and the crazy candy-colored walls we’ve painted.
What’s the most challenging about this space? How do you deal with the challenge? Renting presents obvious challenges; we wish we had newer windows and insulation to keep energy costs down in the winter and summer. As an alternative, we taped and sealed windows off and used “Great Stuff,” a fabulous aerosol insulation-in-a-can to plug money-wasting holes. Next summer, we are going to invest in more tank tops and fans to beat the intense Oklahoma heat.
What’s your favorite feature of your home? The homemade (and totally legal!) fire pit in our backyard makes us feel we are camping, even when we’re just 20 feet from our back door. We love how we’re able to roast marshmallows and hot dogs at our leisure. The pit is constructed from salvaged cement pavers that we unearthed in the backyard and arranged around a hole.
I also adore the space! Oklahoma has such cheap real estate, and my husband and I are enjoying the fruits of this. We have over 1,200 square feet to make messes at minimal cost.
What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned from this home? Finding ways to make things yourself is imperative; the hardware store is your best friend. Learning to do simple tasks such as cooking, home repair, weatherproofing, and gardening can enrich your life as well as keep costs down.
What’s your grandest plan for the space? In the works is an overly-ambitious plan for a backyard garden. Though neither my husband nor I have a lot of experience with the green things in life, we are currently poring over online advice. I am looking forward to fresh peas and herbs this summer, weather and skill permitting!
What advice do you have for other offbeat homies? I take to heart what Maya Angelou wrote: “a woman should have a set of screwdrivers, a cordless drill, and a black lace bra.” Learn to love your tools, make your own place, don’t blow money at the big-box stores when you can find things for free. Be safe and have fun!
Any stuff or services you want to recommend? Our parents’ houses and Craigslist are definitely sources for free and cheap home goods. And the creepy restaurant resale store on 23rd and Walker in OKC has also furbished some good things.
Show me the decor porn! (Adrienne has GOT IT!)
I take to heart what Maya Angelou wrote: “a woman should have a set of screwdrivers, a cordless drill, and a black lace bra.”
THIS, a million times over!
That’s actually a myth — snopes uncovered that the poem is actually by someone else. (http://www.snopes.com/language/literary/awoman.asp)
I love the quote though! I just put a cordless drill on my shopping list.
Yeah, my bad! Yonah, see downthread for a funny article by the actual author on the Huffington Post. 🙂
I’m not normally a huge bunting fan, but those bunting-pattern curtains are so cheery and cute! 😀 Source?
IKEA! I was there last Saturday and they are still available in the children’s section.
Love that first image with the chair and the blue walls.
Maybe there should be a “rent, own or other” field to fill out in the submission form? I’m confused because from the write-up it appears like they are renting but then they’re doing home repairs themselves? And things like digging a garden which in rental homes in my area are completely not allowed. Maybe things are different in Oklahoma.
We’re renting. 😉
Oop, my bad. The tags should include that info.
Take everything you know about renting and throw it out the window. Everything is different in Oklahoma.
Represent OKC! So excited to see a fellow Oklahoma dweller on here. Very cute place!
Very cute decor! I love all the bright colors. 🙂
So fresh and so clean! I love it!
So glad to see Oklahoma on here! (: I gotta say, my favorite part was the Oklahoma flag!! beautiful home.
I love the minimalism and the colors. So cute. And jeal-jeal about the firepit.
Oh please do share more about how you sealed up doors and windows! We are also in a rental house and ours are ancient – with only a swamp cooler to guard ourselves against the impending desert summer, any advice on sealing up the cracks that let in the heat is greatly appreciated!
You can buy this tacky grey stuff — looks like sticky tacky — in the weather proofing section at any hardware store. Roll it up and moosh it (technical term) into any cracks around your windows.
In the winter, I covered my windows with shrink wrap plastic film and (eek! tacky alert!) made curtains out of old wool blankets for the one hopeless cause window in the office.
We live in a humid climate, so we sealed up the house again in the summer as even the shade didn’t afford any relief from the heat. In a drier area, you may want to keep your windows accessible so you can keep them open at night.
Good luck, and I totally feel your pain!
Oh thank you so much! I’ll have to try the tacky stuff. Unfortunately, the windows were painted shut long before we got here – enough so that we can’t open them, but heat, cold, and dust all get through somehow. I was actually on the verge of being desperate enough to try and just caulk the windows shut, but the tacky might be a kind compromise for our landlord.
I’m an Edmond res myself but I work in your area and would love to live in that area. It is very much the eclectic part of town. I love what you’ve done with your home! The cacti are so appropriate for our summers too. 🙂
Oh, this is SO great! I think this is the closest to my ideal of any house tour I’ve ever seen — colorful, dash of mid-century, cowboy aesthetic (is there anything prettier than cowboy boots on a hardwood floor?), looks comfy and well-lived in, not like a showroom — like you can put your feet on the couch and sit at the table and shoot the breeze.
Love the quilt on the futon!!
I love everything about this space! Especially the table you use as a t.v. stand.
PS: The quote is actually from a Pamela Redmond Satran poem, not Maya Angelou!
Oh, snap! Thanks, Misha! (And sorry, Ms. Satran!) Evidently an email forward from my mother was wedged somewhere in my subconscious and corroborated by a google search: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/pamela-redmond-satran/i-wrote-maya-angelous-bes_b_56824.html
I’m in eastern OKC, and I think I’ll be heading to the creepy restaurant resale store soon! I’m in need of more stuff to fill our house 🙂
I love your use of marble paper on the backdoor. I’d kind of forgotten about marble paper, and how you used it is quite clever.
It’s actually a map. Liquid starch is a good way to hang and remove. 🙂