Thursday's Unique Picks - Uncork the Possibilities

This week’s Unique Picks is brought to you by the material known as cork.

This natural material isn’t just great for stopping wine bottles, It is quite functional in the home and can be potentially fashionable as well.

A minor bathroom renovation in my home inspired this week’s topic…

Because I strongly dislike linoleum I urged the hubby to install a lovely tile floor in the bathroom. Small space, simple enough right? Done. 

We used to be stoners in the bathroom.

We chose a natural stone…that I naturally thought looked really nice, but unfortunately within a year or so of installing it, as with many DIY home projects, naturally there was bound to be some issues. There are so many possibilities as to why the grout began to crumble and the tiles started popping up. I could blame the contractor for mixing sub-par quick set and grout…but I love him and would really like to get my bathroom sink out of my living room. We lived with the crumbling tiles, grout etc. for quite a while, made attempts to reattach some of the loose tiles, but realizing that we were fighting a losing battle, decided that we just had to make yet another flooring change. The final push through, to get the old tile up was when we discovered there was a leak coming from our toilet. In order to repair the leak the tiles had to all come up. 

Boo leak! Happy new floor! The joys of owning a home. Enter cork. 

We are now going to be corkers. 

One of the bonuses of having a cork floor, is that if your house floods you will have a built in flotation device.

We decided to try something a little different and went with cork flooring.

Now it hasn’t been installed yet, the contractor told me that the flooring needs to sit in the room for 48 hours to acclimate before being installed. It has now been 120 hours…I am pretty sure the cork tiles are feeling right at home in the bathroom and are ready to be installed. 

My future cork floor, acclimating in the bathroom.

 With cork on the brain and not on my bathroom floor I set out to find some pretty awesome items from etsy sellers that are not only cool but corky!

Corky accents for the home...

Bringing cork to light. This vintage modern lamp from Sixty to Seventy's etsy shop combines the natural texture of cork with modern sleek chrome.

Handmade recycled cork and wood bud vase found in Erde Designs' etsy shop.

Rustic yet sophisticated handmade floating shelves from WaterDrop WorkShop on etsy, was created using reclaimed wood and repurposing wine bottle corks. Gee, I think it would stink to have to drink all of those bottles of wine in order to collect the corks for these great shelves.

Delightful decorative reclaimed cork bowl from DMFD's etsy shop, has a durable pop colored painted interior.

The corky host will use...

Don't sweat it, these adorable vintage apple shaped coasters with useful cork inserts from Raemj's etsy shop, will protect your furniture from those undesirable glass rings.

Divine cork decorated Mid Century ice bucket from Radically Retro on etsy.

Cork stoppers are not just for wine bottles. When you are done pigging out, you can keep your snacks fresh in this handmade pig jar with cork snout stopper from paulaware's etsy shop.

Organize it and keep it corky

Cube shaped cork revolving vintage desktop organization for your cubical from Ugly Santa's etsy shop.

This great vintage find from Blue Butterfly Vintage on etsy, is so much more than your average cork board. It also features little hooks for hanging, a pocket for stashing mail and of course a hooter-ific carved owl decoration.

Wine may wind you down, but these handmade upcycled cork spools from Blue Pearls etsy shop, will wind you up! What a super idea for storing and organizing your trims, yarns or ribbons.

Stylish storage from Print Party's etsy shop. These handmade cork baskets with colorful printed "nice" pattern could practically store anything. When they aren't being used, they fold flat so you can easily store them!

Accessories to highlight your natural corky personality

 This handmade ring from kimquinndotcom on etsy needs no bling to stand out. It has a unique design that features a section of cork mounted on a half band, that gives this piece a natural yet modern look.

Browse about town in these fab vintage wedge sandals from school of vintage on etsy. The cork used in these wedges may be faux but they are truly stylin'.

An amazing vintage cork tote bag from OmniaWears etsy shop for you to fill up with all of these unique corky finds!

I am pretty sure that these fantastic finds from etsy sellers will have you feeling like quite the corker!

Eclectic Avenue

A few months ago, the hubby and I were invited, thanks to my amazing Uncle Brian, to meet the owners and take a tour of this 1955 brick Cape Cod in Dayton, OH.





We had heard the stories of this home from him over the years. My Uncle has his own construction company and has helped the owners lovingly restore and renovate so many intricate aspects of this home.

Little did the hubby and I know that this charming exterior would house such an array of original and pristine 1955 home features not to mention an extensive collection of antique and vintage furnishings and home decor.


Upon entering the home our tour guides/home owners, Mr. and Mrs. Malone informed us that their decorating style would be considered eclectic. They bought and decorated with items that they loved and they could tell me a story about each piece. (this was going to be right up my alley) I only wish that I had taken notes. There was so much to see and take in....

Get ready for a wild and wonderful ride...
I am going to start your tour with some of the artwork that I loved.
In the foyer was this captivating piece. (my favorite painting in the home)
According to Mrs. Malone this was one of her favorites also and it has always had a prominent location in any of their homes.


Another beautiful painting that got my attention.


Cool vintage string art upstairs.
Everywhere you looked there was something new and exciting to see and learn about.



So this little piece of art pottery cracked me up.
It tool me back to an auction that I went to last summer.
I stayed until the very last lot, to bid on this...I was the only bidder on this item and the auctioneer looked at me like I had two heads.


You may have seen this in one of my previous blogs.
I was so pleased to see that someone else shared my eclectic and slightly eccentric taste.
Mrs. Malone had a really great idea to use her panther planter to hold remotes.


Mid century marvelous lamps and light fixtures for me to drool over.

Furnishings all around the home span many eras and styles. They don't discriminate....

Here are a few of the pieces that caught my eye throughout the home.

What a chair!

So may lovingly restored pieces.

Did you notice the bathroom? Be patient, I will get to it. Just a few more things I want to show you first.

Now that is a serious sideboard.

They have even repurposed many items creating functional furnishings as well as unique conversation pieces.

This is an antique radio that has been turned into a nightstand. This is actually the back side of the piece! They loved the look of the makers mark on the back and wanted to show it off instead of putting it against the wall.

Ladies you might be able to guess what this piece was originally used for. Please note the stirrups (the clue that gave it away to me). Oh those Victorians knew how to make a stylish exam table. Mr. Malone chuckled and said he enjoyed serving drinks off of this piece to guests and asking them what they think it is...

This is a great way to put that antique pram to work. Yes, a bar. Great idea!

What to do with that old fire alarm...

make it into a lamp of course.

In the basement...

Mrs. Malone's family once owned a general store and they have retained and carefully restored many of the displays and items that were once in that store.

Doesn't the package for the Buccaneers candy bar look like a Three Musketeers package?

So impressive!

I loved this display for sewing notions. I was just itching to get crafty with those buttons!

This is a working scale that was once in her family's shop.

It is a good thing that I am an adult and can practice some restraint...

although the thought did cross my mind to serve the homeowners a box of wine and have a turkey dinner a la Seinfeld.

Does anybody really know what time it is?

The Malones informed us that this beautiful working vintage sign from a train station will someday be donated to a museum.

I am going to take you back upstairs to see some of the original features from this home.

I know this is just a vent but I found it quite impressive that it is original, in perfect condition and still in working order.

A built in wet bar on the second floor that can be tucked away by some pocket doors.

Dining room built-in china cabinet.

More original built-in cabinets line the wall of their breakfast room.

Also notice the cork tile flooring.

Now try and hold back your excitement upon viewing each one of their five very vintage and colorful bathrooms.

This is the powder room in lovely powder pink.

Each bathroom retains most of its authentic details except the counter tops. Sadly the original vinyl started to crack and curl a few years ago so they had to all be replaced. The bathrooms are so fab original vinyl or not.

This is the grey bathroom.

I think the shower door has some chrome-tastic detailing!

Bathroom built-in shelving. Even the storage is stylish.

Don't you hate watching those shows on HGTV where they completely gut perfectly good vintage bathrooms? It makes my hubby and me cringe. We were overjoyed that the Malones have done all that they could to "keep it real" in their home.

Another peek into a pink paradise.

If you love vintage bathrooms too, you should check out this blog the hubby and I love. It is so appropriately named Save The Pink Bathrooms.

Calgon take me away!

Maybe you can help us out on this one.

If you happen to be a connesieur of vinatge bathrooms you may be able to tell us what this little "thing" screwed into the tile by the bath tub is. Even the home owners are stumped. I would love to know.

Aqua.

The last bathroom on our tour is a color I would compair to chocolate milk.

Love those toilets. There is some serious flushing power in that bad boy.

Finally,

my favorite room in the house was the kitchen!

Those cabinets are to die for! Believe it or not the previous owner of the home actually took down these original uppers and replaced them with some lovely (sarcastic) 1980's wood ones. He thankfully kept all of these in the basement to use as storage. When the Malones moved into the home they had my Uncle restore them to their rightful location.

If you love retro renovations and restorations as much as we do you may also enjoy this blog: Retro Renovations. (it is written by the same person who writes the "Save the Pink Bathrooms" blog)

I really hope that you have had as much fun taking a peek into this home as we did! The hubby and I couldn't stop talking about it for days after we had visited. We were so lucky that the homeowners were so welcoming and gracious to take us on such an extensive tour. (and let me take pictures everywhere)

You can tell that they are very proud of this home and they should be!

Their personality and humor can be seen in every room.

You definatly can't buy this kind of individuality at Crate and Barrel.