Character Homes of Milwaukee

I recently took a few days out of my not so busy schedule to visit my sister in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It's a lovely city, sprinkled with great restaurants & shops, and tons of great architecture. I took a stroll through my sister's neighbourhood one afternoon and photographed some of my favourite homes within just a few blocks. These houses have so much character!!

These were my favourite brick homes; obviously I'm a sucker for Georgian architecture. Just imagine how these will look when the trees and shrubbery leaf out in the spring. The big home on the lower right is currently on the market, listed for $899,900:

There are also a lot of painted homes in the area, which reminded me of San Francisco. I imagine it must be expensive to maintain these exteriors, but they are all extremely well cared for:

My absolute favourite was this beauty on Shepard Avenue. Seriously, y'all, it's such a pretty shade of soft lilac. And notice the realtor sign on the front lawn? This 4 bedroom, 2 bath is currently listed for $349,900. Homeowners in Toronto and Vancouver must be losing their minds right now!

 

Oopsie DIY

I love reading inspirational blogs for new ideas and one of my absolute favourites is Jenny Komenda's "Little Green Notebook". Jenny takes on a lot of DIY projects; some are simple, while others are more complicated. Recently she blogged about an easy project where she dyed an inexpensive cream flokati rug to a lovely blush pink. I decided that I would like to do the same with my flokati - I would dye it a soft lilac to complement my master bedrooom.

OOPS.

It turns out that my Ikea sheepskin was the genuine wool version, meaning that it was much more absorbent than Jenny's acrylic version. The fibers took the dye much faster than I expected and after just a few minutes in the dye bath, the rug was already quite dark. The soft lilac I envisioned came out about 10 shades too dark. Boo :( Does anyone have any ideas how to soften the colour? I'm wondering if bleach would work or if that's a bad idea.

At least it matches, so I can live with it, but I wish it was the pretty lilac shade I was aiming for.

Sometimes I Get Crazy Ideas...This One Leads Me to Georgia

Here's something you may not know about me: I love good tv dramas. So many people say that they don't watch television, as if they're too intellectual for such behaviour, but I'm pretty sure they're lying. The have been some amazing, extremely well written television shows recently, some on cable, many on Netflix: House of Cards. Orange is the New Black. Homeland. Breaking Bad. The Walking Dead. The best part of Netflix is binge watching a show non-stop and within those hours forming a hard and fast bond with the characters.

Which leads me to my crazy idea: I want to move to Georgia. More specifically, I want to move to Senoia, Georgia and open a little boutique on Main Street. (There really is a Main Street in Senoia, Georgia, isn't that perfect?) Why Senoia? Well, it's the small town near where The Walking Dead is filmed. Senoia restaurants, bars and shops are flourishing with the influx of TWD tourists. And real estate is cheap there, I could buy a 4 bedroom house there for significantly less than the price of my Toronto condo.

The most expensive of my choices & just outside town, a 4 bedroom, 3 bath asking $254,900:

This 4 bedroom, 2 bath house is listed at $249,900 y'all:

 Are you kidding me? The asking price on this 4 Bedroom, 2 Bath home is $199,900:

This house isn't for sale, but I found it on Google Street View and I want it. I mean, come on, it's PINK! Plus, it would be within walking distance of my Main Street boutique.

Sigh... These are the things I think about when the winter drags on too long. If spring doesn't come soon, who knows where I might end up.