The German Kitchen

Grandma has all the kids in the kitchen.

View out the sliding glass door.

The kitchen table. I love these chairs.

My Albin Schonherr dollhouse

I am soooooo fickle! I have been playing with my new I House creation  http://Leftcoastmini.blogspot.com/ and neglected finishing this dollhouse. I think it is best to blog right when you get a house rather than getting them lined up like planes on a runway... as I am by organizing them by era they represent, perhaps?

The front. I love this "Hollywood" swing though it might be Lundby. The mother and father are vintage Caco dolls.

    
                                    I love the green shutters.

Top down view of roof. Some tiles are missing.

 These German vintage plants are fantastic. I think they are made of silk. They are attached to the porch which allowed them to survive with the house.

 This is the livingroom. It  has that incredible linoleum on the floor.

 The window is curved and has a planter with those vintage plants in it. This is the Caco Grandfather and little boy. Nice V neck sweater Gramps! Shades of Perry Como or Andy Williams. They were gifts from my friend Susan Hale. The green and lime green couch comes with a matching chair and ottoman.

 There is the sputnik inspired 60's light fixture. I am lucky this house is so well preserved. Hmmm looks like a Bozart cushion snuck into the scene... Look at the vintage wallpaper in these two pictures.

 I believe this is an Ari rubber doll. I think they do great toddler dolls. The Vintage TV has a slot in the top to slip a picture in it. I want a black and white shot of the Moon landing I think... The clock is made of wood with foil adhesive for the face.

                                         This is the tuner or radio very '60s.

 Here is the other chair, does anyone know the maker? I love the wall unit and use it often in 1/8 scenes.

  You can see the grey flagstone planter window corner. I think the Caco children look older as they are thin and don't have that toddler chunkiness the Ari children do.

This is the front window from the outside. It is such a cool bungalow. I need to pick up an outside lamp for the front. I am also looking for a string of flags and lanterns for the Patio. I love this little house! Every time I see that picture of the soggy box it arrived in I feel so lucky it made it to California!  
For more pictures of this dollhouse maker's work go to My friend
Diepuppenstubensammlerin's Flicker stream here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/diepuppenstubensammlerin/55968748

And her blog here: http://diepuppenstubensammlerin.blogspot.com/

Auf Wiedersehen!  CM

Take a little Sunday outing with me.

Being in one of the last time zones, you may be reading this Monday or Tuesday!

Let's start with coffee from Peet's on 4th street in Berkeley. The musicians are setting up, the dogs are tied to trees and toddlers are lurching around in natural fabric outfits with home knitted caps. "Non fat Latte, not too hot" is what I get. There is also a tea bar down the way. DWR is here, CB2, Crate and barrel outlet... what fun.

 I am always interested in lighting. They show artificial Japanese lantern plants with little lights in them. Christmas lights poked in? Must explore further.

Oh look at his beautiful wall at O Chame Japanese restaurant! Their cuisine is so good when President Clinton first visited California, he was taken here.

The charming entrance.

Visiting "The Gardner"  is a must! Lots of outdoor 'scapes. Plus they play Bill Evans.

I was intrigued by this light fixture. It was an iron pot holder or bottle holder with lights draped over it. I talked with the charming store owner and she said it was really just a display. Hmmm Could we do that?

It was sprinkled with living blossoms of succulents. So interesting! Many people were admiring it. I have a black iron pot holder not in use...

Succulents are popular right now. They are so hardy and need little water.

Here is a note to my Elder Assistant. This restaurant has a charming copper bar. My Elder Assistant and I spent many a sunny afternoon discussing life here when she was at CAL (UC Berkeley). It is one of those restaurants Anthony Bourdain talks about that changes hands every few years. Two restaurants ago it was "Ginger Island". Now it is called "Zut!" When you next come to the coast we will have to try it.

This area of Berkeley has a wonderful collection of bungalows. Some, like this one are renovated. Some are just waiting their turn.

As we move south to Emeryville the streets become more industrial with brick ware houses,

And renovated buildings. It is a popular place for Architectural firms and "green" businesses. Pixar, makers of Toy Story and other annimated movies has it's Headquarters here.

I love this. It is made of eye screws and wire. A great idea for trellis or sculpture.

Even the Emeryville fire house has sculpture. And many buildings have fountains.

Do you know Cliff bars? They are a popular energy bar. Their inventive headquarters are (is) here too. They call it "Cliffbar, Home base". They have a great childrens' playyard and allow dogs to come to work with their owners.

 That is the E for Emeryville sign in the distance.  This is my local Michaels. You can see it coming off from the Bay Bridge. (I didn't even mention the Northern San Francisco Bay is two blocks to the west!)

So frankly, if you saw the gifts MiniDork gave us at our last Mini meet: http://Leftcoastmini.blogspot.com/  You would understand that I was inspired to find greenery at Michaels like she used to make her centerpiece. I found small bamboo, a collection of greens, and little pots.

Frankly, ( I must be in a very frank mood) the deck on the I house stinks. The 1/6 furniture, while cool in form is GIGANTIC. The styrafoam spray painted looks like Stonehenge.  Back to the drawing board.
 Any way, Berkeley and Emeryville were fun and after I finish this Polenta in Marinara sauce from Market Hall and a few sips of chilled Pinot Grigio, I will tackle the I house deck again. I have a whole new plan.
 Wish you were here to advise me. Cheers! Happy Sunday,CM

DDR furniture,

Puppenhaus

A Friend of mine recently pointed out it is pronounced Pup (like puppy) en stuben. Just to be clear. This image from the Virtuelle Puppenhaus Museum http://www.puppenhausmuseum.de/     symbolizes the newness and excitement of the new design for the home. My friend Yuki says she can spend hours looking at this collection of German mini house design from post war Germany.

Here is the kitchen flooring from my house.

Livingroom flooring.

You might also like the following post:

http://leftcoastmini.blogspot.com/2011/05/this-blows-my-mind.html

CM

Some loot for the Little Assistant

The Little Assistant of Myrealitty liked the fabric and wood samples sent from the Elder Assistant. I have saved enough samples for the SF mini group by hiding them.

If you put your table upsidedown really there is less floor to mop or vacumn or roomba.

Update: This was the first time the Little Assistant saw the Petite Princess house. She is in love.

My daughter thought I was giving her child lots of hugging when they left but actually I was frisking her...Patting down her pockets.

 An added treat was meeting my renter and her new puppy, no that is not redundant, one of the Little Assistant's friend has a lab puppy and she said really it hadn't learned ANY manners yet as it kept trying to knock her down, even though it was not as new as this NEW puppy. Well, that's the word from Puppyland, anyway.

I call this the "Greenhouse" though it is really just a covered part of my back deck. Like I call the utility room under my garage "The Trellis room". Personally having seen it, I think Call Small should call her utility room "The Design Lab" as that is what it looked like to me.
Cheers CM