1958 Mid Century Modern Then and Now

 Piedmont, CA

We attended this estate sale in 2012.

One of the most memorable sales! This house is located in the affluent Piedmont hills. The house was in amazingly pristine condition. It was so clean! And there were lots of fantastic things for sale too! I think we went back everyday they were open and kept on buying cool things. We even went back the day after the last day of the sale and to our luck they had put lots of stuff out on the curb for the garbage! We rummaged through the pile and got a ton of old 78's, some vintage ephemera and all of their amazing Kodachrome slides! Those slides are my favorite things I got from this house because they were mostly from the 60s and many of them were taken at the house so I was able to create this awesome before and after post of this stunning home!

1954 Wood Paneled House Before and After

Oakland, CA

We attended this estate sale in March 2012.

When we attended this estate sale we over heard the people running it that the real estate agent was going to paint all the beautiful warm wood in this house. A man reacted in disgust (as did we) except he voiced his opinion to leave it all alone. He said there will be plenty of people who will love all the wood in this house. And we think he is right. Wood adds such coziness and character to a room, and if its Mid Century wood paneling it adds a sophisticated look as well. But alas we checked the real estate listing and surprise, surprise all the wood was painted awful white. Now, we do admit that the house needed to be freshened up. It was looking a bit tired looking in our photos at the sale, but slapping on some cheap latex white paint on gorgeous wood is not the answer.

1946 Modern Sophisticate House

Oakland, CA (Montclair Area)

We attended this estate sale in June 2014.

So, our landlady called me this past Saturday asking if I could swing by this estate sale and help her load up a set of vintage rattan furniture that she scored a great deal on. I was just excited to see the furniture she bought, I didnt know my heart was going to be stolen by this house! Both Jake and I really want this house! But, it was a little difficult getting to this house. Saturday, I came at the end of the day to load the furniture, took a super fast look around, not even seeing some of the greatest parts of the house. Sunday was Fathers day and my parents were in town and I had to go to work. By Monday, I figured it was over, but I said to myself, what the heck, I will check craigslist, and sure enough the sale was still going on Monday! So I finally got to tour this fabulous house and buy a little something too!

1929 Home With Late 60s Interior

Alameda, CA

Attended this sale in November 2011.

Wow! Knowing that this house was located in Alameda, we knew it was going to be great! The house on the outside looks like a typical cute 1920s house, but once you get inside it is an explosion of crazy over the top late 60s goodness! Wall to wall shag carpet, fuzzy flocked wallpaper and lots of avocado green everywhere made my heart thump! I wish I got a photo of the living and dining room, they has shag and more wacky wallpaper but some of the original 1929 elements were still there like the fireplace, built-ins and beautiful wrought iron hand rails on the two steps between the living and dining room. Oh well, got the rest of the house! Oh and by the way, the kitchen was really disappointing, so no photos of that either. Anyways, like always the stuff for sale was to die for and we came home with a truck load!

1953 Storybook Ranch

Attended this estate sale November 2009.

Modesto, CA

First off, I want to say that I have some conflicting information about this house. While I was there at the estate sale, the ladys that were running it told me that this house has had only one owner. They said that they built it in 1946, BUT I did a search on Zillow.com of this house and they said it was built in 1953. A lot of the design choices in the house seem more like 1953, so I myself want to say it was in fact built in 1953. There might be some parts of the house that were started in 1946, but I really cant say for sure. All I can say that this house was like a DREAM! So over the top mid century decorating! I loved it! See for yourself!

1964 Asian Styled Ranch

Modesto, CA

We attended this amazing estate sale in January 2010. This estate sale was a very exciting one because it was located in a very opulent part of town that I normally would not visit. The neighborhood was started sometime in the late 1950s and boomed in the 1980s-today, so there are very few older homes in the neighborhood. With the exception of this one!

This home belonged to Mr. and Mrs. Kamps, the original owners with an affinity for Asian design. The house was decorated ONCE in 1964 and not one thing was changed (except the kitchen, it was disappointing). We were simply mesmerized by the intact nature of this home. And of course with a house filled to the rim of amazing vintage things, lots followed us home from the sale, maybe even a bit too much stuff!