Welcome Home!

If you repaint your A Frame you could get it this bright white again. Normally, perfectly white walls and railing make even faded roofs and yellow parts look dark and rich by comparison. 

ad advertisement paperwork brochure vintage original

How/Where Do I Collect the 1970s Dream Furniture?

So, I see this question posted a lot, the best/quickest way is always Ebay, you do have to stalk it for awhile to get a complete, affordable set in nice condition. The way I did it was to check every few days for pieces, purchase them when they were reasonable prices, search random lots for small missing pieces. Eventually, I ended up with like 8 ovens and 6 green desks, so this enables one to pick out the mintiest pieces, sell the rest, mark up the shipping and hopefully net the pieces you keep for free. Sometimes there are tons of stuff on ebay, sometimes not. But, this week, here is what I found, the bulk of the 1978 Dream Furniture line in one set for $30, you would still need to do some collecting (and cleaning) but that's the fun in collecting vintage pieces.

If you scour long enough you should be able to amass the entire collection sooner or later, and then sell all the pieces you don't want to help pay for it. 

Alternately, you can make some retro stuff like this hanging egg basket style chair I made from thermostat wire. I used photos from google as inspiration, you can add a seat cushion, or make it out of white wire for a crisper more modern look. I like the brown because I have made several things that look like wood from it, very easy to work with, just need a vision, some down time to craft it and a pair of wire cutters. It's very inexpensive, so you could buy miles of it if you wanted.

I always wanted a 1960's orange chimney/chiminera for my AFrame, along wit a white stair case, so since an offordable one of the correct scale is unavailable, I finally just made my own, I used a 99 cent auto fluid spout but you could easily make one from paper board cones, this was too time intensive to sell them online, but it was fun, my only regret is that I didn't have the orange spray paint to tone down the fluorescent orange plastic color, otherwise its not bad, I jut need to make a fire poker set and log basket.

FYI the starburst clock is an IKEA christmas ornament with a home made clock piece made from a beer bottle cap. Yes, I have way too much time on my hands, no pun intended. lol The white wall art was a greeting card with a wood cut out, I removed the card and painted it white, acrylic paint works best, the table base is a napkin ing, the green shag carpet is a phot frame cover from dollar store, the Eames chair was a pink barbie one I repainted and contact papered, though its more for 8 inch scale figs. the TV is the 1988 pink microwave contact papered, turned around and black poster board added. Voila! - a mid century lounge. complete with 60s magazines from cut outs. Below is the inspiration:

Evidently, it pays to follow local thrift shops on Instagram, I'm certainly motivated now. Two things sicken me about this post: 1. I never walk into a thrift store and see anything like this. 2. I don't know what they priced it at, but having browsed thrift shops for 30 years now, more often than not, vintage toy boxes up to 70 years old are wrapped up in boxing tape and cheap price stickers slapped all over the brittle paper box labels making the tape and price labels a new permanent part of it, AND the prices so low, God only knows what hapless shopper will pick this up not knowing or caring these are nearly 50 years old, bought it for their kiddo and discard all of the packaging and such to the garbage can. I wish every thrift store had an ebay account so they could be sold correctly to protect these rare time capsules from pilfering and waste. I'd like to think an astute collector snagged these and preserved them in their collection at home. 

Vintage, First Hand Memory of the 1970s and 1980s Barbie Dream A Frame Doll House

Picture it, Georgia, 2001. In my mid 20's, I was with my elderly mom visiting her friend in the suburbs of Atlanta. We had gone out to lunch and on the way back to the friend's house, as I was riding in the back seat, I looked out the car window and saw in a parking lot one of those donation drop off metal containers/hoppers where people leave clothes and other household items. It had been awhile since they had done a pick up and it was overflowing with stuff, at the bottom of the pile, sitting next to the container was an A frame house, old and dirty. My heart raced, I was too embarrassed to speak up and ask her to pull over so I could have it, but the waste of just driving on and not picking up a free A frame house was too much. I directed her attention to it (as she had young grand daughters) and said, look a free doll house. She said, "Not interested, just another thing I'd have to clean". The light turned green and off we went. I am sure the charity that picks up that location eventually had a volunteer snag it for a close to nothing, or sold it at a store for $20.

I did recently watch a youtube video where somebody was driving and saw one beside a house and she knocked on the door, they sold it to her for $20, so you never know! I still scan the streets on garbage day just hoping beyond chance that I will luck out one day and snag one.

More Musings and Observations on the Architect's Inspiration

Generally, how I describe the house is "long sloped roof line, often asymmetrical with a 'broken gable/shed roof design', front facing gable, 1970s suburban house with balcony, diagonal slats". Here are some design elements present in Barbie's 1970s and 1980s Dream Doll House.

This one just needs red trim and yellow front doors. 

 Great artist rendering here.

 This is how I imagine the house to be theoretically decorated.

 Groovy!

here are the mysterious diagonal slats, so often featured in 70s granola houses, often, the living room accent wall was slats (I have seen them coming back into style now).

This one is right near my house, tons of 1970's Spanish contemporary single family homes in the area. Common are the dramatic cathedral ceilings, Spanish tile roofs, white or cream stucco and a front piazza.

I have never seen an egg shaped BBQ, but I have seen this before, an egg shaped TV, maybe this is what the 1980 BBQ designer saw for his or her inspiration.

Congratulations for scrolling all the way to the bottom, here is the popcorn picture for you, the real life green desk from the 1978 Dream Furniture line, featured on season 3 of Dynasty in Alexis' Denver condo. Luckily, we can just barely see it beyond her yuge shoulder pads.

This reminds me of the 1980 BBQ. Recent craigslist posting for a table.

This hotel was recently renovated, and as most renovations on vintage mod stuff go, white and bright garish colors transform to black, chrome and glass, a newer sleeker look. This circle within squares pattern is reminiscent of the flower box pattern and side wall of the 1980 pool set. 

I know Ive seen those windows before somewhere! Here, Elvis sits with his mother and a friend. Is he throwing shade on Gladys? 

Cary Grant's southwest home. 

So, the green slumpy, bean bag chairs of the 1977 Dream Furniture line that I have never liked, really did exist, here they are in beige in a high end consignment store, here in California. 

Small local Mom & Pop shop, similar lines, just needs to be white! 

In Sacramento, just needs to be white! Nature the diagonal slats over the garage that should of course been the flat, modern, non paneled type. with of course a mod light fixture, not Mediteranean style!! 

Here's a condo building in the SE. I noticed the classic A Frame lines immediately, here seen painted in late 70's early 80's natural neutral earth tones. Notice the diagonal slat balcony railings and box shaped bump out staircase, small rectilinear windows and full foliage surrounding. 

                   A Mid Mod Episcopalian retirement community, loving the atrium style staircase. 

How fantastic is this ocean view from the master bedroom? Here, you can visually discern the three house sections where the vertical studs bookend the glass doors. This is my favorite picture I have ever  seen of the architect's inspiration for the house. 

I think this is an artist's conception of how people snap off the wall pilar posts to make themselves an overly large cluster pile o'house, notice the mis-matched yelllow and pink:

The Palm Springs treatment:

I am sure this house exists out there somewhere to this day, I'm hoping to get lucky enough to find one like it next time I buy a real home:

Imagine how fun the magazine cover below was when it first came out. How light, modern and fun was a house like this? It boggles the mind this level of coolness and modernity is now 70 years old! 

This house probably used to be immaculate. Of course like with any property, the wrong owners will ruin it as we can see with the overgrown flora, late 1980's green, unstained or painted railing, dilapidated hot tub, and lack of any style or decor anywhere to be seen. It is wooded, and so would be my dream home in real life. =-/ 

I'm sure this one used to be immaculate when it was new, also. Now, with the ravages of time and poor taste, it languishes. Overgrown, a strange, unsafe balcony redo, and lack of any decor or stylistic touches, this home now rots in the woods. Shame, it has so much potential. 

Just needs a balcony and some plantar boxes. =-) 

1986 Sears Catalog Ad, Mattel Annual 'Moving On' Book and More Vintage Print Ads

I haven't seen this ad yet, usually just the old Toys R Us or Mattel annual ads are out there. What's interesting is the other contemporaneous ads featured along with it, the fact that there is another Barbie house AND the other house has a bigger picture! This must have ben the last year the yellow and red version of the house was advertised.

Here's a nice richly colored spread of our beloved house.