West Central Home & Garden Tour

 The historic West Central Neighborhood in downtown Fort Wayne, Indiana is one of my all-time favorite neighborhoods. Dating back to the 1830's, it once housed the elite of Fort Wayne society and the houses there are nothing short of amazing. 

I was lucky enough to live in West Central for a few years and I probably still would if I hadn't gotten married! It was a dream of mine to live there ever since I can remember and it was a sad day when I moved out! Many of the houses have been (horribly) split up into apartments and fallen into disrepair over the last century, but West Central is making a major comeback. It makes me so happy to see people restoring these gorgeous, gigantic, old houses! Many of them are truly mansions.

This past weekend I went on the annual West Central Home and Garden Tour and today I am sharing some of my favorite parts of it. I took mostly outdoor pictures because it was difficult to get a good indoor shot. Some of the houses I will be showing you weren't even on the tour, but I love them so much I had to include them anyways! 

Someday soon, I will take another walk downtown and take more pictures, but this will give you a taste of some of the beautiful architecture that Fort Wayne has to offer!

This house was one of two reasons why I had to go on the West Central Tour this year. I drove by this house almost every day for the better part of a decade and always wished that someone would fix it up! And now they have! It had sat vacant for years and was just a mess. There was a giant bush covering the whole front of the home and I was so happy the day they tore it out and I could see the whole house! This house dates back to about 1887!

The home is full of original stained glass that was actually stolen, recovered, and thankfully put back in it's rightful place!

I loved the color of these original hardwood floors! They are so unique.

This was my second reason for going on the tour...my old apartment building! My apartment was the second from the top in the right hand corner!

This is Sheridan Court Apartments, built in 1925 by the famed architect Alvin M. Strauss. Someday I will show you the pictures of my amazing old apartment.

Another gorgeous old home on the tour! The original owner of the home owned the Shields Clothing Co. on Calhoun Street and had this house built for his family around 1910. I just love finding out interesting facts like that about old Fort Wayne!

Although not one of the grander homes in West Central, this cute little cottage home is still full of character. It was estimated to have been built around the middle 1800's!

It's all about the details in old homes!

I am OBSESSED with this wallpaper!!! It's in a house that is a "work in progress" and will most likely be covered up or ripped out in the future. It was pretty damaged and filthy in some areas of the stairwell. I wonder if it is original to the house, which was built in 1899. At least I got this picture of it!

These gorgeous row houses were built for the faculty of the now-defunct Methodist College. Although they appear to be completely connected, in the back there are spaces between them with windows that look right into the next house. You would never be able to escape your co-workers living here!

Emmanuel Lutheran Church was also included on the tour after having undergone extensive renovations. It reminded me of a mix of my old church and the Old North Church in Boston.

I LOVED the shimmery gold stars against the blue on the ceiling of the chancel! Well done!

This was an alley we walked through on the tour, but Fort Wayne still has several brick streets throughout the town!

These next homes were not on the tour, but I had to include them anyways! They are all in West Central and something about each of them spoke to me. Like this one. What a perfect little cottage!

Many of these home I have driven by hundreds of times, but never walked by them. It's an entirely different vibe and I will be doing it more often!

I cannot believe the attention to detail in even the littlest of things.

What a beauty! I wonder what's up in that turret?

Every home on this block has been recently restored and remodeled and they have all done an excellent job!

This has always been one of my favorites and I even tried to get an apartment in there once, but it was too expensive for me!

I loved this second story porch on one of the houses!

I did have the chance to live here once, but I turned it down to live in Sheridan Court. The second story in that turret could have been my living room!

I just love old houses!

Some color combos you can only get away with on an old house!

What an awesome little apartment building. It reminds me of Chicago.

This is my new absolute favorite house in West Central now! They just remodeled it have done an amazing job. It used to be completely white and you just could not see any of the character of it.

Perfection.

My Summer Front Porch

Summer has arrived here in northern Indiana, and it looks like it is finally here to stay! That means it's time for me to bust out my summer front porch decor!
 
I love my front porch! It's pretty much the perfect front porch in my opinion! It runs the length of my house and is large enough to decorate with patio furniture. It's almost like having another room in my house.

Turning outdoor areas, such as porches and decks, into more of an outdoor living area is huge right now. It's a major item on home owners/buyer's check off lists. Plus, it's a very welcoming sight to have a well decorated front porch. It's the first thing your guests will see when they visit your home, so it's important to give it some love!

If you have the space, a key item for any good summer front porch is seating. I went with a white, faux wicker love seat that I had actually purchased at Pier 1 Imports years ago. When I first moved into this house, I had originally planned on putting a porch swing out there, but when I came across the love seat (and it was on sale!), I couldn't say no! I also like the fact that I can rearrange it when I want, something that I couldn't do with a porch swing! The wicker loveseat, along with my porch railing, adds a bit of old school southern veranda style to my "Yankee" porch!

With it being summer, flowers are also a must on any front porch! No matter how big or how small your porch is, there is always a way to decorate with flowers! I usually do a few hanging baskets and I also have two awesome planters that flank either side of my front door. I like to put flower pots on each of my stairs on the side of my house as well. I've thought about getting plant stands too! You can never have too many flowers!

I also have two giant, fake, tropical plants that my in-laws were going to give to Goodwill that I snagged and now reside on my front porch! They actually look real and definitely add some coziness and summertime flair!

Rugs, tables, and knick knacks finish off outdoor living areas. I've got a mosaic table, a little metal goat, and some garden gnomes on my front porch. I also have a rainbow windsock hanging off the end of my porch, but I am thinking of replacing it with a classic American flag. My home is always a work in progress and I am constantly thinking of what to do next! That's what I love about having a home!

Don't forget to follow me on Pinterest and Instagram (sweethome.indiana) for more summertime front porch and home inspiration! 

It doesn't get any more summery than this watermelon welcome mat!

Seating is key in outdoor living spaces and it doesn't get any comfier than my wicker loveseat!

The fake tropical plants in the background of this picture were meant to be on my porch! I also love the rainbow striped cushion on my wicker loveseat. I love to add pops of color throughout my home!

I've always made my own hanging planters and this year was no different. The really nice big ones at garden shops are so expensive, it's just cheaper to do my own. This year, I decided to try something a little different and use coco planters. They are larger than the cheap, white plastic hanging baskets I had been using and they hang lower as well, which means I can plant more and taller flowers! This one is not quite finished as I need to find a spiller flower to add to it.

A wreath on the door is always a must in my book! This peony and hydrangea wreath is perfect for summer!

One of my gnomes! I've loved gnomes ever since I was younger and used to watch David the Gnome!

This is my goat that I got at an antique shop in Chimney Rock, North Carolina. They had goats like this on top of their sign and that pretty much drew me in! I had to bring one home with me! Adding personal touches like this is how you turn your house into a home!

Although not on my front porch exactly, these ceramic mushrooms in front of the porch add little pops of color to my home! I have several of these throughout my front garden bed. I just love them!

Beware of the guard dog!

My summer front porch in all it's southern charm style! I'm ready to sit down on my wicker loveseat and have a glass of sweet tea!

Happy Summer!

 

New carpet, bedskirt, and curtains oh my!

The great master bedroom makeover continues! Finally, after almost seven years we have new carpet!

You would not believe the difference it makes! The old green carpet is gone and in it's place is a magnificent medium grey color called "Ink Spot."

I also picked up a new bed skirt. The bed just looked unfinished without one. You could see the supports underneath and some of my junk I had under there. Now it's all hidden and looks much more polished. 

I had originally been thinking about making my own bedskirt. I had seen so many cute ones on Pinterest, but in the end I bought a cheap, yet classy looking grey cotton one from Walmart. I mean, does a tulle bedskirt really belong on the bed of an adult married couple? I think not. I'll save that for if we ever have a little girl!

We also got a new comforter for our bed, but I have been waiting until I found the perfect curtains to match in order to bust it out. I just picked up some curtains from Pier 1 Imports and I'm still trying to decide if they are the ones. I think they might be!

  My master bedroom is definitely getting more glamorous every step of the way! Hopefully, I'll be able to do a full room reveal soon! Check out my blog archives or use the search function if you've missed any of my previous bedroom updates!

And don't forget to follow along with my daily adventures on Instagram @ sweethome.indiana!

The old icky green carpet. This carpet had definitely seen better days! There was a giant purplish stain (thankfully, mostly hidden under my bed) from when we painted our room last time and my husband knocked over the can of paint. Oops. That's why we painted before we got new carpet!

Here it is! Ink spot! I'm banning all shoes on this carpet from here on out! It looks so glorious!

It looks really good with the Solitary State grey paint.

Here's my bed without it's skirt on. It really needed something!

This bedskirt is exactly what I wanted. Plain, unassuming, and classic.

This looks much better!

These are Grey Moorish Tile Curtains from Pier 1. I love them! I am pretty sure I am going to keep them. They are pretty much everything I have been looking for in a curtain!

I was really hoping they worked because after I took them out the package there was no way I was getting them back in.

Of course, I had to get out my new comforter to see how it went with everything. I Love it!!! I can't wait to put the finishing touches on the room!

Stay tuned for the final reveal!

Let there be light!

After finding the best headboard ever, I felt the next logical step in my master bedroom makeover were new lamps.

Actually, just matching lamps. If I could find the carbon copy of my beloved Eiffel Tower lamp I'd probably have gone that route, but Target doesn't sell it anymore. 

I had gotten a lamp for my husband's side of the bed several years ago as a replacement - after he broke the one he had -  that went along with my vision of a glam bedroom perfectly. I figured that I would just get another one to match for my side of the bed. Of course, this would end up being a much more difficult task than I'd imagined.

Turns out his lamp was a "medium" sized lamp and they don't sell that size anymore! So, I had two options. I could either purchase two new lamps that look identical to the one that we already had - just bigger - or go a different route altogether.

I love the lamp that we already have. It's an acrylic stacked ball lamp, and it just epitomizes glam to me, which is the look that I am going for with this room. Once you get an idea in your head that you love, it's hard to settle for anything else.

So guess what. I ended up getting two brand new large sized stacked ball lamps. And I got a hell of a deal on them too! Almost half off! Gotta love Target! They actually look even better than the medium sized one. Things always have a way of working out for the best!

My old Eiffel Tower lamp. I've had it for probably fifteen years or more! Je t'aime! But it was time for a change. I can probably find another spot for it somewhere else in my house.

I had to get new lamp shades too and I found these off white "Shell" colored ones that match my headboard perfectly!

It's amazing what a couple of new lamps can do for your room! It's really starting to come together!

And check out the flowers my husband got me! Quite possibly the most beautiful bouquet ever! Thanks, honey!