My Houzz: Bold Vintage Color in a 1962 Austin Ranch House
A kitsch-loving Texas homeowner enjoys her original teal countertops, knotty pine walls and pink-and-green-tiled baths
Cooper’s style is a mix of midcentury with a sprinkling of 1960s kitsch and 1970s boho.
“I love the ’60s and ’70s, but my design strategy is just to surround myself with things I love and not to put too much thought into what goes together. It has worked for me,” says Cooper, seen here with daughter Arlo.
“I replaced the original carpet with green tile in the areas with knotty pine paneling and hardwoods in the rest of the house. I kept everything as original as possible, except for some minor things like paint and light fixtures.”
“I love the ’60s and ’70s, but my design strategy is just to surround myself with things I love and not to put too much thought into what goes together. It has worked for me,” says Cooper, seen here with daughter Arlo.
“I replaced the original carpet with green tile in the areas with knotty pine paneling and hardwoods in the rest of the house. I kept everything as original as possible, except for some minor things like paint and light fixtures.”
Cooper bought the “NO” letters at an antique shop in New Orleans. The store owner shared that the letters were part of a sign that had said “NOLA” but that only the N and O were left.
“I was at a time in my life where I really needed a reminder that I don’t have to do everything, so the ‘NO’ really spoke to me,” Cooper says.
“I was at a time in my life where I really needed a reminder that I don’t have to do everything, so the ‘NO’ really spoke to me,” Cooper says.
The kitchen cabinets are solid heart pine and the countertops and stove are original to the home. “I have to do all sorts of sweet talking and fancy workarounds to effectively use the stove, but I wouldn’t give it up for the world,” Cooper says. The teal laminate countertops feature a boomerang pattern and are what made her fall in love with the house.
Cooper collects vintage Pyrex, which is displayed in an open kitchen cabinet. “I use them,” she says of the pieces, “but I definitely treat them nicely.”
Cooper decided to keep the original wood paneling in the family room. “The knotty pine is a gorgeous and warm solid heart pine,” she says. “It has survived and thrived through 55 years. I was not necessarily a fan of wood paneling when I bought this house, but it’s here, it’s beautiful and unique, and I would like to enhance and preserve this house, not bend it to my will.”
A set designer friend helped paint the large “Cirque de Arlo” sign above the sofa as a photo prop for Arlo’s first vaudeville-themed birthday party. “The wall above the sofa is pretty big and needed a strong statement and I noticed that mural sitting in the garage,” she says. Artist Hope Perkins painted the portrait of Arlo.
Sectional: Thrive Furniture; Nelson cigar bubble pendant: vintage
A set designer friend helped paint the large “Cirque de Arlo” sign above the sofa as a photo prop for Arlo’s first vaudeville-themed birthday party. “The wall above the sofa is pretty big and needed a strong statement and I noticed that mural sitting in the garage,” she says. Artist Hope Perkins painted the portrait of Arlo.
Sectional: Thrive Furniture; Nelson cigar bubble pendant: vintage
Cooper has collected textiles from flea markets and secondhand shops for years, including this peacock bedspread. “I love the texture that textiles add to a space,” she says. The barkcloth curtains are also vintage.
Fifteen years ago, Cooper found a vintage purse that was a reproduction of one designed by Texas folk artisan Enid Collins. At the time, she didn’t know of Collins. “A friend asked me if [the purse] was a Collins and I had no idea, so I did an eBay search and my mind was blown.”
She now has 40 bags designed by Collins and continues to add to her collection, which is displayed on this bedroom wall. “I don’t carry them because I’m afraid they’ll lose jewels, even though I have a huge hoard of replacement jewels,” Cooper says. “I hang them on the wall because to me, they are art.” The purses are hung with plain nails so as not to distract from their beauty.
She now has 40 bags designed by Collins and continues to add to her collection, which is displayed on this bedroom wall. “I don’t carry them because I’m afraid they’ll lose jewels, even though I have a huge hoard of replacement jewels,” Cooper says. “I hang them on the wall because to me, they are art.” The purses are hung with plain nails so as not to distract from their beauty.
All of the bedroom furniture is Heywood-Wakefield. “I bought the entire set off Craigslist years ago, but of course the bed was a full size, as all vintage sets seem to be,” Cooper says. She bought a new king-size bed from the company. “They are still making furniture to this day! The color turned out to be a perfect match with the vintage.”
Cooper refers to the spare bedroom as the “obsessitorium.” The room doubles as a place for collections of pincushions, cuckoo clocks and Enid Collins purses and as a craft and sewing space.
“I come from a long line of crafty ladies, although I mostly taught myself in my early adulthood,” Cooper says about her love for sewing. “It adds such tenderness to my life to see my loved ones using things I made and to see my home filled with things I created.”
“I come from a long line of crafty ladies, although I mostly taught myself in my early adulthood,” Cooper says about her love for sewing. “It adds such tenderness to my life to see my loved ones using things I made and to see my home filled with things I created.”
This vintage sewing machine is one of three Cooper owns. “The others are pink and turquoise, but that one is my workhorse. It’s a Singer 301 and it has never let me down,” she says. “Everyone else has fancy computerized machines that cost thousands and can do everything from embroider to make your coffee, but I’ll take my old gal over those any day.”
“I had been having recurring dreams about houses with a green-and-pink bathroom, so it felt like kismet to find these bathrooms,” Cooper says. She adds that she has “a long family history in Florida” and lived there for several years. The green bathroom was meant to be a place for her vintage Florida souvenir collectibles.
Favorites in the collection include flamingos, “especially the double flamingo vase,” Cooper says. She also has a selection of mermaid memorabilia in the bathroom because, in her words, “they have live mermaid shows in Florida, so it counts!”
The homeowner enjoys shopping for vintage items on eBay and Etsy and at antique fairs, flea markets and thrift stores. “Our local vintage shops are top-notch,” Cooper says. “I always make sure to check the thrifts when I’m traveling.”
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My Houzz is a series in which we visit and photograph creative, personality-filled homes and the people who inhabit them. Share your home with us and see more projects.
More home tours: Apartments | Small Homes | Colorful Homes | Contemporary Homes | Eclectic Homes | Farmhouses | Midcentury Homes | Modern Homes | Ranch Homes | Traditional Homes | Transitional Homes | All
The homeowner enjoys shopping for vintage items on eBay and Etsy and at antique fairs, flea markets and thrift stores. “Our local vintage shops are top-notch,” Cooper says. “I always make sure to check the thrifts when I’m traveling.”
See more of this house
My Houzz is a series in which we visit and photograph creative, personality-filled homes and the people who inhabit them. Share your home with us and see more projects.
More home tours: Apartments | Small Homes | Colorful Homes | Contemporary Homes | Eclectic Homes | Farmhouses | Midcentury Homes | Modern Homes | Ranch Homes | Traditional Homes | Transitional Homes | All
Who lives here: Andee Cooper, daughter Arlo and cat McLovin
Location: North Acres neighborhood of Austin, Texas
Size: 2,170 square feet (202 square meters); three bedrooms, two bathrooms
Year built: 1962
The original knotty pine walls, pink-and-green-tiled bathrooms and kitchen with boomerang-patterned teal countertops in this brick ranch home of Austin, Texas, serve as the perfect backdrop for Andee Cooper’s eclectic vintage style. The prekindergarten and special-education teacher is also an avid crafter, sewer and collector of vintage pieces, including crewel embroidery, purses and Pyrex, all of which are on display throughout the home she shares with her young daughter.
In the living room, Cooper displays a number of her collected crewel embroidery pieces on a wall painted light yellow. “I don’t even remember how the crewel obsession started,” she says. “I just started noticing it several years ago and picking up pieces here and there and eventually decided to start my line of vintage-inspired crewel kits out of frustration in not being able to readily find the super awesome kitschy ’60s and ’70s designs.”
The vintage orange sofas have been reupholstered a few times. “They were originally white, and I initially had them re-covered in white, but this time I decided not to be a crazy person and do white again,” Cooper says. “As for cat scratching, I have had good luck with double-sided tape on the corners!”