apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

This house feels very East-Coasty to me. I love it! Thanks for showing us!

i like the description of the post, but not a big fan of the house itself, probably because i live in a 750 sq ft condo for 2 versus a nice big house that's more of my parents style than mine.

The bathroom shot looks like something out of a magazine. Beautiful!

Nice house, but I didn't care for the post. I found it odd that the title made specific note of the correct grammar (i.e., "the Joneses), but the rest of the post used the incorrect grammar.

Okay, the green in the second boys' bedroom is a little scary, and I'm not in love with any of the window treatments, but repurposing the high chair as a cookbook rack is clever and attractive, and I love that chrome and and porcelain sink/vanity. Overall, hits the note of warm and comfortable very well.

I want to pick up and up root my life to live here.

I gotta say - this is an odd entry for AT. It's not an apartment, and its not particularly interesting. The one nugget that might have led to a more engaging post - that the house was a Sears bungalow - was merely a hiccup along the way.

The house is lovely, but traditional, with few surprises or innovations that draw people to AT. One cupcake -aimed more at AT than at the homeowners.

I find the writing very choppy.

How cool is it that this is an original Sears bungalow!! Thanks for the peek inside Thomas. I prefer smaller spaces as well but with a family of five I don't think you have much choice! And this has definite uniqueness to it. I think the louvered kitchen cabinets are really interesting :)

Do you know where the master bedroom bed is from? I love the integrated nightstands!

Oh and to the grammar police- at what other point in the post is the family name referred to in the plural?? Picky, picky, picky... I think this is written well and I can get a good sense of the space as a whole.

it's fine and perfectly nice but the downstairs is sort of boring and too traditional in my view. nothing interesting happening there at all.

and yeah the article/writing is not very good.

Love it. I don't care if it's an apartment or not :) I love the older style houses, and the trim and all the wood. Beautiful.

The color usage upstairs brings so much warmth to the space, I love it.

When can I move in?

I live in Arlington, and loved peeking into fellow Arlingtonian's home. That said, this post lacked the breezy, effortless writing and disciplined photo editing that I love about AT.

Vaydreip, the frame/nightstands are from IKEA; the Malm line. http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/80104334

I actually didn't read the post when I looked it at the first time. Sorry. I like to get to the pictures! The writing seems fine to me. It could benefit from some editing and better sentence flow.

Vaydreip, in paragraphs one, two, four, and seven, and all four uses are improper.

Nice home!

Nice house, but what merits the post on AT? Feels like it belongs someplace else...

I gave it 3-cupcakes, not because it has any particular relevance to my life, but because I think it must work quite splendidly for the family that inhabits the space.

Well you're at a disadvantage because I rent an apartment in this neighborhood and was priced out of anything approaching this years ago. I read AT for inspiring ideas of small places--things that make me think "I could do that." This post makes me depressed and envious, and I don't even want a three-bedroom house.
Venture beyond apartments by all means, but can you keep them small? (Yes I know by modern American standards this is probably considered a small house). The catalog house angle would have been an interesting focus.

We're not grading the house, we're grading the post, yes?

I gave the post 2 cupcakes because while I appreciate seeing something different from your "typical" AT apartment, the most interesting thing about the house--the Sears bungalow part--was not explored at all. I would have liked some background on what Sears bungalows were, a comparsion to modern pre-fab housing, something about what the homeowners think about the quality of the construction or the fact that this type of house has become "famous," something like that.

I'm torn on this one. I love that it's a house tour in Arlington, but I have to agree that it's not a particularly interesting one. I'd love to see more Arlington house tours though!

also very torn! as a former arlington resident, i'm happy that there's a post about something outside of dc (i love the stores around 14th & U - i live near them, i go there often - but the dc area has more to offer, right?). the neighborhoods in arlington are great, with all the older, bungalow type homes. but i've got to agree with some of the critics and say that i'm not loving the post itself. the decor in this particular house doesn't do much for me, the writing doesn't flow quite right...definitely could've delved more into the sears bungalow aspect.

I adore this place, and especially this comment: "This is not a museum. You can sit on any chair and put your feet up".

Cheers to all welcoming homes (and hosts)

I wonder what the original Sears bungalow cost? This is probably a million dollar home.

More Arlington bungalows, please. I love 'em!

Nice house, but doesn't really seem to fit AT =(

"This is probably a million dollar home. "
definitely very close to it.

Can I just say that for a family of 5 this really may be small?
And it's possible that what they've done here is just make it LOOK large for how many people are there?

That said, I think most AT folks life lives that put them in spaces that are actually, literally small, rather than merely small square-footage-per-person, like this one might actually be.

I probably sound like a politician (and I don't even LIVE in the D.C. area! I live in NYC, which may mean that I sound like a press agent?)

Anyway... this is just to pretty for me to grouse about, because I really love pretty, and the photography is nicely done, so I think this Thomas has some things going for him there. I really think his writing will improve, but his priorities are pretty dead-on -- he appreciates the congenial and the liveable and the pretty. He'll probably learn to sniff out the creative and the literally small, eventually, as well.

Decor and writing a little too mainstream for my taste but I applaud the effort. (You don't see me tossing my hat into the blogger or contest rings.) Good first post by Thomas. Maybe with some time and feedback, he'll get in sync with what AT readers want to see in DC.

Shawn- after looking into it a bit further I stand corrected on the grammatical issue! However, I still believe that everyone is being a bit picky about this. Please let us remember that this is a blog, not literature.

Should that not allow for some leeway? I have to say I think everyone is being a bit harsh. This is a forum for sharing ideas, peeking inside the homes and lives of others, and sharing resources. I hate to think that any of this negativity would take away from how exciting it is to have space dedicated to DC on AT.

True, it's not literature, but we do have to read it. When reading blogs and other websites I hope for good, but not necessarily great, writing, as well as interesting subject matter.

I think too many comments are focusing on the qualities of the home rather than the quality of the post. We're grading potential bloggers here, not smallest-coolest contestants.

I liked the post. It was simple, to the point, and almost made me feel as if I were reading a conversation. It was friendly... just as the house seemed. I enjoyed them both. The house is charming, warm and inviting.
Thank you for the post. It was great!

I would have liked more info on the Sears bungalow aspect of the house to bump this post from an average story to a potentially extraordinary one. I agree that as presented, neither the house nor the post seem to fit AT very well.

Love the floors and that Persian carpet in the living room! Great find Thomas (though I too would have enjoyed hearing more about Sears bungalows).

Man, my mom lives in a Sears bungalow in Takoma Park, in Maryland on the other side of the Potomac. It is so much smaller than this one. I wonder if the original bungalow has been exploded at some point to get more space. Mom's house is essentially 3 BR, but one is about 9 by 9 and another is upstairs and has slanted ceilings due to being in an attic-type space. I wonder if Arlington's historic laws were laxer; I know TP is super-vigilant about codes and historicity.