The Box House is, well, very boxy in appearance, filled with plumb lines and ninety-degree angles. I'd love to add some storybook design elements, something to make the house seem a touch more whimsical and fairytale-ish yet in keeping with its general 1920s flavor.
Also called Provincial Revivalism, Fairy Tale, or Hansel and Gretel style, Storybook Style seems to have been popular on the West Coast. I've seen only a handful of examples in the Chicago area--my bus in high school used to pass by one we called the hobbit house, because it looked as if Frodo would step out at any moment.
Lights, lanterns, and sconces are great ways to transform a room or facade, I think. The porch light we currently have is a round ball of light with this whopping huge motion activator attached to it. It's ugly. Period. I figure a storybook style light might add the touch of whimsy I'm looking for.
I really, really like one porch light made by Mica Lamps: Storybook Granada Six-Side Wall Sconce. I think it would be perfect, but it's seven hundred dollars. Yes, $700. For a porch light.
Now I need help in justifying just why such an expenditure would be necessary, seeing as the cost of this lamp is more than two car payments--although the car will be paid off in May! (Hooray!) Really, it's a lamp. How does a lamp get to be $700?Here's another one I like, and it's currently on sale for the bargain price of six hundred dollars. Still more than two car payments, but look how charming it is!
Seriously, if anyone has a source for similar style lamps that are designed for my modest and humble budget, I'd love to hear about them.
A very cool external link that you must check out to learn more about this style is this: Storybookers.com
