Houzz Tour: Welcome to Camp Freckle!
Vintage maven brings thrifted treasures and atomic-age style to her home
Jenny Mitchell, the clever vintage curator, seamstress and treasure hunter behind her brand, Frecklewonder, has created a family-friendly home that is an ever-changing showcase of her favorite thrifty finds. An interwebs enthusiast from the beginning, Mitchell got her start selling her finds and creations on eBay about 10 years ago (she's now moved over to Etsy), and created her sassy frecklewonder blog back when most of us didn't know "blog" was a word. Her personality shines through her posts, listings, and creations, and her home is a wonderful representation of how to show off her finds.
"Around age 13, I used to go antiquing with my Mom," Mitchell says. "It started with clothing and the rest is history." She describes herself as "a minimalist-maximalist, with a real lean towards maximalism. I can't help it, I love stuff — color and patterns, polka dots and flowers... I can't really get enough. But I also really find the clean lines and design of anything mid-century so appealing. I have about a hundred different things that I collect, so I always have to make an effort to edit. Also, because I'm constantly bringing new/old things into the house, I'm always redecorating a bit."
When Jenny and her husband Matt found their beloved mid-century home outside Charlottesville, Virgina, they weren't even on the market. "My Mom is a realtor, and one summer afternoon, we were over at her house for a dip in the pool. We popped out for a quick grocery run, and my Mom suggested we stop by this new listing of hers, saying something like, 'I just listed this great house, I think you guys will really like it.' When we pulled in the driveway, I was sitting in the back seat of car having a mini heart attack thinking we shouldn't even go in. That was pretty much when I knew. Once we walked in, I was ready to do whatever it took to make it ours."
Five weeks later, the house belonged to the Mitchells, and they immediately began making it theirs. After countless gallons of paint, yards of fabric, a zillion staples, lots of framing of beloved prints and favorite items, the home is a fun zone for this family of four. The fun starts in this bright entryway.
The entry provides a place to kick off shoes, hang up bags and corral keys. It also provides some inspirational advice, cleverly hung from a skirt hanger. A table scored at a yard sale helps keep the area organized.
While the mid-century home was full of beautiful details — like all of the original light fixtures and the gorgeous pitched ceiling — it also had a few that bummed them out, like this old wood paneled wall. "Sometimes I have these moments where I feel like, Eek! Too much wood," she says.
"I know globes are terribly trendy right now, but I don't care," Mitchell says. "I love all the colors in vintage globes and maps. I have been collecting these for years and I never pay more than $8 a pop for them. They're harder and harder to find (especially at that price), but it can be done. Especially if you are a thrift-a-haulic like me," she says.
Mitchell looked to her globe collection for color inspiration, matching paint colors to the colors on the globes. Was it hard? "Yes! Well, it was a lot of work, she says. "And not because painting stripes is all that hard, although I was really careful about taping off straight lines and taking a lot of time in between colors for drying. It was more because the paneling required a lot of prep time. There was some sort of old varnish on there, so I had to scrape and sand that wall within an inch of its life before I could get the stripes on and looking good."
"The atomic lamp with the star-covered fiberglass shade was a dream come true yard sale find," she says. "I walked in and the lamp caught my eye immediately; I didn’t even think it was for sale but lucky me, it was. I am a sucker for these '50s fiberglass shades and this one with the stars? I melt."
The floral sofa was not as dreamy a find as the lamp, but "it was clean, it didn’t stink, and the price was nice," she says. "Eventually, we’ll get that dream couch, and this floral thing will make her way down to the family room in the basement."
The floral sofa was not as dreamy a find as the lamp, but "it was clean, it didn’t stink, and the price was nice," she says. "Eventually, we’ll get that dream couch, and this floral thing will make her way down to the family room in the basement."
Here's one critter who seems to enjoy the vintage sofa. "His name is Speck and he is a Chihuahua/miniature pinscher mix," Mitchell says. "He was an SPCA rescue dog and he loves to lie on anything as long as it's soft and he's buried underneath a blanket." If you want to get to know him better, Speck has his own column on the blog.
The bench was Goodwill score, and Mitchell attacked it with her trusty staple gun.
The Alexander Girard Pillow is from Urban Outfitters, and the round side table is Thomas O'Brien for Target. Unfortunately, both have been discontinued; sometimes you have to use the same strategies for chain store shopping that you use for thrifting to score the best stuff: stopping by often, and deciding if you want to gamble on having something sell out while you wait for it to go on sale.
The Alexander Girard Pillow is from Urban Outfitters, and the round side table is Thomas O'Brien for Target. Unfortunately, both have been discontinued; sometimes you have to use the same strategies for chain store shopping that you use for thrifting to score the best stuff: stopping by often, and deciding if you want to gamble on having something sell out while you wait for it to go on sale.
New pieces of furniture are a rarity at Camp Freckle, but the fun retro shapes and bright colors of these chairs from Pier One were too great to resist.
Mitchell kept her eye out for a starburst wall clock for years, and her patience paid off when she found the one on the right for "a sweet five bucks."
Mitchell kept her eye out for a starburst wall clock for years, and her patience paid off when she found the one on the right for "a sweet five bucks."
A work station in the large living room is enhanced by a colorful vintage school map of Virginia. Mitchell manages to work from home while raising two kiddos, Henry, 10, and Dotty, 3. "It's not easy, and there's this constant search for balance between home life and work from home life," she says. "Ten years in, and I still haven't really found it. That either makes me really determined or just plain nuts. I kid, I kid. But seriously, it helps that I really enjoy my work, and I do my best to go with the flow and make the most of each day."
See more ways to decorate with maps
See more ways to decorate with maps
Now we'll move over to the dining room, which Mitchell says is "100-percent secondhand." The table and chairs came together as a set at Goodwill, and she negotiated the price down to $60. Ugly 1980s upholstery on the seat cushions? Not a problem for this industrious creative armed with a staple gun ...
... and scads of vintage fabric. These cushions were "whipped out in an afternoon in a post-score high," Mitchell explains. "I hemmed and hawed over a few different fabrics and couldn't decide. I literally have 10 huge Rubbermaid bins of vintage fabrics, so settling on one was kind of hard. Also, we have little ones and cats, so I didn't want to use anything too precious. I decided to just go color crazy and pick six favorites from the same era. I think I sent out a tweet asking for feedback and within a few minutes, there was an overwhelming 'Yes, do it!'"
Here's a closer look at the results. Items like the dresses shown above have a new life as fun seat cushions. The Frecklewonder blog has details on how she pulled this off.
I know we'll probably be getting a lot of questions about where to find these lights; they are original to the house. Mitchell found the original Moe Lighting catalog in the basement.
A lesson in thriftiness: Mitchell stalked this framed linen at an antique store for two years, until the price dropped from $40 to $10. Patience can be a thrifting virtue.
A large teak cabinet (another Goodwill score) is the perfect spot for showing off her favorite tabletop items. The price she will pay for glasses and china ranges from a quarter to five dollars.
How does she manage to let her great finds go from her store? "Well, I do and I don't," she admits. "Since I've been selling online for 10 years, and collecting for at least 15, a lot of stuff has moved through my hands, and while I do love stuff, what I love even more is finding the stuff. So it's easy to let things go unless it's something that falls into a special collection of mine. And like I said, I think I have about a hundred of those (or really accurately, 15) so if it's polka dotted, bird related, starburst patterned, an old camera or a bakelite radio or really anything from the 1950s? I might be keeping it."
How does she manage to let her great finds go from her store? "Well, I do and I don't," she admits. "Since I've been selling online for 10 years, and collecting for at least 15, a lot of stuff has moved through my hands, and while I do love stuff, what I love even more is finding the stuff. So it's easy to let things go unless it's something that falls into a special collection of mine. And like I said, I think I have about a hundred of those (or really accurately, 15) so if it's polka dotted, bird related, starburst patterned, an old camera or a bakelite radio or really anything from the 1950s? I might be keeping it."
There was so much to show you in the main living areas of the Mitchell family's home that we've nearly run out of space before showing you any of the bedrooms. Here's a peak into Dorothy's groovy nursery.
Finally, what to do after a hard day of thrifting, listing, sanding, and painting? This back porch is a perfect spot to sit in the vintage butterfly chairs, relax, and look over the beautiful yard.
Thanks so much to freckled wonder Jenny for taking the time to show us around her home today!
More inspiring homes:
Houzz Tour: Abbey's Aesthetic Outburst
Houzz Tour: Comfortably Creative in Boston
Houzz Tour: Cool and Collected in Downtown L.A.
Kim Johnson's Eclectic Home
Etsy Designers at Home: VisuaLingual
Thanks so much to freckled wonder Jenny for taking the time to show us around her home today!
More inspiring homes:
Houzz Tour: Abbey's Aesthetic Outburst
Houzz Tour: Comfortably Creative in Boston
Houzz Tour: Cool and Collected in Downtown L.A.
Kim Johnson's Eclectic Home
Etsy Designers at Home: VisuaLingual