Lovely, scruffy, mismatched rooms...

As long time readers may know I am not a fan of the polished show home look. I have been concentrating on essays a lot recently and been neglecting my blog, and my house. My scruffy looking home had turned into a dump. Thank goodness for the spring clean. 7 bags of rubbish later and my home  is my home again, and my bedroom my own messy lived in temple of calm. Yea!!!!

Frida Kahlo

Nickolas Muray, 1939

Nickolas Murray

What the Water Gave Me by Frida Kahlo

Self-portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird

"I used to think I was the strangest person in the world but then I thought, there are so many people in the world, there must be someone just like me who feels bizarre and flawed in the same ways I do. I would imagine her, and imagine that she must be out there thinking of me too. Well, I hope that if you are out there and read this and know that, yes, it’s true I’m here, and I’m just as strange as you."

Frida Kahlo

Abandoned houses

When I was young my parents moved a lot, moving home meant getting a new bedroom and exploring new territory and was always so exciting. Unlike most people my parents chose big old run down houses that either hadn't been lived in for a long time, or that hadn't been refurbished for what felt like centuries. Musty carpets, Victorian kitchens, over grown gardens and mangles in the parlour, it was exploring heaven! Walls would be knocked down and rebuilt, carpets ripped up, heating put in and gardens landscaped and eventually the house was a home - just ready to move on to the next.

Now I am older I am too drawn to these old lonely dilapidated houses just waiting for the right person to come and give them some TLC, and bring them back to life. Just like in the secret garden and the film UP I want to discover my own little mysterious gem. I love the romance of it all, although I did always secretly love them as run down.

So that is why I am posting these marvellous images that I have discovered this morning, they are by photographer Kevin Bauman. Kevin has been photographing houses since the 90's and the majority of them are in Detroit. This is just a few of the 100 on the web page.

I just wish I could find one of these in England.