New on the market in Atlanta

An interesting home came on the market this week. It is the home of country singer Kenny Rogers, and is situated in the heart of Buckhead. Listing price: $7.95 million. Rogers bought the home less than two years ago, and has spent most of that time renovating. According to an article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, he is moving to a 150 acre estate in Nicholson, Georgia.

The style is not really typical of Buckhead; Rogers calls it 'high-end eclectic'. It will be interesting to see who puchases this home. There are many homes on the market priced above $5 million, and they are sitting on the market. In the past few years homes in the Buckhead area have been priced more and more aggressively, and I have noticed a definite trend in prices either dropping, or houses being priced more moderately. I have a feeling this estate will take a long time to find the right buyer, what do you think?

Doorknobs

For some reason, I am the kind of person who does not notice doorknobs. The doorknob on my front door was extremely tarnished, and the inside knob was scratched all over (I have no idea how that happened). It never bothered me, and I never really thought about it. However, when the child of a neighbor commented on the poor condition of the twenty year old knob, I knew it was time to replace it.

Since I do not notice knobs, I am really not sure what style people are doing these days. So, I decided to pick some knobs based purely on what I like (and based on what Lowes had in stock).

The outside part that I picked is fairly standard: a simple design with venetian bronze finish (it provides a good contrast to my light colored house). The inside knob looks like the picture above. I originally wanted to get an egg shaped knob, but I was shopping at Lowes and they only had standard combinations available. This style was available with the outside handle and bolt that I liked.

Now that I have replaced my front door knob I am suddenly noticing that all of my knobs downstairs are dated and scratched. Isn't that the way it always happens? You replace one thing, then you suddenly notice that something else no longer looks quite right. I went to Lowes today to see what kind of matching handles they had in stock, and realized that they did not have the quantities available that I needed. So, I went to the internet, and was pleasantly surprised to see the variety available in the brand that I had picked (and at much cheaper prices).

Here is a picture of the egg shaped knob that this brand carries. I like it because it is streamlined and simple. I also like the lever that is on the inside part of the front door because I love the curved shape and the feel of the handle. So, readers, I would love some input. Here are my questions:

• Any opinion of egg knobs vs. levers?
• It seems obvious that it is important to have the same finish on your knobs on the same level of a house. Is it just as important to have the same design? Would it look strange for me to have a lever on the front door, and egg shaped knobs on the rest of the doors? If I go with egg knobs, I could always switch out the inside knob on the front door to egg if consistency is that important.

Thank you in advance for your insight and opinions!

Dining Room Obsessed

Ever since my post on my dining room dilemma, I have been a bit dining room obsessed. I decided to look through the Atlanta real estate postings to see what fellow Atlantans are doing with their dining rooms.

Of course, this is Atlanta, home of the 'house proud', and very formal dining rooms are alive and well. Many of the dining rooms involve an ornate crystal chandelier.

There is a lot going on in this dining room! The chandelier seems a bit big for the table, but maybe it is just the perspective of the photo.


This room was probably decorated in the 90s (or even the 80s) based on the window treatments and the color of the walls. Most of the dining rooms in the listings these days have neutral colored walls, or light at the very least.


I like the striped window treatments in this room.

This is from a listing that has been on and off the market for years. This chandelier seems a bit big for the room. Or, maybe the table is too small for the room!

This is an interesting dining room - it is unusual to see a glass top table with such formal chairs and sideboard.


This is from a manor that has been on the market for years. The price: $16.5 million. It used to be Atlanta's most expensive listing, but now there are several homes that are priced at $20 million. Now this is a banquet sized dining room!


Yes, this is actually from a home for sale in Atlanta!

Another style that seems to be very popular in the Atlanta real estate listings is the empire chandelier. Some are heavier on the crystal, others heavier on the gilded metal, but all look quite pretty in a formal dining room.

There were a few Murano or Venetian style glass chandeliers on the listings too.



As well as a few gold or metal chandeliers:

There were even a few contemporary chandeliers in the listings:

After looking at all of these dining rooms, the style that really appeals to me is the simpler empire style chandelier. It seems so elegant and versatile to me, neither too formal nor too casual.

As a side note, what did people do before the real estate listings were online? They certainly provide hours of entertainment for me, and enable a legal way to peer into some of the lovely homes in Atlanta.