Vintage and funky in Clifton Heights

It may have been the pink and green bathroom that sold Genevieve DeChellis on the mid-century, 1,450-square-foot, five-bedroom brick house in Clifton Heights in early 2024. Or perhaps the colorful lighting above the basement bar sealed the deal.

She and her fiancé, Jesse Blankschen, had been on the hunt for a house for a while, but nothing felt quite right.

“We didn’t fully know what we wanted, but we knew what we didn’t want,” DeChellis recalled. “No millennial gray, or millennial beige, or a house without any sign of life.”

When they spotted the Zillow listing for this home, they instantly knew it was the one. The house not only was filled with color, but it had only been lived in by just one owner who had built the house for his family. It was evident he took great care of the house.

“The fact that I have a pink and green bathroom feels like a cosmic design,” DeChellis said. “There is so much beautiful tile work in homes and so often it just gets torn out. It’s so happy and I love those two colors together.”

The couple is putting their own personal stamp on the house through aesthetic changes. They’ve been replacing the original wallpaper with fresh paint and thrifting unique items to fill meaningful spaces.

At the same time, they are preserving the integrity of the home — “those pink and green tiles aren’t going anywhere,” DeChellis insisted.

She and Blankschen are avid thrifters, and some of their favorite finds come from the Dust Shuttle, an online antiques auctioneer. They’ve snagged unusual art, funky lamps in the shape of a fish and an ice cream cone, and an array of furniture.

The mid-century kitchen features a yellow GE oven, a stained-glass ceiling soffit light, and a stained-glass pendant light. A red metal table à la 1950s diner is surrounded by red and white vinyl chairs, a Facebook Marketplace purchase.

“I messaged my mother about how to clean the oven and she said to turn on the self-cleaning function,” DeChellis recalled. “I said, ‘Mother, this is not a 21^st-century oven.’”

The living room contains a comfortable velvet orange-brown sectional couch. That’s where the couple, who plan to marry in May, relax and watch TV. The bookshelf is home to some of their funky thrift finds, including the fish lamp.

The cozy basement is perfect for movie nights where friends gather to watch films from a projector, displayed onto a screen. Guests lounge on the blue couch with attached Formica end tables or in the pair of vintage wire Mexican Acapulco chairs — one orange and one green. The couple found the chairs at the Elephant’s Trunk Flea Market in Connecticut, and managed to squeeze them into their car for the ride home.

“They are very comfortable, which is kind of surprising,” DeChellis said.

The vintage wooden bar, with a faux stone facade and Formica top, set under colorful stained-glass lighting, evokes a scene from Mad Men. The bar is home to the vanilla ice cream lamp that stands about two feet tall, a very special thrifting find. She first spotted a similar one years ago, then again at a friend’s house.

“I thought it was a sign” that such a distinctive lamp crossed her path twice, recalled DeChellis. “A few weeks later I found it at a thrift store. Somewhere out there a chocolate one and strawberry one are waiting for me.”

DeChellis finds beauty in the rich histories of the pieces she thrifts. They lived a life making someone else happy, and now it’s her turn.

“We’ve always loved to thrift and antique and have found a lot of meaning and purpose in older things,” DeChellis said.

The couple also enjoy their outdoor spaces, which include the front porch and enclosed backyard. DeChellis’s first experiment with a small cut flower garden was an initial success.

“We grew pink and orange zinnias and put them in a fish vase that we got from the Dust Shuttle Auction,” she said.

Their front porch is a peaceful respite where they look out at the woods and playground surrounding their home.

“I love living in Delaware County,” DeChellis said. “It’s a very tight-knit community where everyone is looking out for their neighbors. Getting to start our lives here and have this be our first home felt really special.”

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