MID-CENTURY, MODERN

Since buying her South Philly rowhouse, Sue Liedke has kept some of the retro design with splashes of her personality mixed in.

Sue Liedke found flower power during the pandemic.

In 2020, she purchased a dilapidated rowhouse on a narrow street in South Philadelphia. When schools suddenly shut down for COVID-19, the art educator had time to renovate and decorate the two-story dwelling.

Her front door now opens to a foyer lit by a green petal-shaped light fixture. Above the black-and-white tile wainscoting, pink wallpaper is festooned with white and green blossoms.

An abstract print of blue, red, and pink roses brightens a white living room wall. Nearby, an enormous house plant fills a picture window with a green art-glass transom.

The retro kitchen wallpaper — strewn with yellow and orange sunflowers and white daisies — complements old-fashioned maple cabinets. She found the yellow sink on Craigslist and painted the refrigerator and trash can to match. An open cabinet reveals her collection of flower-patterned glassware.

Upstairs, beds in the lavender guest bedroom and in Liedke’s emerald green bedroom have flowered coverlets. The lamp in the lavender room has a flower-painted shade. Liedke’s bedroom is lit by two pod-shaped green glass pendants.

The bedroom furniture belonged to her paternal grandparents. She found the colorful antique Turkish rug on eBay.

Sunlight from a high window streams through a translucent pink shower curtain, suffusing the pink-tiled bathroom with a rosy glow.

Liedke, 40, teaches art at Settlement Music School in Queen Village and runs Saturday classes for children at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

She grew up in Buffalo and graduated from Houghton University in upstate New York. After moving to Philadelphia in 2004, she earned a master’s degree in art education from Temple University.

Before investing in her first home, she showed it to a handy friend who assured her repairs could be made within her budget.

New floors of engineered wood were installed on the first and second floors. Liedke tried to match the wood tone of the original oak staircase.

Professionals also installed a new living room ceiling. Friends helped with painting. When she considered getting rid of a large living room mirror, “they talked me out of it,” she said.

• Like the scalloped arch between the living room and kitchen, she said, “the giant mirror is one of the features we’ve come to know and love in South Philadelphia.”

• Liedke’s flower decor fits a house built in the 1890s: The original staircase newel post is carved with a six-petal flower.

• Kitchen and bathroom additions were added in the 1940s. In addition to maple cabinets, the kitchen features a bronze wall oven and a white-flecked-with-gold Formica countertop and backsplash.

She purchased the pink-cushioned white chairs and white Formica table in the kitchen and the matching hutch and buffet in the living room from an estate sale.

“I’ve chosen to embrace the mid-century remodels in the kitchen and bath,” she said.

When she bought the house, the bathroom wall and floor tiles were a pink-beige. She kept the floor and painted the wall tile a deeper pink. The fixtures are pink, too.

Liedke found a wire chair, triangular end tables, and the orange ceramic lamp in the living room for free on her neighborhood Buy Nothing site. Her cats, Matt and Luna, enjoy lounging on a pink velvet pillow, another score from Buy Nothing.

She purchased the “Big Blue Marble” photo print of Earth from outer space years ago for 50 cents and later had it framed at Trinity Framing in Queen Village. The print hangs above an aquamarine storage cabinet from Wayfair.

Liedke made a multihued quilt, which she has draped on the back of a turquoise sofa purchased online from Joybird.

The mid-century Lane coffee table came from an estate sale. Daisy-shaped cork coasters protect the inlaid wood surface.

Liedke loves vintage, including her 1979 white Vespa, which she parks by her front stoop. On display in the hutch is a miniature Vespa she made from Legos with her niece and nephew. A tiny flower pot perches on the back of the scooter.

With summer coming, Liedke purchased pavers for her backyard. She has two yellow metal chairs and a barbecue grill and plans to fill the rest of the small space with flowering planters.

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