A vintage-lover has spent $50,000 transforming her 'fixer-upper' home into a 1950s timewarp. From an early age, Rochelle, 26, from Phoenix, Arizona, has been interested in all things retro. Some of her happiest childhood memories are of trawling the aisles of antique stores with her mother. And as an adult, her love of the past continued to grow. In 2018, she and her husband Matt bought their first home together. The property had been built in 1957, but remodelled in the 1970s. Rochelle then spent the next 18 months - and $50,000 - restoring it to its original glory. Now, every appliance and piece of furniture in her home is vintage - as is her entire wardrobe. She concluded: "I would say I'm obsessed with vintage. It might be a little crazy, but it's fun."
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00:00 I'm a vintage girl wearing vintage clothes at an antique mall driving a vintage car.
00:04 I would say I'm pretty obsessed with vintage.
00:06 One of my most favorite items that I own is probably the vintage sauna. Elvis Presley
00:13 actually had the exact same one. I have a 1955 Dodge Royal Lancer in a beautiful mint green color
00:20 and she's my pride and joy. I definitely get a lot of conversations going when I'm out in public.
00:28 The biggest controversial thing is that because I live in a 50s home people automatically say I'm
00:34 racist. My grandfather was a news journalist in Detroit, Michigan. He was able to interview all
00:46 of old Hollywood stars, Tony Bennett, Bobby Darin, all of those. And so my mother would always go
00:54 along with him and actually the entryway wall to my home is all of the original autographs that my
01:01 mother was able to get from that. So I grew up with my mom always telling me stories of meeting
01:06 these old Hollywood stars and so that's really what started my love for vintage. I'm specifically
01:14 drawn to the 1950s era. There's just something about the furniture, the shapes of them,
01:22 the colors that they used. It was a very colorful era. I'm just so drawn to all that.
01:26 When we were shopping for a house I knew I wanted a house that was built in the 50s so it had that
01:35 history and charm. So it took us a year and a half to do the entire house and that cost about
01:42 $50,000. Everything in the house is 100% vintage. So when we first moved into this home there was
01:55 this little nook right off of the living room and it's kind of a unique setting but when I saw it I
02:02 immediately knew I was going to turn it into a tiki room. I absolutely love Disneyland. Disneyland
02:09 has really influenced my entire design for the house. I would say one of my most favorite items
02:17 that I own is probably the vintage sauna that is behind me because it's a really rare item to have
02:24 and Elvis Presley actually had the exact same one. I would say the sauna was the most expensive.
02:31 That was around $1,200 but if we want to talk most expensive probably the car.
02:37 I have a 1955 Dodge Royal Lancer in a beautiful mint green color and she's my pride and joy.
02:43 I got that one for about $9,000.
02:47 My wardrobe is entirely vintage. If you're going to have a vintage house you have to
02:52 dress accordingly. There is this one dress that I found at an antique store
03:01 that I absolutely fell in love with. It's a beautiful long blue gown.
03:05 So I love when I wear that dress. It's a very special rare item.
03:10 When my husband and I first got together he was more on the love for the vintage music
03:19 and movies so when we merged together it was my love of the style and the decor
03:26 and his was the music the film and the dancing. All right what am I doing?
03:30 So you're going to take this and pull it and have it bend.
03:35 Everyone thinks I live the housewife lifestyle and he's actually the one that does all the cooking.
03:46 I just think I have enough confidence in myself with what I'm doing that no one can really tear
03:52 me down. Everyone's entitled to their own opinion and I'm entitled to my own opinion.
03:56 The biggest controversial thing is that the 50s was not the greatest time politically and I realized
04:08 that and so the biggest thing is because I live in a 50s home that people automatically say I'm
04:14 racist and I always say vintage style not vintage values. I just like the decor and the style but I
04:21 do not agree with any of the political values of the 50s.
04:25 So now we're going to my favorite antique store called the Brass Armadillo which is
04:34 really where my obsession for vintage first started. Let's go.
04:38 So my mom has been taking me to this antique mall since I was a little girl
04:47 and this is really what started my love of vintage because she would take me around the
04:52 store and tell me all the history of all the antique items I was looking at. So let's go.
04:56 Now this is a really fun find. It is a 1960s Cinderella cookie jar. This would probably
05:14 retail for about a hundred dollars and it's only $25 here so I say score. All right let's keep looking.
05:21 When I'm going shopping and I know that there's a rack of clothes with vintage and modern I like
05:36 to close my eyes and feel around and I can always pick out what is vintage and what is
05:41 modern clothing just by the feel of the fabric. I'm very happy with what I got today. I found
05:51 something that's vintage Disney from the 60s. It was only $25. It's valued at $100 so I'd say
05:58 that's a pretty good score. I would say I'm obsessed with vintage. I might be a little crazy.
06:04 I absolutely believe I'll be living the 1950s lifestyle forever.
06:09 [MUSIC PLAYING]
06:12 (lion growling)