A style all her own | Nancy Fernandes' home is fun, relaxing and thematic

When you pull up to Nancy Fernandes’ house, you know it’s going to be special. A collection of license plates decorate the garage wall. A sculpture made out of automobile hubcaps stands in the front yard. Road signs are here and there.

But you haven’t seen anything yet.

Inside, each room is a theme, decorated with an eclectic mix of photos, tchotchkes and specially created pieces that provides a feeling of whimsy and wonder everywhere you look.

As you enter the house, there’s a mural of a pool player shooting the “15” ball off the table. Turn a corner and there’s the ball, now seeming to float down the hall.

A three-dimensional sculpture of The Statue of Liberty head, arm and torch is attached to the living room ceiling. And, yes, the torch is lighted.

Oh, and there are seven working jukeboxes.

“I just want to say that I decorated my house in ways that can display my ever-revolving collections in a way that is fun,” Fernandes said.

Fernandes grew up in the home in Bellevue’s Cherry Crest area and inherited it from her parents. She remembers a living room “where there was not much ‘living’ going on and only a room that was used maybe four times a year. What a wasted space,” Fernandes said.

Not any more.

It’s different now on purpose.

For the past 23 years, Fernandes has handled the stressful job of a 911 operator with the King County Sheriff’s Office.

“It was important for me to have a house where I could relax and have fun, but more important for my friends and co-workers to come over and just hang out,” Fernandes said. “Now I can proudly say that I not only have a living room, but I have an ‘Awesome and Fun Living Space’ all year round.”

Fernandes got interested in, what she calls, the “thrill of the hunt” from a friend and co-worker, Manny Apostol.

“I saw how great his house was and could not believe that he could find all this stuff just through sales, thrifts stores, auctions and Craigslist,” Fernandes said.

She estimates that at least 70-75 percent of the things she has collected have been sourced through those outlets.

“I pride myself in finding those interesting items for little money that anyone can find if they just knew where to look,” Fernandes said.

She prowls auction houses (Mroczek Brothers Auctions in Renton, Sunset Auction in Lynnwood and District in Seattle’s Georgetown area.

Despite what must be thousands of items that decorate each room of the house, Fernandes said many of them reflect what you can pick up for $5, $10 or $20. Two of her favorites, and slightly more expensive, are two 10-foot tall wooden Oriental antique dragons from the 1950s and a horseshoe couch. Each cost $100.

In what she calls the ‘junkin’ season,’ which runs from April until the end of October, “I go to as many estate and garage sales that I can, and also check out the Boom City Flea Market behind the Tulalip Casino,” Fernandes offers.

She’s also been able to turn to friends who are “great artists and craftsmen,” Fernandes said.

Colleen O’Grady, formerly with the city of Bellevue Parks Department, has painted murals on the walls, including a bathroom decorated with street cards from a Monopoly board, some with the names changed to reflect friends.

“The Monopoly bathroom is always a ‘wow factor,’ ” Fernandes said.

Another friend, Phil Woodbridge, is currently studying welding at Renton Technical College and brought to life her vision of the automobile hubcaps sculpture that Fernandes has named “Ben Bellevue.”

And if she ever tires of an item?

“I just recycle those things through auctions or eBay for the money,” Fernandes said, “to buy new old stuff or start a new collection of something.”