Sunday, July 27, 2014

Getting a Handle on the Design

Early ideas for the living/dining area. Already have the gen-u-wine mid century sofa and step end tables, the corner cabinet and other things. Just seeing how it might look when it starts coming together.

May have to re-think the cafe-au-lait walls...mid century walls were all over the place -- chartreuse, yellow, turquoise, orange...  Earth-tones weren't real popular, but I like them. So we'll have to see....

One thing's certain. I want a classic, flying saucer "pulldown" light in the dining room.  What people ask for them on ebay is insane. Will have to hope I luck out when I go thrifting.

Ditto the drapes.  Got to have MCM atomic print drapes with white sheers beneath and a varnished wood cornice or pinch-pleated valance. And they have to reach to at least the top of the baseboards -- but floor-length would be better.

Lots to think about...  And try out on the computer. Great way to avoid costly mistakes!

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Silk Purses From Sow's Ears?

This is my mom's corner cabinet. It was "antiqued" decades ago, perhaps in the 70s. It belonged to me and my husband for a while. Then we gave it to my MIL, and then it returned to us several years ago.

Style-wise, it's sort of generic country/traditional.

But making it sort of Danish modern shouldn't be too hard. Just replace the doors and strip and refinish the cabinet.

Here are some images of Danish modern corner cabinets. Most stand on short, tapered legs, but some of the taller cabinets, like mine, are flush with the floor. Works for me!

The images I've done here show a photoshopped woodgrain, probably walnut. I have no idea what kind of wood the cabinet is made from, but I'm pretty sure it's not walnut. You can see a tiny bit of the woodgrain looking at the back of the upper doors, through the glass, where the antiquing wouldn't reach, and the grain looks pretty.

There are two refinishing projects ahead of the corner cabinet. A traditional bureau and the Stanley dining chairs.

Then we'll find out what kind of wood grain the cabinet has, and how it will look stained and varnished.

Monday, July 21, 2014

Mapping the Fix-up


Here's my photoshopped rendition of my dining alcove goal. I still want a smallish Danish modern china hutch, but the ones I find are huge and expensive, so I guess I'll have to make do with my mom's corner cabinet for a while longer. She "antiqued" it green. (I know. I know. And long before the chalk-paint craze, too.) I'm going to strip and refinish it, and make new doors, for more sleek, modern look.

The credenza I designed is too wide for the space, so if I do build one, it will be smaller, to fit under the window.

My nice wood dining table is from the 1970s, I think, but not really modern, and it's also too big for the space, so I drew a little minimalist table in the illustration above of a style/size that I'll be on the lookout for in resale shops and on Craigslist.

The clock is just one mid-century design I'm considering. There are numerous others.

The wonderfully nostalgic, kitschy mod/atomic curtains will be a lucky find, if I manage to find them. Like these. (The ones in this image are what I photoshopped into my dining alcove image.)

You come across them on e-bay sometimes, but they're outrageously expensive. My first choice would be shiny fiberglass like this. And this. My second choice would be barkcloth. But if I can't find what I'm looking for, I'll design an abstract atomic motif, stencil it onto a painter's dropcloth (all the rage in decorating now) and make some pinch-pleated drapes myself. I may even have a couple of traverse rods around here somewhere.

My chair
I just found out my Danish modern dining chairs I bought several years ago ($25 for all four) were made by Stanley.  Stanley is located in North Carolina. They are SOUTHERN Danish modern chairs! The finish is in sad shape, and the armchair needs the joins reglued, and I would reupholster the seats -- in either black or bone vinyl, or a vintage-type wool boucle...

Here are a couple of images online showing how gorgeous they are when they're refinished...

Stanley chairs 1

Stanley chairs 2

Stanley chairs 3


Alas, I don't have any atomic table china to display in the corner cabinet.  But I do have my mom's Syracuse "Old Ivory -- Nimbus" china (that she bought with S&H Green Stamps) which is very minimalist, will look great in a mid-century modern-ish dining alcove...  Photos don't do it justice. It's actually beautiful...

The rice paper light fixture is temporary, until I can find one of these I can afford (except I want all-brass). E-bay sellers want outrageous sums form them:



So, okay, I have sort of a blueprint. I have a habit of changing my mind, as new options present themselves, but this is good for a start. 

First stop -- Lowe's, to buy paint stripper for the corner cabinet.


Saturday, July 19, 2014

Is This MCM?

Big discussion on one of my FB MCM pages about what belongs in the group. That particular group is supposed to be about mid-century design -- mainly architecture and furniture design, but sometimes fabrics, cars, appliances, pottery, etc. -- and not about "I found this at a thrift store for $20 bucks!!! Is it MCM?" Or, "Can you believe this? I found this Broyhill Brasilia hutch ... in a DUMPSTER!" "This is on my local Craigslist for $20. Is it worth it? Should I buy it? Is it even MCM?"

I pretty much know what's MCM because I was alive in the fifties and sixties, and I remember it. But a lot of enthusiasts are from later generations, and they simply don't know.  Simply wanting to learn, though, is different from a thriftshop/resale shop entrepreneur needing to know whether they can describe their merchandise as MCM (it is, after all, a craze, now) and the most they can ask for it.

Anyway, what follows is MCM -- at least, in design style. I posted this in two of my MCM groups and got some great (positive) feedback:

I'm thinking of building this, unless I happen to get extremely lucky and find a $2,000 MCM credenza with a few scratches on it in a dumpster somewhere...
We had a nice discussion here several weeks ago about building furniture and it's been on my mind since then. This looks a little clunky instead of sleek and beautifully balanced... but that's what you get with an amateur project. At least it'll hold stuff....
Here are the dimensions. I drew this first, then used it to photoshop the "finished" console shown above.
I can make pretty much the whole thing, except for the brace across the bottom and the tapered legs (which I already have) from a single sheet of 3/4 inch cabinet grade plywood. Will need 3/4 inch pine or MDF for the drawer interiors and 1/4 inch pine for the drawer bottoms and the cabinet back.

Finally, something for my room full of power tools to do besides gather dust!

I don't know when I'll be able to get to it. I have waaaay too many irons in waaaay to many fires right now. Alas.

But isn't it sweet?

Sunday, July 13, 2014

Great Find! (Updated)

For so long, I've been so jealous of folks on my mid century modern groups when they found fantastic vintage modern sofas for next-to-nothing at garage sales, estate sales and thrift stores. I never found anything like that locally.

Until today. Found this advertised in online classifieds. Called. Went to look. Bought (for I can't believe how cheap!). Brought home.  Looks straight out of the Sixties, down to the tapered legs. (Though hubs and I both agree the legs need to be replaced with taller ones. We're at the age where it's not as easy as it used to be to climb out of a low seat.)

Though it's in remarkably good shape, and very clean, it'll be steam cleaned, including the sleeper mattress (unless it gets replaced).


My next purchase will be these, lots and lots of these: 


For now, the couch is swathed in blankets, to keep kitty claws out of the upholstery.

Posted the photo on my MCM forums, and got lots of compliments. Gratifying!

I guess this decides the color scheme for the living/dining room. Avocado. Very MCM color, and Old Florida compatible, too!

Now, back to the kitchen and bathrooms....


  * UPDATE  *  UPDATE  *  UPDATE  *  

Fellow on one of my MCM forums tells me these claw covers drove his cat crazy. She's a climber and has a little cat "jungle jim" that's 12 - 14 feet high, and she needs her claws to climb up to her spot. She spent half her time trying to bite them off.  He said cats use their claws for more than just clawing furniture, and its better to get them something to claw that's more satisfying than a couch arm.

That's it. No claw covers for my fur babies.


Monday, July 7, 2014

Kitchen Preliminaries....

So I'm embarking on a fun journey -- fixing up our house. Apparently, this is a popular activity -- there's an entire television network devoted to it.

My first project is going to be the kitchen. It is a tiny room, 7 1/2 feet by 11 feet.  Small kitchens have never bothered me, because I'm not all that much into cooking. Oh, I don't hate it, but there are lots of things I like to do more. And little kitchens bother me even less, now that I have trouble walking (knees, arthritis). So I don't mind the size, at all... I just want it to look nice and be easy to use.

Right now, it's not nice. Well, some of it isn't.

The biggest problem(s)  are the cabinets and the countertop/backsplash.

The floor needs to be addressed, too, but it's not a big problem.  The concrete is in great shape; it's just a matter of pulling up the current vinyl tiles and preparing it for the new flooring.  We will likely use vinyl tile again (and use the same pattern in the kitchen, baths and "sunroom" which will likely become my computer/writing room).

Tentatively, I've chosen a tan simulated stone pattern. What little wallspace shows in the kitchen will be painted a soft cafe au lait.


Cabinets. I've loathed these cabinets ever since we moved here. Although knotty pine was very popular at mid-century, I never cared for it. I don't like the rustic look-and-feel it imparts. In my kitchen, that quality is upped several notches by the barn-door hardware.

I've longed for new cabinets for years ... but the thought of tearing the old ones out was daunting. They are craftsman cabinets -- not in the craftsman architectural style, but in the method of building. They were built on site. They're heavy and robust. They aren't gonna come down with a few swipes of a sledge hammer, such as you see on HGTV sometimes. So I percieved that we were stuck with them.

However, quite recently, I've developed a new attitude about my cabinets. They're pine, but not knotty. A couple of replacement doors made (poorly) by the flippers have a few knots, but they're shoddy -- just panels butted together, not tongue and groove like the original doors. Those will be coming out and will be replaced by T&G un-knotty pine paneled doors. Milling is not cheap, I understand, but it's only a couple of doors. Besides. I have a router I need to learn how to use...

So it occurred to me to refinish the pine with a dark stain and shellac/varnish,  and replace the barn-door hardware with Euro hinges and simple brushed nickel pulls. In fact, I've already done it -- in my graphics editor -- and I really like the look of the doors. It doesn't even matter that they're panels instead of a solid sheet of wood. I think they'll look good.

(These images are composites; the upper cabinets and lower cabinets were shot separately and put together in my graphics editor. If they look a little whompy-jawed, that's the reason.)

Inside, the cabinets are painted off white. The paint has taken a beating over the years, and I'll be repainting the interior with a durable oil-based white enamel.

The worst thing about the kitchen is the countertop and backsplash. They are ordinary white ceramic tiles, which I don't really have a problem with. The problem is that they were horribly installed. (Same story in the two bathrooms.)  The grout doesn't come up to the top of the tiles, making the grout lines miniature ditches for trapping food, crumbs, spilled tea... ditches that have to be scraped out with a knife.

Also, tiles in heavy use areas have lost their sheen due to scratches and wear.

Right now, I'm looking at two options. (1) Keeping the tile backsplash and replacing the counter with white laminate or (2) keeping all the tile and painting it.

Just a couple of days ago, I was sold on white Wilsonart sheeting on particleboard substrate -- very conventional. But that was before I ran across the website of a woman whose fix-up of her vintage home included painting the ceramic tile countertop in the kitchen.**  Here's a look:



She graciously explained how to do it on her blog... and it sounds like something I could do, and would only put the kitchen out of service for about four days.

If I go this route, which I'm seriously considering, since it is the most economical option thus far, I will have to remove all the grout from the counterop and backsplash, and regrout the tiles correctly, so that the grout is level, or almost level, with the top of the tiles. Removing the grout should be a piece of cake with a grout blade for my Dremel...

Some of this stuff will be removed from the countertop and stored in the lower cabinets, after repainting and organizing..

On the other hand, if we were to DIY laminate sheets on particleboard substrate, I would have to buy a finish router, which I think would be a fine addition to my power tools collection...

I have to admit that my photoshopped images of the new kitchen don't look either Old Florida OR MCM...  They look rather HGTV-ish... perish the thought.

But I like it. Unless I change my mind and come up with something different, this is The Look and  The Plan for the kitchen. The flavor of MCM and/or Old Florida will have to come from (very little) decor and accessories, like the Beautyware chrome canisters and paper dispenser (and I'm on the lookout for a matching breadbox).  Perhaps some herbs in minimalist pots on the window sill, and an atomic boomerang clock and an MCM cat plaque on wall....

________________________
** From "Our Vintage Home Love"


Saturday, July 5, 2014

Hello, and Welcome!

The brick planter next to our front porch.
I love the architecture and decor from the middle of the 20th century, when I was a kid.  Though we didn't live in a modernist house, what's now called MCM furniture and housewares (also called "atomic") found their way into all sorts of homes.

I also love the architecture and decor of the upper Florida coast, where we vacationed pretty much every summer. I'm speaking mainly of the little cinderblock houses that dotted the beaches back in those days. They were usually painted pale pastel colors -- think bottle green, pink, sky blue, pale peach, light aqua. There was no air conditioning, and jalousie windows allowed the entire window opening to admit breezes.

I've discovered that these little houses were built in the waning years of the "Old Florida" era. Says one website:
The term "Old Florida" generally denotes Florida the way it was at least two generations ago. It's a Florida from  the 1960's and earlier with roadside attractions,  hamburger stands and other reminders of  yesteryear that are quickly vanishing.  http://www.florida-secrets.com/Old_Florida/OldFlorida.htm
Back in the early 1990s, hubs and I bought one of those little Florida cinderblock bungalows built in 1957 -- originally pink, but yellow when we found it -- that looked so cute, despite having been badly flipped and "updated." The only thing modern about our house is the low, sloping roofline that extends out over the carport. Inside, it's very conventional. Plaster on lath walls, rather elaborately milled woodwork (the antithesis of modernism). But it's strong and solidly built -- a little Gibraltar of a house -- and it sits on what passes for "high ground" in these parts, so we don't evacuate during hurricanes.

Unfortunately, as noted, the house was badly flipped at some point before we bought it. Some of the problems were hidden, and we didn't find out for years.  Other bad-flip areas were  visible right away.  For example, the structure's Old Florida heart and character were ripped out along with its ornamental concrete blocks and jalousie windows. The truly awful casement windows with fake panes that replaced them are neither MCM nor Old Florida. Yes, I know jalousie windows weren't energy efficient, and presented a security risk, but there were and are ways to deal with that. But since replacing the windows would be prohibitively expensive -- and there really isn't anything wrong with them except their awful aesthetic -- we're stuck with them.

Nevertheless, we liked the little house and in the ensuing years, we did what we could to improve the, um, improvements. But we both worked, I was heavily into politics for a while, and we had my aging and infirm parents to look after. More recently,  I've grown deeply involved with writing, which takes a lot of my time, and in the Southern heritage community ... so improvements kept getting put off until something broke (as they increasingly do when a home ages)...

So now, I'm embarking on the adventure of turning our little cinderblock bungalow into a cute and comfortable retirement home, where Old Florida meets Mid-Century Modern. While I have quite a bit less money now that I'm no longer working, I have a lot more time -- and doing it yourself can be a great money saver. 

Although my little Florida bungalow will be the primary focus of this blog, I'll no doubt often swerve into related areas -- decor, architecture, the 50s, the 60s, vintage fashion, and great memories...  Come along with me, if you'd like. It'll be fun!