Goodbye

This blog was born on September 6, 2010, and since that date, I have published almost 2000 posts and have had over 5 million pageviews...not bad for something that I created on a whim. It's time, though, to turn my attention to other things, so this will be my last post.

I want to thank all you longtime readers who have followed the opening and closing of our store, our building of the "modernist nest" and our subsequent moves to new homes, as well as the changes in our family.

For those of you who have only recently found the blog, I hope you will continue to use the archived posts for reference when you need to know about the works of specific designers, architects, and artists.

Do not hesitate to contact me if you want to chat about mid-century or modern design or if you have a specific question. I may not know the answer off the top of my head, but I'll try to help you find it.

Keep collecting the things you love!

You know the road that's paved with good intentions?

I believe flippers generally think they're doing the right thing. I also believe they generally fail to do their homework about what they've bought...and in the case of mid-century homes, about what mid-century lovers find desirable.

Before we bought the house we're in now, my daughter and I considered buying this house. We finally decided it would require too much work to restore.  While we knew it was going to be a huge project, we also knew the end result could be absolutely breathtaking if done right.

When we saw the restored exterior recently, we were encouraged. Very little was changed. The new balcony was an improvement, and the front doors and garage doors were nice choices. Overall, the look and feel of the house remained the same, and that boded well.

But remember the entry, with all its beautiful trim?

Now it looks like this. Some of the trim was restored. Some was removed when one of the rock walls was knocked out. The removal of the dark paneling brightened the entry...but the original cone wall fixtures didn't get put back up. That was the first sign something was amiss.

And remember the rock fireplace and the gorgeous screen beside it? The slate floor?

Now it looks like this. Slate gone, screen gone, rock fireplace gone, replaced by the most lackluster and predictable materials anyone could have chosen.

And the Pomona tile designed by George Nelson for the Distinguished Designer series in the late 1950s or early 1960s? That's right...gone. It was in pristine condition. It just needed to be re-grouted.

Now the bathroom looks like this. It breaks my heart to think those tiles were tossed into a dumpster. With a little knowledge about the period, the owners would have at least known to resell them. (I've seen them listed on eBay recently for $10-15 each. In the past, I've seen tiles from that series bring as much as $45.)

This 2556 sf house is currently on the market for $459,900 (originally listed at $475,000). It's been for sale for almost two months. I may be wrong, but I predict the current owners won't get the quick turnaround they hoped for...or the profit they expected.

In effect, the flippers have created a white elephant. They've stripped the house of all its mid-century character, and anyone who truly wants a mid-century home would have to spend tens of thousands of dollars to return it to its former beauty.

And, to make things worse, even at its reduced price, it's overpriced for that particular neighborhood. If the flippers chose to give it a generic look that would appeal to the broad market, I think they overlooked the fact that buyers wanting a similar sized house could...and probably would...opt to buy a brand new, similarly unremarkable McMansion for far less.

As I said...homework, people. If the sellers had cleaned the rock and slate, done minimal restoration to the room divider, and re-grouted the George Nelson bathroom tile, they could have saved themselves considerable expense, making it possible to list the house for far less and still make a hefty profit. And I can almost guarantee that some mid-century lover would have scooped it up already.

Ah, summer

Most of our plants are coming back after a couple of particularly hard freezes we had during the winter months, and we're enjoying the beautiful colors of summer. There's nothing like it.

The ultimate in mid-century bathrooms

Again, I've let far too much time pass since my last post. It's hard to believe I found time to post daily for five years. But that was then...when I was living alone...and this is now. Being part of a busy multi-generational household with a daughter whose job keeps her on the go and two grandsons, ages six and seven, who keep me on the go, I seem to have put the blog on the back burner.

However, sometimes things come my way that are just too good not to post. Candace Ramirez, public relations manager for Estately, found my blog a couple of years ago, and she's always thoughtful enough to share amazing mid-century homes with me. This time, she sent me a link to a house in Los Angeles with a bathroom that will make the "pink bathroom crowd" (You know who you are!) swoon with delight.

The only thing I can think of that could make a pink bathroom lover happier than original pink fixtures is this room...original pink and turquoise. Enjoy!

Fort Worth home for sale

Was my last post really in December? I've really been neglecting the blog lately. Gone are the years of daily posts, but this is ridiculous. I'll make a real effort to be more diligent from now on.

This local mid-century delight is owned by an acquaintance of mine. I've been in the home socially, and I can honestly say that it's more beautiful than the photos.

Built in 1952, this 4593 square foot marvel boasts soaring ceilings with skylights, huge indoor plants and tons of built-ins. With 5 bedrooms and 4 updated bathrooms and an updated kitchen with a gas stove which includes a grill, wok attachment, convection oven and warming drawer, it is larger and offers more amenities than many homes built in the early 1950s. It also has a stacked stone see-through fireplace, as well as refinished terrazzo tile and new cork flooring.

The home is located in Fort Worth's prestigious Monticello neighborhood and has a park view. It is listed at $599,000.

Xavier Pauchard

Xavier Pauchard (1880–1948) was born in France and began his career as a roofer and zinc worker, like his father and grandfather before him, and became the first manufacturer of galvanized steel domestic goods in France under the name of Tolix.

In 1927, Pauchard trademarked the name and expanded his line of products to include chairs, stools, and tables.

The most recognized of Pauchard’s designs is the A Chair, now called the Marais A Chair, which has become a icon of modern industrial aesthetics. It is included in the collections of the Vitra Design Museum, MOMA and the Pompidou Center.

After Pauchard’s death in 1948, his sons took over Tolix and continued to manufacture the same seating models to their father’s original specifications. The company stayed in the family until 2004, when Chantal Andriot took over, reviving and expanding the brand.

From tolix.fr and dwr.com

Model A
tolix.fr

Model A colors
tolix.fr

A97 armchair
(same as A56, except for larger backrest)
woont.com

Armchair C
tolix.fr

H stool
tolix.fr

Bye-bye shutters

The best gift of the Christmas season was the removal of our ugly shutters. While the boys played with new toys outside in the 76 degree weather, my daughter took the old eyesores down for me. I'm so happy about the difference it makes!

Now you see them...

...and now you don't.

We were expecting to find a difference in the brick color that would require power washing, but luckily that wasn't the case. Just a quick once-over with a broom, and we were good to go.

'Tis the season...

Wishing you the very happiest of holidays

Project: McGuire bench

I've been wanting a bench to put in our entryway, but I'm not ready to spring for a Nelson bench, which is what I'd eventually like to have. I mentioned that to my former SIL the other day when he came to pick up the boys, and he said he had just the bargain for me.

He picked up a McGuire bench at an estate sale, thinking he'd do something with it. Like so many of us, though, he never found the time, so he said he'd sell it to me for $50...and even give me the fabric to reupholster it. Who can resist a deal like that?

Granted, it's in pretty rough condition, but a piece of high density foam and a piece of MDF to replace the sagging seat will get the piece back in sound structural condition. The rest is purely cosmetic.

Estate sale photo of McGuire bench

Although I usually don't paint furniture, I think this time I will, since it will be in an area with several different wood colors, and I don't want to add another. I'm considering a dark charcoal chalk paint, waxed to a soft sheen, with light gray upholstery. A couple of colorful pillows ought to add just the right amount of pizzazz.

Incidentally, the McGuire Furniture Company was founded in 1948 by John and Elinor McGuire and produced high quality rattan and wood furniture for both indoors and outdoors. The company is still in business today.

John and Elinor McGuire

Orange at last

We moved into our house in June, and one of the first things we did was get rid of these doors.

For those of you who are hearing this long, drawn-out story for the first time, we had modern slab doors built and installed early in July, and a week later we had a $100 quote from a painter/handyman who had just done quite a bit of work for us. I texted him the day before he was scheduled to do the job to ask if I needed to buy any supplies, and I received a curt "No" back. That's the last I heard from him. He never showed up and never responded to my subsequent texts trying to find out when, or if, he planned to paint our doors.

All the other painters I had contacted wanted $400-800 for the job, so this is how the doors have looked for almost six months...primed, ready, and waiting for us to paint them.

Finally, after seemingly endless procrastination, I am happy to report that I finished the job yesterday, and this is the front of our house now. In the spring, they will probably get a light sanding and one more coat, but, for now at least, they're done. (After a couple of days of drying time, we just might get some Christmas decorations hung outside. Thank goodness the decorating inside was finished days ago!)

Whew! I had almost given up hope.

Next projects: 

• Taking down those hideously traditional shutters 
• Power washing the brick
• Planning the types of ferns, hostas, and heucheras to plant in the spring

Becoming orange: What a difference a day makes.

I just finished repainting the door frame, and I'm much happier with the color. As I had hoped, this neutral color allows the doors to be the focal point of the front of the house instead of an afterthought.

The new color (Sherwin Williams Quiver Tan) was originally my top choice, but I allowed myself to waver. Although psychologists generally refute the idea that it's best to stick to your original answer on a test, I suspect that the traditional folklore may apply to picking paint colors. I could have saved myself a great deal of work if I had followed my first instinct.

After I take a break for lunch, I'll put the final coat on the doors themselves. I should have hardware reinstalled sometime tomorrow and will post photos. This has been a long time coming, but I think it's almost finished.

Becoming orange: Minor setback

Some of you may remember my post about the flaky painter who left us hanging a few months ago. Failing to find someone who would paint our doors as cheaply as he had quoted, we finally decided to do the job ourselves.

Naturally, neither of us wanted to get out in the 100+ degree summer heat to paint, and we procrastinated our way through the entire fall. Finally, though, it came down to this: Either hang Christmas decorations against white primer...or paint the doors.

We knew that we wanted to use the same orange we chose for the door of the "modernist nest" (Sherwin Williams Copper Mountain), but we weren't sure what color we wanted the door frame. After looking at countless chips, we finally chose a darker orange, just a shade darker than the eaves) and got to work on the trim first.

Not bad in theory...
but the big picture is a no-go

The color brought out the darkest orange in the brick, and we were very pleased with our choice...until we got the first coat of paint on the doors. To our dismay, the trim was visually stronger than the doors themselves and made them look small and insignificant.

We've decided to repaint the trim a neutral grayish brown (the color of the mortar between the bricks and the color of most of the wood trim on the house) which should recede and allow the doors to have the dramatic impact we want. Maybe by the the weekend I will be able to post pictures of the finished job.

Remembering Mr. Risom (1916-2016)

Noted mid-century furniture designer Jens Risom died December 9, seven months after his 100th birthday.

knoll.com

Risom helped introduce Scandinavian design to America and will be remembered for his innovative and elegant furniture.

Retro Twister

My grandsons have decided that they want me to give them games and books for Christmas this year, along with new robes and slippers. Every year, they get a raft of toys that are played with on Christmas Day and then rarely touched again till it's time to donate them, in like-new condition, to a local women's shelter.

The idea of giving them useful things thrills me. They both love to read and play games, which is something we do as a family every night for two hours before bedtime, allowing them to unwind and be ready to sleep. (You can't imagine what a positive effect this has had in our nightly routine!)

In addition to several books apiece, I bought mostly board and card games for them, but I ran across a retro Twister game that is an exact replica of the 1966 version (the year I finished high school, incidentally), so naturally I couldn't resist getting it for them too.

amazon.com

In for the winter

Although it's not really cold here yet, the nights are dipping into the 40s, so we decided over the weekend that it was time to bring the outdoor plants inside for the winter. Luckily, we have a huge picture window on the front of the house, which provides the perfect spot for some filtered sun.

This collection of plants includes some that were used in many mid-century homes in the 1950s and 60s, including a rubber plant, palm, and philodenron.

Bringing the outdoors in...literally

Follow these links to older posts on plants that create an authentic mid-century look:

Perfect plantings

More perfect plantings

Wishing the best for your and yours...

Jens Risom

I ran across a wonderful DWR interview with Jens Risom...100 years old and still in the game. This extraordinary man just keeps on contributing to modern design!

Celebrating early

A recent purchase was delivered yesterday, and it feels like Christmas a month early. I had searched for months to find a table the same height and diameter as the one on the opposite side of the sofa...something of a similar material and a similar color without being a matching pair. The search had proven more difficult than I had expected, until I finally found it on the Design Within Reach website.

Here's the little Jens Risom side table that I picked out for our family room. I'm even happier with it than I expected to be.

New Jens Risom T.710 side table from DWR

Tornado side table from CB2, bought years ago

Family room/dining room

And while we're on the subject of my love for Jens, here's a photo of one of my favorite vintage pieces (and one of the first I ever bought)...a classic Risom credenza, which backs up to the sofa.

Risom credenza