07/16/2012
Douglas and Davy – that’s what I named this set of dining chairs. We found them at Goodwill a few weeks ago covered with stinky, tacky brown vinyl and bleached maple wood. In our first attempt at professional reupholstery (by “professional” I mean self-educated and with all the proper tools this time), we completely restored these chairs. Stripped off all of the old upholstery and padding, removed all the staples and tacks, refinished the wood legs with walnut stain, and reupholstered them with fresh padding and new upholstery. We’re quite pleased with how they turned out.
Before:
After:
2 Comments | 
Art, Art: before & after, Art: furnishing restoration, Art: interior design, Art: mcm thrift store find, Art: mid-century design | Tagged: chairs, furniture, restoration, reupholstery | 
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Posted by mahlbrandt
06/14/2012
On Monday, we closed on construction loan. YAAAAAAAYYYY! I’ve never been more excited for a loan closing, probably because we’ve been waiting months and months for this. Kudos to local Wilson Bank for working things out for us and being super awesome so far. Now we can break ground. Woohoo!
Jason and I stopped by the property the other day. It’s hard to not walk around and dream about our new home. I can’t wait to start seeing progress! (SIDENOTE: Today is our NINTH wedding anniversary! Happy Anniversary, Jason. I love you!)
While we were piddling around at Home Depot the other day, we spotted programmable light switches. This one made by GE is only $19.97; a better deal than I found last week. We got one for the front lights at my parents house so we’ll get to test it out and see if we’d like to have one or two at our new home.
While we were there, we also looked at some paint swatches. These are all just ideas. Most are Martha Stewart Living and a few are Behr. Sherwin Williams colors are my favorite so we’ll probably get colors from there (plus there is a store right down the street from us) but anyway… top left: kids room; top center: Jason’s studio (which is going to look like a cave…); top and bottom right: my office/laundry room; bottom left: baby’s room. Precious wouldn’t stop eating the paint chip for Behr Raspberry Lemonade (fourth from the left on the bottom) so I’m pretty sure that’s her vote.
1 Comment | Art, Art: interior design, Art: new home build, Family, Family: Jason | Tagged: anniversary, new home build | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt
06/12/2012
I’ve decided to start naming vintage furnishings when we buy them. For fun, ya know, to give them a little more personality! We did a little thrift store shopping recently and found Mack, this boxy upholstered arm chair. I’m teaching myself to reupholster furniture (with books and YouTube vidoes) and I think this will be my first official furniture job. I want to tackle the 3 piece sectional (now named Sylvester) but it’s intimidating. If I can do this chair, I can repeat the same process three times on the sofa.
I think Mack would benefit from a set of brand new 6″ wooden cone legs after it has some new upholstery. It’s lightweight, quite comfortable and in great condition.
We also scored this lamp, Sarah, for $2 (half-off day at Goodwill—woohoo!), which happens to be very similar to this lamp we already own. With matching shades, they’ll look like sisters.
Sarah’s long lost sister…
Cara.
4 Comments | Art, Art: interior design, Art: mcm thrift store find, Art: mid-century design | Tagged: armchair, chair, lamp, mcm, mid-century modern, reupholstery | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt
05/23/2012
At our last house, I designed a combined nursery and kids room as we were becoming foster parents. It had to be suited for 1 or 2 kids, either gender, newborn up to age 5…all within a 10×11 bedroom. In our new house, we’ll have a nursery for Precious and another bedroom that’s set up for our future foster kids. I’m not really sure what parameters we’ll set next time around so I’m planning this room for 1 or 2 kids, boys or girls, ages 2-12. The room is approximately 10×12. We already own the bed, dresser, curtain, book ledges, owl, sheets and chair. The rest would be new purchases.
Sources
1. Sherwin WIlliams Mélange Green – accent wall color
2. Sherwin Williams Greek Villa – other three walls
3. IKEA VANDRING RÄV duvet cover and pillow case $20
4. Woodland shower curtain from Target Home (as window curtain) – no longer available
5. Owl wall art – vintage
6. Dresser – vintage
7. IKEA VANDRING RÄV Soft toy, set of 2 $8
8. Jimco orange lamp with drum shade from Lowes $40
9. IKEA KURA reversible loft bed $199
10. IKEA RIBBA picture ledges (to use as book ledges), x2, $10 each
11. Target Home 325 Thread Count Wrinkle Free Sheet Set – Blue Diamond $28
12. Chair – vintage
13. IKEA RINGUM 2′ round rug in green, x3, $10
Floor Plan (to scale)
2 Comments | Art, Art: interior design, Art: new home build, Art: new home kids room, Family, Family: Foster Parenting | Tagged: bedroom, foster parenting, inspiration, interior design, kids, kids room, mood board, new home build, new house, precious, room plan | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt
05/17/2012
I wish I had more exciting news to report. I was really hopeful that we’d be breaking ground this week. We’re working things out with the bank, trying some different options to see who/what/where will be a good fit to finance our new home. In the meantime, our contractors have the building permit in hand and are ready to go as soon as we close on the construction loan…which could be a few more weeks. Boo. We’re really eager to start moving forward.
I have some samples of countertops and wood flooring on my desk. This is honed granite, which is an option we’re considering for the kitchen countertop. The wood sample is hickory. Jason picked it up at the hardware store because he likes the fine, straight grain and the variation of colors. I do too. We’re still quite a ways away from needing to make those decisions but we’re looking at options as much as possible now so we can decide quickly later on.
Leave a Comment » | Art, Art: interior design, Art: modern design, Art: new home build | Tagged: construction, countertops, dream home, flooring, granite, hickory, house, kitchen, new home | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt
05/16/2012
At our last house, I designed a combined nursery and kids room as we were becoming foster parents. It had to be suited for 1 or 2 kids, either gender, newborn up to age 5…all within a 10×11 bedroom. In our new house, we’ll have TWO bedrooms for set up for kids. Hooray! (And another bedroom that we’ll set up as a den/playroom for now.) Here’s my plan for the nursery, which will be for our daughter. She will be about 1.5 when we move in. The room is approximately 10×11 (not including the doorway). The only new purchase for us in this room will be the curtains.
Sources
1. Sherwin WIlliams Rosebay – accent wall color
2. Sherwin Williams Greek Villa – other three walls
3. Petit Collage Animal ABC – Basic $40
4. IKEA BARBRO curtains $15
5. Lamp – vintage, thrifted
6. Dresser – vintage (changing table height)
7. Mr. French Poster Pop-Tone Monkey $30
8. Mobile – handmade by me
9. IKEA SOMNAT crib – no longer available
10. IKEA RIBBA picture ledges (to use as book ledges), x2, $10 each
11. IKEA GOSSIG SPANIEL – no longer available
12. Braxton Studio Letterio White Cradle Chair $80-120
13. IKEA TOFTBO bathmat (x4, taped together, MACHINE WASHABLE!) – no longer available in this color $13
14. Nightstand – vintage, refinished by me
Floor Plan (to scale)
1 Comment | Art, Art: interior design, Art: new home build, Art: new home nursery | Tagged: bedroom, inspiration, interior design, kids, mood board, new home build, new house, nursery, precious, room plan | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt
04/11/2012
This whole home building process is taking a loooooong time. We’re still waiting on bids from the general contractors (hopefully we’ll get numbers this week) and the banker just told us the approval process (checking references of the GC we chose, approving our construction loan, appraising the house based on plans, etc.) could take another month. Ugh! We just wanted to get started with the building already.
I’m trying to make good use of this waiting time by researching interior fixings for the house and making some decisions about things like paint colors, materials, appliances, etc. So I’ve been looking at lights lately. Here are some that I’m dreaming about…
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1 Comment | Art, Art: interior design, Art: new home build | Tagged: chandelier, interior design, lighting, lights, new home build, pendant | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt
03/29/2012
Good news: Pinterest has some practical real life applications! Last week I was pinning pictures of kitchens for inspiration for our new home. Our architect emailed us and said, “I noticed you’ve been looking at soapstone countertops. Do you want us to get some prices together for soapstone counters in the kitchen?” Jason said, “How did he know that?!” Because he follows my boards on Pinterest, of course!
It’s true. We’ve been thinking about putting black soapstone countertops with high gloss white cabinets and stainless appliances in our new kitchen. We like the solid dark color, the soft feel, the heat resistance and the matte finish of soapstone. And supposedly it’s quite a bit cheaper than granite. Here are some inspiration pictures I pinned on Pinterest. Some are pinned because of the cabinets, some the counter tops, some the configuration.
3 Comments | Art, Art: interior design, Art: modern design, Art: new home build | Tagged: cabinets, countertops, dream house, interior design, kitchen, modern, new home | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt
03/14/2012
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Jason and I just finished watching Eames: The Architect and the Painter on Netflix, and it was totally inspiring. What I love most about the husband and wife duo of Charles and Ray Eames is that they never limited their creative interests and business endeavors to just one field. Charles was trained as an architect though he never graduated from college or got a license. Ray was trained as a painter but never made her living that way. Together they took on the challenge of creating an ergonomic chair made of bent plywood—completely innovative in their day.
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From there, they went on to produce tons of furniture designs out of their studio in California with a team of designers working for them. But the couple also dabbled in film production and toy making. Everything they did was as a team. I loved seeing the letters they sent back and forth while they were separated for work, each updating the other on progress at the studio, what shops to visit in Paris, where to buy shoes, where to get a great deal on perfume—complete with whimsical drawings and love notes. It reminds me a lot of the kind of texts, emails and phone calls Jason and I exchange throughout the day. What a cool couple (minus the whole infidelity thing…eh hem), pictured below in the home they designed together.
1 Comment | Art, Art: interior design, Art: mid-century design, Art: modern design | Tagged: architecture, design, eames, interior design, mid-century modern, modern design | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt
03/13/2012
I saw this article about red refrigerators on Retro Renovation and it got me thinking… would I ever put a colored fridge in my kitchen? Red is my least favorite color but I started looking at Pam’s links and imagining the possibilities. Maybe a minty green refrigerator?
Or a sky blue?
What about a white vintage style? White would be kind of sexy alongside glossy white cabinets, dark countertops and other stainless appliances.
I have a feeling we’ll end up with stainless but it’s fun to dream. (The above models are around $3500. Yikes!) Here are some inspiring photos:
3 Comments | Art, Art: interior design, Art: mid-century design, Art: modern design, Art: new home build | Tagged: appliances, color, home, interior design, refrigerator, retro, vintage | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt
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