Painting Furniture – Nightstand Before & After

04/19/2011

We bought this little nightstand dresser 2 years ago at a yard sale. At the time we didn’t know where to put it. We can’t fit a nightstand like this in our bedroom and we already had end tables in our living room. It moved into the spare room to sit in waiting for our future kids. Over a year ago, Glidden was giving away free quarts of paint. I ordered Granny Apple green with this night stand in mind. Then, 2 weekends ago I FINALLY got around to standing and painting it. (It felt SO GOOD to get that of my to-do list after being on there for months.)

The top had a bunch of knicks and dings in it but look at the cute flowered contact paper inside the drawers! That stays.

The first order of business was to take off these hideous handles. Have you ever seen anything like this? It looks like it was hand-crafted by drunk termites.

After I got those suckers off, I filled the screw holes with wood filler. Here’s the part where I begin to just wing it. Jason usually does this kind of stuff and I just supervise. I followed the direction the tube and waiting for it to dry a bit, then sanded it. I started sanding the dresser top and the drawer fronts too. That got old really quick.

Thankfully, paint covers and fills most minor scratches. I did give the whole thing a rough sand so the paint would stick better and then wiped it clean with a damp cloth. The first coat of paint didn’t cover very well. I did my best not to have a bunch of drips (again, Jason usually does this kind of project. I am NOT a perfectionist!) I wasn’t concerned about our old patio table because it’s sagging and it’s going to be replaced this summer when we build a new one. I waited a few hours for the first coat to dry (while I went on to paint the chalkboard door). The second coat covered much better.

I let the nightstand rest and cure for a full week before I put anything on it. Even after that, I put a semi-heavy boom box on it and the next day it was stuck. Thankfully it didn’t leave a mark when I pulled it off. I wonder how much longer it needs to cure. Anyone? Or maybe it needs a clear coat?

I was going to buy new knobs but Jason reminded me that we had some in the tool box from IKEA years ago. (I can’t even remember what we used these for originally.) We had 4 so I decided to do 2 on each drawer. I’m very happy with how it turned out and pretty darn proud of myself for doing this all on my own. (Color is more accurate above… the flash here makes it look more yellowish than it is.)

12 Comments | Art, Art: before & after, Art: interior design, Art: kids room, Art: mcm thrift store find, Art: mid-century design, Art: modern design | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt

Butter Dish

03/30/2011

We need a butter dish. I saw this super cute one from West Elm via Making It Lovely. I like owls. $16 seems a little steep but I’m not ruling it out.

Dear blog readers, do you have any suggestions? Have you seen any beautiful mid-century modern butter dishes out in the interwebs?

 

3 Comments | Art, Art: Cooking, Art: mid-century design, Art: modern design | Tagged: , | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt

Master Bedroom Redecorate: Sneak Peak

03/16/2011

A little over a month ago I mentioned a master bedroom redesign we’re planning. Well we’ve made a little progress.

1. We got this amazing 3-in-1 down comforter from IKEA. Seriously, I don’t know why I’ve been sleeping without a down comforter all my life. It’s like heaven: fluffy and airy like a cloud but so warm and snuggly. This smart design has two layers. A thin one for warmer seasons and thicker one for cool weather. The two layers snap together to make one extra warm blanket for cold weather.

2. The new comforter necessitated a duvet cover. While I was at IKEA I found a light gray (almost white but just enough color to not look dirty all the time) cover with a nice texture. I’m dreaming of a clean, white room but I don’t want it to feel unfinished or clinical. Light gray was a nice compromise. This is not the first time Jason and I have made significant purchases from IKEA together by me texting him photos and asking for his opinion. I love technology. (Thanks for giving me the benefit of the doubt, Jase!)

3. And of course, a new duvet cover and comforter beg for the company of new sheets. My only insistance for new sheets was that they had to have a pattern of some kind. Our last several sets have been solid color and the pillow cases and sheets always get discolored in the areas where they’re in frequent contact with hair product and skin oils. And a high thread count is always nice. I suggested orange and white striped sheets (though I couldn’t actually find them anywhere.) Jason wanted dark gray sheets. We ended up finding a set at Target with a gray tasteful retro-modern pattern. Another perfect compromise.

4. Our bed is white. Except that it’s kind of off white. Guess what – next to a clean, crisp light gray off white just looks like dirty white. So now we have our beautiful new bedding on a dirty white bed. Hmm… not sure how to solve that one without getting a new bed. Which is not out of the question…just out of the budget right now. Also, the walls need painted. Next time we’re at the hardware store I’m going to grab a bunch of paint swatches. I’m still leaning towards white or light gray (with orange accents) but with the dirty white bed still in the picture, I’m not really sure what to do! A soft, light taupe white maybe?

5. (Number 4 wasn’t really any progress. Just rambling about what needs to be done. What are these bullet points supposed to be anyway?) We did get one more thing for the bedroom so far: A piece of metal wall art. (Blue cardboard packaging behind it.) I’m pretty excited about it although I’m not sure yet how and where it’s going to work with my furniture arrangement ideas. Goal of furniture arrangement: get rid of shelf behind the bed, add nightstands and an area rug. Is that too much to ask from my small asymmetrical master bedroom?

——————–

Before

4 Comments | Art, Art: master bedroom redo, Art: mid-century design, Art: modern design | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt

Pretty Old Drill

02/22/2011

Jason and I were working on some outdoor projects this weekend to take advantage of the beautiful spring weather we’ve been getting in Nashville. One project prompted Jason to dig out my grandpa’s old drill. This is probably from the 50’s or 60’s. It still works and is more powerful than our cordless Ryobi. Isn’t it a lovely color shade of bluish green metal?

By the way, that’s not a small drill—it’s big and super heavy—that’s a gigantic 4″ concrete bit.

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Posted by mahlbrandt

CBB 3.0 – Update

02/17/2011

From here on out, I’m going to refer to our friend’s house (the one needed painted, then was destroyed by a flood, then knocked down, and now has started to be rebuilt) as CBB 3.0. Why? Because that’s their nickname for their house. They have called their home Camp B_name-of-their-street_ Bottoms since they bought it. The original was version 1.0, completely renovated it into version 2.0 and now they’re building version 3.0. (Search for CBB for anything about this house, CBB 3.0 for the rebuild.)

Jeremy and Leila gave me the OK to share their progress with you. Their new home will be modern with some mid-century influence to fit it with the other 1950’s-1970’s houses in the neighborhood. The biggest challenge has been fitting a design into FEMA’s strict regulations. This had a major influence on the overall design of the house because the foundation had to be raised 4 feet from where it was before but the space below that foundation can not be living space. The solution was to make a garage and storage space under the house … kind of like an above ground basement. Here are some pictures of the recent progress:

The foundation is 2/3 concrete block and 1/3 wood frame.

The large opening is for the garage door at the back of the house.

Flat roof graded toward the front of the house:

The build is moving so quickly, I can’t keep up with pictures. (Hopefully J is OK with me stealing pics off his facebook for now…it’s still dark in evening when I get home from work.) The roof should be complete by the end of this week. Target completion date: 1 year anniversary of the flood, May 1st.

2 Comments | Art, Art: CBB 3.0, Art: interior design, Art: mid-century design, Art: modern design, Family, Family: Extended Family and Friends | Tagged: , | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt

Master Bedroom Redecorate: Before

02/09/2011

This month we’re celebrating 4 years in our 1955 brick ranch. When we moved in we quickly painted and decorated our living room, kitchen, guest bathroom and master bedroom. Each room has undergone a few changes through the years but generally have stayed the same. I’m ready for a change. Specifically, I’m tired of the brown and blue in our bedroom.

I’m dreaming of the white, airy, clean hotel rooms that I saw behind Jason on Skype while he was in Sweden last summer. We don’t have a white wall anywhere in our house. OK, not totally true—we do have 2 small walls in the unfinished laundry room that are still builder’s beige. But generally, every room in our home is painted. And now I’m craving white. Fresh, minimalist, feather-light white.

5 Comments | Art, Art: interior design, Art: master bedroom redo, Art: mid-century design, Art: modern design | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt

Update on the MCM Post-Flood Rebuild

02/08/2011

At the beginning of the year, our friends’ house was torn down. (Remember, it had been destroyed in the May 2010 Nashville Flood after having standing water 4 ft. above the foundation level.) The new house must be built up off the ground and follow all sorts of ridiculous FEMA regulations. Construction started last week:

The house basically has an above-ground unfinished basement. They’re not allowed to use this space for any habitable living space. Half of it is graveled and the other half is paved for a garage and storage area. And possibly a roller rink?

If I can get their permission to do so, I’ll keep you posted with the design and interior development. If not, I’ll just kept tabs on the exterior changes.

(CBB 3.0)

3 Comments | Art, Art: CBB 3.0, Art: mid-century design, Art: modern design, Family, Family: Extended Family and Friends | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
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Do You Know About Publix?

02/07/2011


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Back in the days when I lived in Erie, PA (from age 10 to 20), I was blessed to have a great grocery store called Wegmans nearby. Despite the poorly planned brick floors in the produce department, I loved Wegmans for the bakery, huge selection of teas and fresh produce, diverse international section, quality generics, good prices and the bulk candy section. Moving to Nashville, TN in 2004 required that we find our new favorite out of the unfamiliar grocery store chains. Which brought us eventually to Publix.

Except for the legendary bulk candy section, my favorite tea and the cart rattling brick floors, Publix has everything that Wegmans had. And actually Publix brand products are even better. The quality seems the same goodness to me but the packaging is beautiful, minimalist, and I believe greatly influenced Target brand’s recent redesign. Publix is quickly making me forget about Wegmans.


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I call this blog My Mid-Century Modern Life because there are many aspects of my life that are modern (which I love) and there are many aspects of my life that are reminiscent of my grandparents’ generation (which I love). Sometimes the modern and mid-century collide into a beautiful blend (homes, fashion, graphic design). Publix is an excellent example of the mid-century modern meld.

Publix brand is fresh and clean. It is high tech and modern in every way that a grocery store can be. But it also has the charm and class of a different era. The decor has some vintage mid-century imagery but what I’m really talking about is the employees. From their retro aqua aprons to their exceptional customer service. Publix employees are genuinely friendly and kind. They often ask if we need help finding anything. I have had real conversations with the woman behind the produce counter and the man behind the seafood counter about where I got my hat, our cookout plans for the weekend, the photo shoot I just had with my very pregnant sister-in-law, a hot sauce that goes great with fried catfish. It’s as if they actually take pride in their jobs and truly like people. To top it all off, they always offer to help me out to the car with my groceries which involves a chatty grocery bagger pushing the cart our to my car and loading all the groceries into the trunk for me. I usually decline unless it’s a nice day and I know they’ll enjoy getting some sunshine. Someday when I’m wrangling kids, I’m sure I’ll take advantage of this offer.

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Publix exemplifies how mid-century values can set a modern supermarket chain apart from the rest.

What about you? Do you know of any other places with great customer service that reminds you of a simpler time? What’s your favorite grocery store?

6 Comments | Art, Art: mid-century design, Art: modern design, Other | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt

Retro Renovation Love

02/03/2011

I got a ping-back notice that my Hall Closet Turned Home Office (AKA Cloffice) was mentioned on Retro Renovation today. RR is the flagship of mid-century home blogs. I’m flattered! I had no idea that my little blog was on their radar. If you’re a new visitor here after seeing our recent renovation project on Retro Renovation, WELCOME!

5 Comments | Art, Art: before & after, Art: interior design, Art: mid-century design | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt

Bringing the House Down

01/19/2011

Back in May I wrote about the flood that impacted Nashville and the surrounding Tennessee areas, including our friends and downhill neighbors Leila and Jeremy.

As a reminder, here’s what their house looked like after they purchased it and worked to fully renovate it:

Here’s what the house looked like during the flood:

And here’s the house at almost the peak of flood level. It’s the one on the right. You can see that the water is up to the base of the windows. It eventually made it half way up the window to a level of 4 ft. in the house. The water was too deep (and disgusting) for me to get a picture straight on:

So here we are now, 7-8 months later, and their house is finally being demolished. FEMA regulations required that the house be raised 4ft to be above flood plain. When the costs were evaluated it made the most sense to demo and start over. This process has been long and painful for our friends and it was so good to see tangible forward progress just before New Years.

Demolition was set to begin just around sunrise on a crisp morning:

A quick peak inside before it’s gone; everything of value had been striped out: windows, insulation, wiring, plumbing…

And before the sun was above the tree line, the house was a pile of sticks and bricks:

It turned out to be a bright, beautiful day and brought new meaning to a clean slate for a new year. I’ll do my best to keep you updated on the progress. Soon (once the snow melts…) the foundation will be poured and construction on their new home will begin. I’m hopeful that they’ll be in their new home by the anniversary of the flood.

(CBB)

3 Comments | Art, Art: mid-century design, Family, Family: Extended Family and Friends | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt

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