New Home Update

08/01/2012

The framing is just about done now, minus a few little additions here and there. The floors are all swept and the house is wrapped in plywood. The roof has been wrapped but not shingled yet. The soffits are almost all wrapped in HardieBacker. This stage is really exciting for me. I love being able to walk through each room and really get a sense of the size, even more now that the outside is wrapped and the floors are cleared. These are all Jason’s pictures:

On Monday morning we met with some window sub-contractors. We’re getting bids for vinyl windows and store-front commercial windows and we’ll be making a decision based on price, appearance and function – probably prioritized in that order. Very soon the plumber and electrician will start roughing in lines. We’ve got quotes for different styles/woods for our siding. Things are moving along rapidly now. Every time we go over there it feels a little bit more like our home, and not just our construction site.

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

New Home Update

07/25/2012

Last week our family was out of town. While we were gone, the framing of our home started. We got these pictures from our friend/neighbor Jeremy:

From the street:

Back of the house (flat roof part is my office/laundry room):

After we got home on Sunday I took these:

Courtyard to the front door (approx where the step ladder is):

Great room (from the dining room, view of the kitchen and living room):

Great room (from the living room, view of the kitchen and dining room)

There will be a corner window in the master looking right out at this beautiful crepe myrtle tree that started blooming last week:

Next week I should have another update of the finished framing. I love this progress. So exciting!

2 Comments | Art, Art: mid-century design, Art: modern design, Art: new home build | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt

Help Us Pick a Paint Color for this Brick Ranch

07/18/2012

Our good friend and real estate guru, Jeremy Hundley, is in the middle of remodeling a sweet brick ranch our here in East Nashville. It’s getting a complete makeover inside and out and will be for sale in the next couple of months. Jeremy asked me to mock up some paint color ideas for the exterior of the house, which is currently an ugly peach-colored brick. I went a little crazy and came up with way too many choices. (I had a hard time choosing the top 6 to post here!)

Can you help us narrow it down? What is your favorite color combination?

Don’t get hung up on the front door design. It’s solid now…I was just experimenting with options. Also, it looks a bit naked without any landscaping. That will be remedied after it’s painted. Please choose your favorite overall combination in the poll below, but feel free to get specific in the comment section.

Thank you so much for your help!

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

Douglas and Davy – Dining Chair Pair

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: , , , | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt

Tea Party Fiesta

07/12/2012

The week before last Jason and I had a bit of a pickers strike out. We went to three estate sales and three thrift stores and walked away with almost nothing. Just a romper and a swim shirt for Precious at the Goodwill and from one estate sale we found these:

A 10-piece set of vintage Fiestaware tea cups and saucers. The saucers are all one shade of turquoise and the cups are 4 different shades of blue and green. Kind of an odd combination but blues and greens are my favorites together so I like it. Jason haggled them down to $10 from $21.

I think when we move into our new home and unpack we’re going to have to purge some teacups and saucers. I’m guessing we have around 40-50 now. Or maybe we should open a coffee shop.

2 Comments | Art, Art: mcm thrift store find, Art: mid-century design | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt

New Home Update

07/11/2012

In my previous home update the concrete block foundation was done and they workers were just starting on the front wall and fireplace. Now both of those are done, too. We had a couple of hiccups. The fireplace was about 1/3 of the way up before some errors were discovered and they had to knock it down and start over. There was also a spot of foundation near the garage entrance that needed to be redone. No big deal in retrospect but it caused a bit of stress between our (Jason’s) discovery of the issues and getting both places fixed. Here are some pictures of dirt and concrete blocks, in progress:

This cutie pie strolls down with us to check out the house sometimes. She was so adorable with her pink frilly skirt and flushed cheeks, that I couldn’t help doing a mini photo session.

A couple days later we went back to check out the finished concrete block. Jason and Precious are standing in the garage.

It may not look like much yet but when I see these pictures, I see the office and laundry room…

the courtyard and front door…

the kitchen and dining room…

the living room…

the master bedroom, bathroom and closet…

the kids rooms, bathroom and den…

When Jason and I see the front wall and fireplace, we can envision the whole house built around them.

But, I can imagine it looks pretty strange to someone who doesn’t have the finished house design in mind.

A neighbor we haven’t met stopped by the other day and asked our site supervisor what we’re building.

“A house,” Scott answered.

“What’s that wall for?” the neighbor asked.

“It’s part of the house!”

And that was that.

1 Comment | Art, Art: mid-century design, Art: modern design, Art: new home build | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt

G-ma Joan’s Lane Tables

07/09/2012

Jason and I were blessed to inherit a few pieces of furniture from his mom’s mom’s home after she passed away. These two Lane end tables were in rough shape. Both had watermarks on top and one was stained with newsprint.

Jason lovingly restored them back to their original glory with steel wool, walnut stain and a lot of elbow grease.

I can’t wait to see these tables have a second life at our new house. For now they’re resting in storage.

Leave a Comment » | Art, Art: mid-century design, Family | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt

Recent Thrift Store and Estate Sale Finds

06/20/2012

Jason and I are currently refinishing this chair pair we picked up at a thrift store. I’m excited to show you an “after” picture when we’re all finished. It may be hard to tell in the picture but they’re covered in a sticky, stinky old vinyl. Apparently they’re made by the Dearborn Company in Chicago. One of the chairs—I named them Douglas and Davy, by the way—had this tag on the bottom:

I spotted a couple boxes of Shiny Brites at an estate sale that I couldn’t resist. ( I have a modest collection from my granny.)

This cart is very similar to the black one I found a few weeks ago. I’m planning to spray paint them both a matching color.

I’m not sure what to use this little table for but I thought it was cute.

Leave a Comment » | Art, Art: mcm thrift store find, Art: mid-century design | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt

Mack the square chair and Sarah the lamp

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: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt

Annual TN-52 Yard Sale Finds 2012

06/04/2012

This year my mom and Precious and I hit up the TN-52 yard sale for a couple of hours. Nothing compared to the all morning adventure a couple years ago where we found a ton of great stuff. But, I did walk away with a few great pieces and a bag full of stuff for Precious, all for less than $20. For the mid-century modern lovers, this:

It’s a solid wood (walnut?) night stand or end table. The top needs to be refinished, or else the whole thing needs painted. I haven’t decided yet.

The rest of the finds are for Precious except for some necklaces I got for myself (costume jewelry, 3 for $0.50). I’m pretty excited about this handmade wooden play oven. It’s needs a little TLC but for $7, it will be worth it.

These suede Baby Gap apple boots are size 7 and Precious is just barely fitting a size 3 now. But… they were $0.25. I couldn’t resist. The Etnies sneakers are way too big too. They’ll either fit in a couple years or they’ll be for a future foster daughter.

A fall jacket for Precious and a warm winter coat that should fit her this year. It would work well for a boy or a girl. Not the cutest thing in the world, but again with the $0.25. I’m a sucker for a good deal.

1 Comment | Art, Art: fashion, Art: mcm thrift store find, Art: mid-century design | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt

« Previous Entries
Next Entries »