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

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.

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Posted by mahlbrandt

Heads Up

03/27/2012

Since there weren’t any good estate sales posted this weekend, Jason and I stopped by a few of our favorite vintage stores. We bought a headboard and a footboard. Sadly, no side beams so we’ll be on the look out for something that will work, or we’ll just build a frame. We’ve been searching for a queen size MCM bed frame for a while. They’re pretty hard to come by. A whole matching bedroom set? Even more rare unless you’re willing to pay a lot. And we’re not. We got this set for $45. Now we’ll be hunting for walnut nightstands to match and perhaps a chest of drawers, too. (This guy will move into one of the kid’s rooms in the new house.)

It’s definitely mid-century style and looks like walnut veneer, though there is no maker mark on it. It was a bit tricky to photograph because it was rainy on Saturday but here it is. I’ll get some better photos once we have it assembled into a bed, which honestly may not happen until we move into our yet-to-be-built house. The unmade bed and green carpet I’m attempting to blur out is our room at my parents’ house where we’re staying until then.

Also at Pre to Post Modern, where we found the bed, I spotted these roller skates and I had a moment. I used to have a pair just like this when I was little! I remember learning to skate in our unfinished basement, making laps around and around the staircase. Man, I wish these had been my size…

I took this photo for a friend who was looking for a retro yellow dining table. Turns out they already found one. If anyone in Nashville is looking for one, this was around $265 at Pre to Post Modern.

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

IKEA 2012

08/18/2011

Have you looked through the IKEA 2012 catalog yet? I’ve skimmed but I haven’t had a chance to give it a thorough inspection yet. (I do that when I get the paper copy.) If you have, are you excited about any of the new products? I was intrigued and challenged by the Small Spaces video series.

I noticed that our SOMNAT crib went down $20 in price.

I’d love to have this poster…

Other than that nothing jumped out at me but I really enjoy browsing through the catalog every year. In several places IKEA succeeded in making these spaces look real and lived in. I love this. It’s a nice change from staged, perfect catalog images.

2 Comments | Art, Art: graphic design, Art: interior design, Art: modern design | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt

Imitation Outfitters

07/05/2010

If you have lots of money, don’t care about American-made quality, want new things or don’t have time for vintage and thrift shopping but you like mid-century modern design … Urban Outfitters is just what you need! They’ve got some great looking mid-century inspired designs. Let’s see …

There is the Night and Day Convertible Sofa …

And the Mid-Century Rocker Chair. I want this! I would gladly accept an authentic vintage mid-century version but if all else fails, this will do.

There’s this Mid-Century Sofa.

Manchester Media Stand for your record player and records, of course. (Or books and a lamp.) Lovely peg/cone legs.

A 36″ Round Woven Mixed Rug that would have looked right at home at grandma’s house.

I love this printed 50’s Birdcage Duvet Cover but I’m not sure I’d want it on my bed.

And a 70’s Clock. If you’ve ever been to my house, you know I love clocks! Every room has one. Some rooms have two. I need more rooms!

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

Third Life

06/28/2010

On Saturday, Jason and I finally tackled the job of upholstering the mid-century chair we got at the TN52 Yard Sale. We’ve never upholstered before so it was pretty intimidating. Turns out this chair has been reupholstered once before (hence, the 3rd life.)  Here’s the chair how we bought it (for $5):

Amazingly, we only got frustrated with each other one time. That’s pretty good considering it took us about 8 hours. It wasn’t technically hard just time consuming. It was very much like a puzzle. Jason told someone yesterday that we do projects together— that’s how we avoid marriage counseling.

I’m so thankful I got just enough fabric (4 yards) from IKEA a few weeks ago. I think there might even be enough to do a few throw pillows for the couch.

I took these pictures before we were 100% done. We’re going to add 2 buttons to the back before we can tack the last piece of fabric onto the back. We’re really pleased with how it came out and I think it was worth all the sleep we sacrificed this weekend!

5 Comments | Art, Art: crafts, Art: interior design, Art: mid-century design | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
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