Watch the transformation of an MCR - our mid-century ranch

Watch the transformation of an MCR - our mid-century ranch
Built in 1957 as the model home for the development. 1796 sqft, 3 bedroom, 2 bath.

Saturday, April 30, 2011

The Days of Furniture and Roses


K and I recently discovered an auction house in a warehouse near where K works. They do a lot - and I do mean a lot - of mid-century furniture and housewares. So it was our first live auction experience together. And I have a feeling we might be hooked. Live auctions totally blow away this online stuff for excitement and heart racing bidding. K had her paddle paper thingy with our number [109] on it. She did the bidding. I was there to rip the thing away from her if she went a little nuts with it. Of course that did not happen as K is more frugal than I am so I didn't have to wrestle the paddle from her as some beloved lot's price began to rocket. Actually live bidding is a great place to get great deals as there were a lot of dealers there who planned on flipping the furniture for a profit.
We were primarily interested in two lots and ended up winning both! K is so proud of our record - 2-0 getting good prices all around.
Our main item that we won is the vanity / desk pictured above. It comes with a full length mirror [67" wide] but we probably will use the piece as a desk in the den. You can see the mirror in the picture above behind the desk to the left right in front of a 36" round piece of marble K picked up for a song that we will eventually turn into a table of sorts.


I love the wood handles on the desk - so hard to find them in good shape and irreplaceable.

The desk drawer has a secret deep back to it - a pleasant surprise that I didn't know about when we bought it.


We plan to rip out the countrified built-in desk and shelves. This is where our new desk will live and I will rebuild some shelves above the desk. It is always a shame to rip anything permanent out but the style simply doesn't work with what we are shooting for.

This is the other item we picked up - something that K really loves. It is more than a simple coffee table as the picture below aptly illustrates.

You can slide it open to expose a formica surface perfect for tasty cold beverages! What a genius design element. We had never seen that before. We paid up a tiny bit on this one as someone else at the auction also saw the magnificence of the piece but we are happy to have it.

Here is the cool 50s gray pattern.

A better shot of the full length mirror that we may re-appropriate as a wall mirror. You can see the marble top as well.

The roses have come in as well along the back side of the garage. We didn't plant them but we are glad to have them.




Some are quite beautiful - especially the orange ones.


The garden has also been planted and has started to come in nicely as we have had decent rain - little extra watering needed thus far.


Sedona is racked out after a long day being a cat in the cats' favorite dirt rolling patch. We refer to our beasts as 'schmutzmobiles' as they love to roll in dirt, especially Jerome, and then bring it in the house.

K relaxes after a long day in the yard.

Just a pretty picture.

The yard is coming along. Remember how our grass looked? Well check out how it looks now!

Niiiiiiiiiice.

I am thinking of making it into a putting green. Well, not really.

The other day I was folding laundry while watching the big game. Sedona chose to nap on the towel pile. The other clothes have been put away but Sedona's bedding is still in place days later as she sleeps there almost all day and night. I haven't the heart to put away her new happy spot.

Saturday, April 9, 2011

The Reading Nook [Again], a Light, and Two Acquisitions


K made this kicking footstool for the reading nook. I know I have been writing a lot about the nook lately but we really like the space and have been putting in time to get it together. It is an evolving process and will continue.

Here are some BEFORE shots of the footstool that K found in a little shop here in town.







As you can see it is pretty disgusting and lumpy.

So yours truly took his big ole knife and went to work on the thing to get it ready for restoration.




Now it just needs a final cleaning and it will be ready for the K magic to take place. K's magic is protected by copyright or some such legalize so there are no images of the process. So enjoy the results.

Oh yeah, we also put in a shelf in the reading nook.

Behold the footstool in all its restored glory!




Our latest art acquisition:

One night K and I were watching American Pickers and they had this guy on there named Butch Anthony who made funky art and collected oddball things that the pickers dug. Well we dug it too and thanks to this newfangled invention called the internet we found some stuff from him and broke the ice. He has these cool modified paintings where he draws in the skeletons. Ours is an antique photo. We love it. Check him out!
Butch Anthony's Museum of Wonder
Some of his Artwork on Etsy.



We put up a new light fixture in the kitchen. Nothing too fancy but not bad for a $1 find at a yard sale.


Before:


AFTER:




Our latest yard sale acquisition:

Not bad for $20 - and it comes with a mirror. It needs a little bit of polishing but should be rocking out somewhere sometime soon. Jerome is fascinated by our latest find.