VINTAGE THROW PILLOWS COMING SOON

I am excited to share a sneak peak of my new line of throw pillows all constructed of vintage mid-century fabrics.  Full details and lots of pics coming soon!

NEW PROJECT PHOTOS

I am happy to share photos of my latest home renovation completed with the RENU Crew, a fantastic renovation and real estate company in Salt Lake City.

I love renovating mid-century homes that had undergone some poorly thought-through changes sometime in the 70s or 80s.  It is very satisfying demo'ing avocado or mustard kitchen cabinets in order to make way for a cleaner, more true modernism.  Not to mention shag carpeting.

This is such a project, a house with great mid-century bones that needed some updating and restoring.  I think the results are fantastic, with a large open-plan living space clad with rich, bold materials set against clean white walls.

All the bathrooms were gutted as well; expanding them where possible and keeping all materials fresh and light with accents of rich charcoal and black to add some punch and depth.

The basement was completely finished, with a fantastic media room-

And the best part of this project is that it is now on the market!  Anyone looking for a new home?  Check out the listing here!

BACK TO WORK

Back to work after a great 2 weeks with the family in Norway.  Just dropped off this beauty with a few others that will temporarily reside in Kansas City at the MM Property Management & Remodeling showroom and offices until they find a permanent home with a loving owner (I suspect this one will find a home pretty quick)  :)  Thanks for sharing the pic Tori-Megan Jarquio​, fab interior designer at MMPMR!  Contact me if you want a viewing in person or more info!

MATCHING PAIR OF OFFICE CHAIRS ANYONE?

A great find over the holidays, a pair of classic Mid-Century Modern office chairs from Canada. I have not done too much research on these yet, but seems the Doerner company had an affiliation with the Eames' at some point and possibly supplied them with some hardware.  Exciting!

 These currently have brass bases with black metal wheel covers, all original, late 1960s.  The bases could be refinished stainless steel or remain brass...still deciding on that one.  The fabric absolutely needs a refresh, but otherwise they are in great shape.  Looking forward to finding the perfect fabric to make this pair much more sophisticated!  Let me know if you would like additional information or want to purchase... and stay tuned for the great unveiling after their transformation!

FAB WEEKEND FIND

I am so happy to have nabbed this lovely little Mid-Mod side chair over the weekend!  It is perfect for a desk chair or mix-and-match dining chairs.  I cannot wait to find the perfect fabric for the seat and bring the wood back to life with some gentle cleaning and finishing.  I love the sweep of the legs and very 'space-age' cutout in the back.

LITTLE CUTIE COMPLETED!

When a good friend and client of mine (and fellow mid-mod lover) found this adorable little accent chair I knew we needed to find a great fabric to bring it back to life so it could occupy a prime location in her living room.  The lines are fantastic, the overall shape very classic, and wood in perfect condition.  While many a fabric option flew around, we both continually gravitated to a classic 50s weave with lots of texture.  While I love to update mid-century chairs with a more contemporary fabric, this one just seemed to need something a bit more of its day.

The original fabric did nothing to enhance the chair frame, making the entire chair seem orange and just plain dated and boring.  We decided to go cooler to contrast the frame and really show off the wood, and also work in with the living room gray-blue walls, furniture and accents.  The beauty of this particular fabric is that the weave incorporates a warm neutral into the blues, really making the chair feel whole.  I am so happy with the way it turned out, thanks to my great client for the opportunity to refresh this great little piece of modern furniture history!

Here is the before-

 





















And the after-

TWO CHROME-PLATED THAYER COGGIN BEAUTIES

I was so thrilled to be able to work with a client lucky enough to receive this amazing pair of Thayer Coggin '1966 Classic Lounge' chairs from a friend who was unable to use them anymore.  My client absolutely needed to replace the worn and dated pink fabric they had been upholstered in, but the chrome finish on the frame was in excellent condition.  And that polished chrome is what really made these pop.

The chairs before-

Originally designed in 1966 (hence the name) for the company Thayer Coggin, this metal framed lounge chair epitomizes furniture designer Milo Baughman's highly evolved sense of mid-century design style.  Baughman designed many an iconic mid-century piece, however, never had the same name recognition as the Eames or Corbusier or the like, quite undeservedly.  Despite this fact, his pieces are still highly desirable, still being produced by Thayer Coggin (see all his pieces in production here), and this same chair has even been picked up by the likes of Crate & Barrel-

The same lounger also has a strong presence on 1stdibs-

Some of his other designs also sell quite well (although I must admit I am partial to the 1966 chair)-

For this pair, both myself and my client felt strongly we wanted a fabric that would nod to the period when these chairs were first designed, as well as firmly root them in a contemporary and more eclectic space.  After a few tries, this Kravet fabric (30620 from the Kravet Smart line) just struck the right balance.  Now these pop not only because of the frame, but also because of this killer (yet sophisticated, almost art deco) 'ode to the swinging-sixies' fabric as well.  So excited to show them off!

UPDATE ON MY MID-MOD PAIR...A MADMEN-ESQUE DESIGN STORY CONTINUES

I was so excited when a fellow interior designer told me he was moving and needed to sell two mid-mod chairs he salvaged from an old office space in Salt Lake City.  They were most likely used as guest chairs in the exec. offices or in the reception area.  I quickly snatched them up, and while they both needed some minor repairs, as well as some cosmetic updating, I knew they had great potential.  The first cosmetic change that had to be made was stripping the incredibly heavy-handed polyurethane, high-gloss, almost bullet-proof varnish that had been applied to the wood.  Surely this finish helped these look great over the years of heavy corporate office use, but it just had to go.  It looked as though they had been painted brown.  Not acceptable.

After stripping the wood back to its natural state, it was stained dark walnut (just a bit richer than the natural wood, and similar to the original finish in color) and sealed with a light satin finish which let the wood grain show and really enhanced the look of the chairs overall.  Now they felt as though they were made of real wood, not plastic.

The other plastic element that had to go was the vinyl upholstery that stuck to you while sitting.  After reviewing several options (see options and ideas behind the final selection in this past post), I settled on this Trina Turk fabric, almost as bullet-proof as vinyl but a whole lot nicer to sit on and enjoy.

I always enjoy looking for comparable pieces when I come upon a great piece like these, so I scanned 1stdibs.com to see if I could find anything similar, and I was very pleasantly surprised to find these listed -

I was also thrilled to find similar pieces on the set of MadMen-

So my pair have been officially dubbed 'Don & Roger', in my opinion a very appropriate nod to their corporate history (even if Salt Lake City is not quite Madison Ave.)  They are currently available to purchase here.

And now I am so excited to have these two on display at a Clearwater Homes Model Home in Salt Lake City!

Their Cardiff model is the current residence of Don & Roger, thanks to fab interior designer Danielle Robinson and her new designer showroom Lake City Loft.  I am so excited to see more pics of Don & Roger in-situ, I always feel such shots add another dimension.  Thanks so much Danielle, the model looks amazing!