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Happy new year, everyone. BE SAFE.
The 3 most common questions: On tile, on plumbing fixtures, on steel kitchen cabinets
Posted by: • December 30, 2011
The three most common questions I get via email, and sometimes in random places on the blog are:
- Where can I find replacement bathroom tile?
- Where can I sell, or buy, vintage sinks, toilets, tubs — and how about pricing?
- Where can I sell, or buy, vintage steel kitchen cabinets — and how about pricing?
These are all already answered within the blog, but here’s a round-up on where to find these answers… and answers to common questions, in general. Heck yeah there is more →
Map of New York City — on a vinyl floor — in Tarkett’s new Ambiente line
Posted by: • December 29, 2011
How fun is this? Resilient sheet flooring printed to look like a street map of New York City.
Novelty designs like this can be great for an office, playroom, mudroom or laundry room — in particular, when you can span the room in one piece — this product comes in 12′ widths. This New York City streetscape design is part of Tarkett’s FiberFloor Ambiente line – introduced in 2011 — which has some other designs that reflect current trends, as well. Like:
Red and white checkerboard floor — where to find it
Posted by: • December 28, 2011
Here is a flooring question that keeps coming up:
Where can I buy a red-and-white checkerboard floor?
While I know of at least three suppliers of black-and-white checkerboard flooring that comes in big, wide one-piece vinyl sheets, the only way I know to do red-and-white checkerboard is to use individual tiles. Heck yeah there is more →
Revco Bilt-In refrigerators — 17 pages of designs from 1956
Posted by: • December 27, 2011
Vintage Revco Bilt-In refrigerators and freezes are the “holy grail” of refrigerators from the 1950s and 1960s, more even than the vintage GEs constructed like wall cabinets and even more than the Kelvinator Foodarama. Is this correct, you readers who are stalking them and so much more knowledgeable than me… who can name vintage fridges and their model years like car guys name cars? Here for your retro research pleasure is are 17 pages of a Revco catalog from 1958, which I scooped up know that we had some Revco fans out there. Here for your retro research pleasure is are 17 pages of a Revco catalog from 1958, which I scooped up know that we had some Revco fans out there. Heck yeah there is more →
10 tablescapes by David Hicks — inventor of the term
Posted by: • December 26, 2011
Used with permission The Estate of David Hicks
My spotlight on the essential mid-century decorator David Hicks continues with: Tablescapes. David Hicks not only did beautiful tablescape, he invented the word. He had a philosophy about tablescapes, and I adore it. Quoted in an interview in The Independent, he said:
My passion for arranging masses of things together is part of the way I see objects and use them. It not only looks mean, but is visually meaningless, to have one bottle of gin, one of whisky, a couple of tonic water and a soda syphon on a table in the living-room, even though that might be perfectly adequate for the needs of one evening’s entertainment.
It is perhaps I who have made tablescapes – objects arranged as landscapes on a horizontal surface – into an art form; indeed, I invented the word . . . What is important is not how valuable or inexpensive your objects are, but the care and feeling with which you arrange them. I once bought six inexpensive tin mugs in Ireland and arranged them on a chimneypiece to create an interesting effect in a room which otherwise lacked objects. They stood there in simple perfection.
How to learn to do this? Stare at photos, study and analyze them. Then practice a lot . Fortunately, we have nine more David Hicks tablescapes to help get the studying started — yes, “Simple Perfection” –> Heck yeah there is more →
Merry Mamie (Eisenhower) Christmas 2011
Posted by: • December 22, 2011
Happy happy, merry merry, everyone. I have a punch list about a mile long to get ready for Christmas, so I’m clocking out and will be back with more retro escapades on Dec. 26. Above: A precious Christmas card made by Hallmark for Mamie Eisenhower in 1960. All images in this post courtesy The Eisenhower National Historic Site.
David Hicks neckties for Brittania, 1971
Posted by: • December 21, 2011
Since watching Jessi Arrington’s video, I have decided to see if I can buy only vintage clothes. I have gone on several Goodwill scouring trips so far, and hands down, my best find was this men’s necktie by the famous interior designer David Hicks. In fact, this tie is what launched me on my recent research and story David Hicks: Definitive Online Guide.
Look! An archive photo of David Hicks (right) on a TV show (who knows the host?) showing off his line of neckties! Photo used with permission of The Estate of David Hicks.
“My tie” has a copyright date of 1971. Labels: Brittania and B. Altman. And get this: The fabric — which seems to be a typical David Hicks style design — a tight, bold geometric, no milquetoast here — is “RR.” RR = Retro Renovation, get it? The price for this wonderful piece of wearable history, in perfect shape? The Retro Decorating Gods were smiling upon me: $1. Heck yeah there is more →
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