It is very satisfying to see vintage goodies that we feature find a welcome spot in appreciative readers’ homes. So we were happy to hear from Hannah, who purchased three NOS boxes of decorative 1970s mirror tiles from among a large stash that Pam spotted on etsy last year. Hannah used them to cover a dividing wall in her entry way — with groovalicious results.
I bought one box when the article first hit Retro Renovation. I wasn’t sure how or where we were going to use them, we tossed around a lot of options, but nothing that 12 tiles would really work for. I’ve kept the seller’s item on my watch list all this time as she had more available. I think it was late September 2013 when I bought my second box, then 3 weeks later my third. We’d done the measurements and decided the wall for the tiles would be the dividing wall between the living room entry and the kitchen.
Not sure if you can tell from this picture, but our baseboards are quite high at 7″. We’re going to finish off the top with something similar in style in an attempt to “frame” the mirrors.
I am absolutely in LOVE with the outcome of this wall! I look at it every day in amazement at the dimension it adds to our small living room. Thanks, Pam, for always giving us a heads up of what’s out there for us Retro fans to finish off our dream homes/rooms. And thank you also, for caring about Mid-Century “Modest”… which exemplifies my little 825 s.f. 1961 Ranch.
Hannah, you’ve really outdone yourself. That partial wall between your entry and kitchen was a great place for these mirrored tiles to land. You’re right — this feature adds interest, texture and dimension to your space. Also of note, the way the diamond pattern in the tiles mirrors the windows on your entry door. Repetition is one of the key factors of thoughtful design. Bravo on a job well done — and thanks so much for sharing your results with all of us.
Check out New Old Stock mirror tiles left in etsy seller cosasrara’s stash.
Robin, NV says
Ooh I love this. Love the coppery color. Love the front door. The tiles add a little splash of panache to the entry.
hannah says
Hi Robin – the copper diamond tiles were sure not my first choice. I was dead set on gold vein. But, you know the above story and I’ve now fallen in love with them. It’s really warmed up the room. We (after TWO YEARS) have still not gotten around to painting the living room, and the wall decor is not where I really want it…so hopefully it will all come together while the Mr. is ‘off’ work for the winter (he paints homes for a living), here in Maine.
The poor front door, lovely as it is is severely weather worn and I am continually bombarded by the Mr. to get a metal door (uggh). I keep fighting that. I want to either restore this door (hollow at that) or get a retro replica. We butt heads when it comes to function vs aesthetics. I still have my original door, so for now – I win! 😉
oh Holland says
Can we see more of your kitchen too? Captivated by the duo-tone cabinets!
hannah says
Hi Holland – I’m so flattered you want to see more of my modest little kitchen!
This house was a foreclosure that had been sitting empty for 2 years. It had seen better days (I’m the 3rd owner, but the second owner rented it out for a spell and it got a bit baffed out/neglected between these two residents) but our inspector said someone really loved this house and took great care of it overall (that would be the first owners, whom I’ve got a line on researching as I found one of their family friends online).
The kitchen cabinets were all painted over the same bleak color, which just happened to perfectly match the darker tile of the floor I had laid. I was really itchy to get the kitchen to a state where it’s personality could come through. Mr. Wonderful stripped the doors and drawer fronts but thought it too big a job to do the rest so we decided to paint. Every time I’d visit Home Depot or Lowe’s I could not find the ‘perfect’ color of aqua I wanted. I then held up a vintage salt shaker I have that has an aqua cap and said to Mr. Wonderful, THIS is the color I want. It was then that I learned you could take such things in to HD and have them match the color. EUREKA!!! lol
I’ll try to get some pics uploaded over the weekend and post back here if you’re really interested. In the mean time, here’s a link to what I moved in to:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v12/hannahpatricia/East%20Bridge%20Street/Kit2.jpg
Mary Elizabeth says
Oh, dear, oh, dear! You have certainly warmed the place up big time! Fantastic job, Hannah and Mr. Wonderful.
JKaye says
The mirrored wall looks fresh and attractive, and perfect in that location. That big opening between the living room and kitchen also helps showcase the mirrored wall. A framed-in door between the two rooms would seem like a competing element. Maybe you could find a mod fabric with a diamond or lattice pattern for the valance over the kitchen sink.
hannah says
Thank you, JKaye!! I love that the opening between the living room and kitchen is not just a small doorway. I’ve amused myself with small giggles over these two years that for this small of a footprint home, this must’ve been considered somewhat of an ‘open’ floor plan. I think you called that one, if it had a small doorway, it would not look near as appealing.
The valance I have over the kitchen sink represents the first sewing I’ve done in about 18 years and is vintage boomerang bark-cloth purchased from Etsy. I have 2 more panels of the same fabric to do the windows over the kitchen table…but working full time, then chores on the weekend – yeah, that’s not happened yet! lol
Eartha Kitsch says
Absolutely perfect for that spot. Definitely brings the drama that an entry should have!
hannah says
Thank you Eartha, that is a high compliment coming from you. 🙂
Mary Elizabeth says
Hannah, your mirrored wall is amazing! It really does define the entry way. Also love your Simpson (?) door–looks like one of their styles.
Compliments to Mr. Wonderful for the installation job, and you for being patient.
In my experience, putting a towel or small quilt on a chair does not keep the cats off. It is an invitation to them. “Oh, look, my person made another bed for me to nap in!” And congratulations for keeping that plant going. I had to laugh when I saw your cat eying it, because this morning I just trimmed one of my few remaining plants of the dead leaves that had been chewed by my kitties. Keeping plants and cats in the same house is, as Samuel Johnson said of second marriages, “the triumph of hope over experience.”
Your kitchen looks like one I used to have in a 1970s condo, in which we painted the badly damaged wood cabinets a gray blue and refinished the cabinet doors in light wood. It gives a kind of country French feel to the kitchen alongside the mid modern. Would love to see the whole thing, if you could post a link to the photo.
hannah says
Good evening from Maine, Mary Elizabeth –
Thank you!
What’s interesting about living on the east coast (I was raised in Los Angeles, and spent 12 years before coming here in San Diego) is that people don’t really use their front doors. They use the side doors/storm porch entries. So this ‘entry’ will most likely never see me greating guests or saying goodbye to them for the evening. lol
The covers we keep on the sofa and chairs are SO the cats can lay on them and not get hair on the cushions. Alas, when a cat chooses to sit where Maggie is perched the towel sags and her fur gets on the cushion in spite of any effort. *sigh* And Maggie is not one of our plant destroyers. That would be our male cats Buddy, and to a lesser degree, Aspen. She’s just on a perch and meditating on whatever cats meditate on. 😉 I LOVE the Samuel Johnson quote! I own an online missing cat forum and am always looking for things to share with the members. That’s a good one.
Oh, if you read a previous reply and see the link I shared about the condition of the kitchen when I bought the house – oy vey. I think someone must’ve made the color choices during the 80’s when “Southwestern” decor was totally en vogue. Ugghhh…when some friends came over to help me scrub and clean everything prior to move in I found the paint samples – how anyone could choose those and think “YES!!” I do not know. And yes, I still have those samples saved. It’s part of the history of this house.
I’ll try and find a good picture of the kitchen in it’s current state, or take some over the weekend (depending on it’s condition of dirty dishes, etc – lol). I don’t know how often people revisit these posts unless you’ve ticked “subscribe to this entry” at the bottom of the page (when you make a post).
Thank you for your very kind post. <3
Jay says
Your kitty looks like she is contemplating chewing on the plant which is what my cat would be thinking. The mirrored wall looks very nice, will help to spread light around. The space behind front doors can be a dark hole. Nice pole light floor lamp.
hannah says
Jay, I didn’t realize it until you said so, but that wall was always a ‘dead zone’ visually. For the first 2 years we were here I had a huge cabinet on that wall that held my PC. That didn’t help. Plus, there was just enough room to get out the door in case of emergency. Not good!
The mirrors help that space so much. And that’s Maggie. She’s one of our cats who is NOT a plant eater. She’s just meditating on sleeping. 😉
hannah says
Oh, and the floor lamp. Got that for $15 at a flea market in Brunswick, Maine. Had been looking for years on eBay and Etsy and just couldn’t justify prices, shipping without having seen in person for the cost. It’s exactly like one my parents had in the 60’s save for this one has a finale. All this one needed was a good cleaning with Windex and some wood polish – looked brand new. 🙂
Jay says
Oh yes! The thrill of the hunt! Great Buy!!! If something like that turned up in my neck of the woods – $$$$$.
hannah says
I was blown away. Two young men with a booth had it marked at $20, all Mr. Wonderful did was ask, “You take $15 for that?” And they gladly did! I am NOT a haggler, and $20 was plenty reasonable to me! lol
A friend from HS that I hadn’t seen for 30 years came to visit this summer from Los Angeles. He saw my Heywood-Wakefield bedroom suite (head/foot-board, two night stands, two dressers – tall and low, and mirror) and said “That would be 6K in Los Angeles – I got the entire suite for $600 from the original owner (craigslist). 😀
There’s not a whole lot of resources for MCM here in southern Maine – but usually when you find it it’s at a reasonable price. There’s one ‘flea’ market that knows what they have and charge accordingly. I don’t typically shop there. 😉
Jenny A. says
Hannah, it looks fantastic!! What a great project.
hannah says
Thank you Jenny! I’d say it took him about 3 days to do. First testing the ‘goop’ he bought to adhere it to the wall (I can find out what it was, but it came in a tube with a narrow nozzle and was clear) doing just the bottom row then letting that set up. The next night I got home he had two more rows added. Then the next night, DONE! I was STOKED!!
I’d been shopping for at least 10 years on eBay off and on for mirror tiles. It was very depressing as all the prices were outrageous then think about the shipping! I tried Craigslist, and THEN I found Retro Renovation and low and behold she linked us to the fab seller on Etsy.
I think my first choice would be the gold vein tiles, but the more I admire the warm color of these, I’m happy. 🙂
Janet in CT says
Hannah, looks wonderful! I too would have gone nutty wiating for it to set. Isn’t it neat how sometimes everything just all seems to fall in place?! Great job and love your kitty cat!
hannah says
Thank you, Janet. I too have a *mild* love of harlequin pattern. The repeat patterns were not intentional, but it happens to have worked out well. I love my little kitchen as well. It’s just big enough for two senior citizens and 3 cats….well, sometimes the cats tails suffer but we try to be careful!
Now that you mention it, it does look like it could be original to the house!
Kkmk says
This looks great! When I first saw the photo I thought the mirror was original.
hannah says
Hi Kkmk –
Thanks!
My reply was misdirected to Janet, it never occurred to me that the wall might end up looking original to the house, but now that you mention it, it really does!
hannah says
Thanks for the compliments, Kate! And to Pam and Kate for the feature of this fabulous mirrored wall!
Mr. Wonderful, who installed it would not let me clean it for a week so it could ‘set up’. That killed me a little each day because I was dying to get some pictures to send to RR.
We noticed the pattern connecting to the door windows, then we noticed the kitchen floor pattern, THEN you can’t see it but I have plates hanging on the kitchen wall and one has that criss cross pattern, AND on the wall behind that little bamboo plant, I have two jester plaques that are in the diamond shape. We had to laugh. 😀
Hey Pam, recognize the towel on the chair (supposedly there to keep the cat hair off the furniture which you can see is doing a wonderful job – lol)??
xx
oo
hannah