When Margie moved to Buffalo, New York, about a year ago, she purchased an 1960 original owner time-capsule house with lots of great features — including a full-service bar in the basement. Margie didn’t mess with any of the bones, but to make the space her own, she chose new paint colors, added vintage furniture and, our favorite part of this story: She connected with a seller of gorgeous vintage barkcloth to reupholster the furniture and make lots of pillows. What a fabulous space!
Margie writes:
This was a professional move for me, from Birmingham to Buffalo, and I’m pretty tired of moving! I just wanted to buy a house and call it a day! The housing market in Buffalo was a great perk.
The house was built in 1960. I live in an area of Buffalo, which happens to be chock-filled with these sort of “mid-century fancies.” Every house is a party house with a bar! The previous owner was a local builder and they were the original owners. The owner, in his nineties, was quite a character, right out of “Good Fellows.” This was quite a party house, with an additional kitchen in the basement for caterers to heat food. A few more details on my tiki bar – the actual bar means business. Beverage refrigerators, a second compressor in the basement, and a vented grill, in case I want to make burgers while I’m mixing drinks!
The room originally had white walls. I didn’t like the sharp contrast between the white walls and terra cotta tiles, it just struck me as wrong. This lead me to Sherwin Williams Invigorate Orange (6886). I’m thrilled with the results. I wanted something warm, enveloping, cozy, and tropical, against the background of the Buffalo snowscape.
The style of the home’s original barstools lead me to the Paul Frankl pretzel style chairs and table. It all came together when I found Florida Bungalow’s ebay Store> [affiliate link] — with an amazing collection of vintage barkcloth. He has an amazing eye, and it’s been awesome working with him.
I bought the barstools from the original owner. They have been reupholstered in a 50’s MCM take on fatigue modern. The print is called Congo and is a commercial grade silk shantung.
The Frankl chairs are upholstered in an MCM commercial silk shantung called design Yucatan — a marriage between two jungle prints Eames style. Even the boxed sides of the cushions are made from a never used solid green barkcloth with a crazy cosmic metallic gold thread streaming through it…recreating 1955 in current day!
Above: Pillows in 50s dancing palms barkcloth.
Above: The pillows on the bench are called “Pattern Doric” and are a kaleidoscope of abstract shapes that can make you question your sobriety! A barkcloth from 1950 and cut straight off the original bolt…paired with a warm chocolate solid barkcloth.
The table lamp, ashtrays, are all Royal Haeger. The planters are Gainey.
The African masks are from Ivory Coast, purchased in Cape Town.
We think that Margie’s eclectic tiki lounge decor works so well because she mostly kept her color palette controlled — that is — she limited it to a few key colors that she repeated throughout the space. The terra cotta-colored tiles that line the bar and sections of the wall, along with her warm-wood-toned floor and bamboo furniture were her fixed starting points. For this room to work, all of her color choices had to harmonize those elements and in particular with the coppery color of the tile. To start, the orange walls add brightness, but in a rich way and in the same color family. All of these colors are then repeated in her many barkcloth patterns, plus she’s dialed in rich chartreuse green and emerald green — [ red and green are opposites on the color wheel, so work well together ]. Even with a few deviations in this limited color palette — the aqua pottery and yellow planters — the room feels like a unified whole because Margie carefully controlled her palette. Beautifully done, Margie!
Margie, what an inviting space you have made. I love how you mixed in vintage barkcloth, plants and mementos. Thank you for sharing this inspiring space!
Diane says
I am weeping with jealousy!!!!!!!!!!!
Leesa says
Love the space…would love to see more of her mid century home!
Cynthia says
Really super, I love her timeless taste – it looks mid-century but totally current as well. Have lots of fun in your rec room (as we would have called it!) and I see a great family resemblance between Margie and her grandson!
Karen Bailey says
Brian Michael Walsh is a style genius — in addition to being a loving and very cool, humble gentleman.
brian says
Karen…YOU and your dear mother who I go back to 1986 with…are parts of my heart…I LOVE you! xo
brian says
What a great article! It was a pleasure working with Margie…she was so much fun! She steered her vision and has an amazing eye for what she loves and incorporating sentimental life long journey’s of art and nostalgic whimsy…we align with our love for pops of color…our lack of fear when it comes to the crazy coming together of color and pattern…not to mention she is one of the kindest humans on the planet 🙂 Florida Bungalow was happy to help put her stamp on her new home…and we look forward to a lifelong friendship with this kindred spirit…you can find Florida Bungalow on Ebay, Etsy, and Facebook under the name Florida Bungalow…where we not only have the largest collection of vintage barkcloth and period decorator textiles…but we also did all the commercial grade upholstery work and pillows…so if you are looking for the good stuff…exceptional custom work and a textile soul connection…give us a try 🙂 xoxoxo Brian aka the OZ behind Florida Bungalow!
Chris says
I had the same issue at my house with the white walls. I used Sherwin Williams Tiger Eye “Orange” for the same effect in my kitchen and office space. Really goes well with the dark colored beams in the house. Was thinking of setting up the office/spare room with a tiki theme. Looks like this settles it.
tailfin says
Another Buffalonian here. Love the bar and all that you’ve done, Margie! What a fantastic space! I wish I’d found a house with a bar; it’s always been one of my dreams, and so many of the homes here have them, although precious few are anywhere near as cool as yours.
Marilyn says
I absolutely love it…and the furniture and bark cloth are perfect too…what a great look…
Linda says
Perfect orange! The whole thing is great!
Mary says
Love love love!!