Retro Renovation» accessories

Rya rugs — 15 designs from 1964, plus a great video on the history of rya rugs and how to make them

pam kueber — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 08:30:06 +0000

I saw my friend Denise yesterday — she is fairy godmother of my Astro — and she had some goodies for me that she had picked up at tag sales and her local thrift shop. My favorite, for sure: A booklet containing 15 designs for rya rugs, dated December 1964, from the A.s. Sellgren @ Co. of Trondheim, Norway. Thank you, Denise! When I arrived back home, I jumped online to see what I could find out about rya rugs — since there is always a history to fascinate.

Sure enough, I quickly made the the happy discovery of a terrific video (above) featuring Melinda Byrd. According to this newspaper article, Ms. Byrd’s “grandparents Bill and Angelina Lundgren created Lundgren Rya in the U.S. in the mid-1950s. The Lundgrens made the hand-knotted rugs by importing rya yarn and woven rug backings from a Swedish distributor.” Byrd was involved in the 1970s, and today is calling attention to rya rug making again. In the video, she explains the history of rya rugs — and shows how they are made. It was well worth the 10 minutes to watch this video — it really gives me a new appreciation for this beautiful — and functional — art form.
What I find most interesting about rya rugs — or at least, Wikipedia says so — is that they originally were designed as clothing, as a substitute for animal skins. Animal skins got stiff, the ryas did not. Ryas certainly look cozy. I also love Melinda’s instructions on how to clean a natural wool rya: by stomping it in the snow!

I think it is a safe guess that rya rugs became popular as decorative items — and as carpets — in mid-20th century America in conjunction with rise of Danish Modern and in general, all things Scandinavian. Apparently, their hegemony was derailed when women began making latch hook rugs. (Honestly, I need to research the differences…)

Melinda still has yarns that were created for her grandparents’ company. She sells them at her etsy shop here.

Tips to using the slide show above: Click on the first thumbnail… it will enlarge… move forward or back using the arrows below the image… you can stop, or start, at any image.

Back to my collection…Each of the 15 designs was printed then mounted to a hefty green stock paper (as shown above) printed with the name of the design. Total size of each piece is 7″x10″ and they are so graphically appealing that I am going to look for 15 matching frames and display them all together in a grid. For those of you looking for cheap, cheerful and unique artwork, this is always a fun idea to try. That is: Look for prints from a book or a display catalog like mine and group and frame them. There is something very pleasing about the repetition of prints illustrating one subject area, all in the same size, all in the same frame. Of course, “cheap” is only possible if you can find the frames in the quantity you require. Pier One might be one of the first-places I’d look first for, gasp, 15 frames! Michael’s, Wal-Mart, Target, and Dick Blick’s are other places I would look.

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Breaking news: Crestview Doors introduces 6 decorative, midcentury-style wall screens / room dividers

pam kueber — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 17:46:02 +0000

This news just out: Crestview Doors announced just this morning that they have introduced six styles of mid-century inspired decorative wall screens to the market.

“Redi-Screens™ may be used as doors, partitions, or room dividers, but it is their striking and luxurious look that sets them apart from anything else on the market,” says Christiane Erwin, President and CEO of Crestview Doors. “Crestview Doors recognizes the demand for home décor that is functional and classically beautiful. Redi Screens™ can separate spaces and create privacy while enhancing the overall visual aesthetic of the interior landscape.”

Crestview — which is well known for its doorlite kits — launched the new line today. These pre-assembled decorative screens feature six modern patterns inspired by vintage textile designs. They are made in Austin, Texas — carved into stain-grade maple and bound by hand into a maple frame. Redi-Screens™ are available for purchase at Crestview’s website and start at $213.00 each.

Redi-Screens™ may be ordered online in any of three standard widths (24”, 28”, 32”) and two standard heights (80”, 96”). Each screen measures 1-3/8” deep and, if privacy is required, also can be ordered with a translucent resin backing that transmits light yet offers full privacy. Redi-Screens™ can be installed as sliding doors, pocket doors, articulating doors, room partitions, room dividers, hanging or mounted screens.

I also asked owner Christiane Erwin for more of the “back story” about how this product came about. She writes:

“Sure! The story is kind of fun, actually.

There was a mid-century homes tour here in Austin in 2008, hosted by the Heritage Society, and they were hosting lectures on MCM architecture and interior design in conjunction with the tour. David (my husband and co-owner of Crestview Doors) attended a lecture by Dwayne Johnson, executive director of the Galveston Historic Foundation, and was intrigued by a photo of sliding wood room dividers with a unique organic pattern. (Later an antiques appraisal would suggest they were a Herman Miller design; we have never been able to verify this claim.)

Dwayne allowed David to digitize a version of the pattern hoping for an opportunity to reproduce it someday. In fact, Dwayne hoped to have the screens reproduced for his own 1960’s-era home, but soon after we began to gather the materials for the project, Dwayne’s coastal home was destroyed by Hurricane Rita.

Here is the digitized version of Dwayne’s photo:

When customer Celeste Poston approached us about putting period-appropriate doors on her wet bar, we sent her a few mockups, and she chose this pattern. Here is the before/after shot:

She loved them so much that she came back to us later to request additional doors for her media room. Here are the photos:

Of course, we were floored by the results and so were our fans! They told us that they needed screens like this too: to be used as hinged room dividers, sliding doors, or mounted space separators. We decided to offer the option of a white resin backing for uses where privacy is a concern (we’re replacing our own bathroom and closet doors with the “Casbah” pattern, for example).

Standard sizes are available on the website, but you know how retro homes are – everything was custom created back then, so we offer custom sizes when “standard” just won’t do. We can’t wait to see how people use them!

Christiane

Thank you, Christiane — and good luck with the new-product launch — I think this fills a real niche in our mid century marketplace today.

Disclosure: Crestview Doors is currently an advertiser. This story was not part of the deal, though.

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1950s-inspired metal side tables from Urban Outfitters

pam kueber — Sat, 21 May 2011 08:30:17 +0000

Everywhere I look I see vintage retro mid-century inspired everything. These little tables are from Urban Outfitter’s summer catalog. They are 16″wide, 10″ deep, and 22″ tall — a nice little size for a variety of tasks, such as: bathroom storage (tuck it next to the toilet)… plant holder by a window… side table on the porch… or – ? The first few customer reviews indicate they are pretty sturdy — they look it. And of course, the colors are wonderful. They are $49 plus shipping, available online only. Urban also has some other cutie petutie painted metal shelves and things – like the bow shelf, at the right – available in black or white, for $19. Of course, you can also always keep your eyes peeled for the real-deal vintage — there’s a lot of this around and it spray paints up nicely.

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