Retro Renovation» Exterior

DIY midcentury modern mailbox post and address sign — Gabe explains how

pam kueber — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 15:50:27 +0000

The crowning glories of Gabe and Amanda’s 1954 midcentury marvelous house may well be those groovalicious mid mod mailbox, mailbox post and address name sign. Gabe did most of the work on these pieces himself, so I asked him if he could tell us how he made it and he quickly responded:

Sure! The lamp post was here already but.. 7 years ago I worked at a sign shop and learned how to make sandblasted 3- dimentional signs out of high density urethane… “Sign Foam” …

I still have access to the materials a couple friends with the software set up. essentially you design your sign on the computer then your design is computer cut (or hand cut) onto a thin adhesive backed rubber…you stick it to the piece of H.D.U. you have already cut to the desired shape and primed.. you peel away the part of the design that you want the sand to blast away. Then carefully sandblast , peel away the rubber, sand, primer again then paint to match your house or whatever your design dictates…

I found the mailbox at its original location, one county over… I asked the owner, “If I buy you a new mailbox and put it up for you, can I have your old one?” He said, “Sure.” So I went to Lowes, bought him a box, went back and finished the job. I sent the old box to a friend’s auto body shop to smooth it out and patch the rust… so after much delliberation about the design of the mailbox stand… I drew it out ‘to scale’ on a huge piece of paper. Next I found the right size square steel tubing to match the design. Then, with some help from my Dad, who is a retired welder and metal fabricator… We got it all welded together and the rest was just my priming painting, installing my little cut out, brushed gold diamonds. Then putting it in the ground and attaching the completed mailbox. I can make these signs for others, privately out of my home.. It’s another one of my art interests lol.. sign posts too.. but mine is the only diamond one I’ll ever do! The angles were such a pain!!!

Notice on the pics, more diamonds inside the house (brushed alum.) and…

…big diamond accents I made out of cypress then painted and added to the exterior with the brushed gold center pieces… just like the mailbox stand…

Thank you, Gabe — your attention to detail is amazing. And, I always love doing post posts tee hee. Yes, readers: Repeat your principal (principle?) shapes throughout your house. The Retro Decorating Gods will be pleased. xoxo

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How to stain concrete: Great DIY video global premier + My ideas on Jane’s driveway

pam kueber — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 08:30:29 +0000

We received lots of reader comments — 84 so far — when Jane asked how to improve her driveway covered with pinky-gray concrete pavers. I promised I’d be back with my thoughts on the issue. Summing them up: It would be a cold, cold day in Don Mills before I could ever imagine tearing out a fully functional — heck, a more functional — $30,000 driveway to replace it with a $15,000 driveway for aesthetic reasons. Yes, I think that pavers likely make for a better driveway because, as numerous commenters pointed out, they are permeable (allow for water to seep through rather than contribute to wash out) and they also are resistant to freeze-thaw cycles. Okay, so the pink pavers are not aesthetically to Jane’s liking. What would I do? The big answer: Stain the concrete pavers — and I was able to get a great video posted onto YouTube so we could all learn how to stain concrete. Continue on for four ideas, in all, for Jane’s driveway, along with the video and links to Rust-Oleum’s concrete stain products.

Readers had great ideas, and I read through them all several times. Which ones would I consider, if the driveway were mine?

(1) First, I loved Jacy’s comment suggesting to take out the big concrete “railroad tie” edging pieces, they are calling too much attention to the driveway. She said:

Okay, here’s a twist to what everyone has been saying. Yes, I understand you don’t like the pavers, but honestly, I don’t think it is the pavers that are the problem. The brickwork is fantastic, but it’s the edging of the driveway I have a BIG issue with. The EDGING of your driveway is demanding all the attention away from the house.

WIth it being a RAISED, STRAIGT edging, the driveway is requiring everyone’s attention.

Solution: Before removing the entire driveway, please remove the edging first. Then take step back and take a look. Just that little bit of work will completely change the look of the driveway as well as the house. The geometric pattern of the driveway fits with the “Geometric 50?s”. So, start small before you spend all that money on something you might hate in the end.

I think Jacy’s suggestion is a great one. Yes, those “railroad ties” are very functional and lordy, it looks like they will never ever move. But I am betting you could find something much lower profile to achieve the same function, and the expense may be worth the aesthetic benefit.

(2) Second, I agreed with commenters who suggested staining the concrete. Jane seemed to like the idea, too. So, I reached out to my friends at Rustoleum. Yes, they said, in both the U.S. and Canada, they have a product available specifically to stain concrete driveways and walkways — Rust-Oleum Semi-Transparent Concrete Stain – and it should be able to change the color of Jane’s pavers as well. You can even do this DIY, if you are brave and patient.

Rustoleum pointed me to a 20-minute video about how to stain concrete on their Canadian website. It was just in a media player, kind of hard to get at. So, I asked if they could upload it to YouTube so that I could show it here. They pronto did it. So today: We get to host the global blogging world online premier of that thriller, “Rust-Oleum Concrete Stain.“ Woot! O00000h, how riveting can it get, watching the step-by-step process to prep, stain and seal concrete? Pretty riveting. In fact, it made my day, I feel like a total DIY geek without ever lifting a paint brush. Note, and this seems important: I think I heard them say that you can’t use this if your concrete has previously been sealed; might be a job-stopper for a lot of folks, since I think driveway sealing is pretty common these days.

Here are additional details from Rust-Oleum’s Brand and Communications teams — covering both the U.S. and Canada, since Jane is in Ontario:

Hi Pam,

I see our Canadian brand manager responded to you directly, so here’s the information from the U.S. too. Rust-Oleum Semi-Transparent Concrete Stain is also available in the US in kits, gallons and an aerosol spray for smaller projects. Its available in a multitude of natural colors and is a good solution for transforming pavers with rich color. And it’s water-based, so its DIY friendly.
It’s important to note that a stained or sealed surface can become slippery when wet. Here is the link to the US website and to the Canadian website.

[I (Pam) had also asked about a product that Rust-Oleum has to cover garage floors with "chips." The team responsed:] Also, regarding your question about the coating with chips. I believe you’re referring to Rust-Oleum EpoxyShield Garage Floor Coating, which is a great product. However, it is not intended for exterior concrete application. Hope we’ve answered your questions – for both your U.S. and Canadian readers.

Susan, Rust-Oleum

(3) I also agree that landscaping should be and important part of the aesthetic fix-it solution. You want to use landscaping to pull your eye away from the driveway up toward the house. For example, you could extend your front walkway to meander and connect further up the driveway to pull some visual interest forward. Add a pole light where the longer walkway meets the driveway! Add a planter box! Landscape along the walk! Put a matching pendant chandelier in front of that window hanging down to the front door! Boom! Those eyes will pull right up from the driveway straight to the house. You have a lot of space in front of the house, you could even have a larger patio in front. And, I thought the idea from the reader who suggest pulling up a paver here and there and planting it with grass or moss had potential; I might hold this for last, though, after any new hardscape (patio, walkways, statuary, lighting) and any softscape (plants) are in. Oh, this will be so much fun!

(4) Relately, paint your door a bold color. Cobalt or Royal Blue, perhaps. Pull those eyes — away from the whatever driveway — and up to the pretty house!

Thanks very much to Rust-Oleum for the help with this story and video. And thanks to everyone who took the time to make comments to help Jane with her driveway puzzle. Hey, there are at least three more stories for me to write from your comments. “Tar and Chip or macadam driveways.” “Hollywood driveways.” And, “Aggregate driveways” although somewhere in the comments is a better name for them, I believe. It’ll be, “Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Midcentury Driveways But Were Afraid to Ask.” Life is nuts. Just nuts.

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1958 KamKap Kook-Out barbecue grill — Dawn & Brian pounce

pam kueber — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 08:30:39 +0000

“We are usually in the market for Mid Century anything…”
(Ain’t that the truth?)

“Yes, Monty,” say Dawn and Brian, “we’ll take what’s behind Door Number 3.” What have you just won? A like-new KamKap Kook-Out barbeque grill! Yay, Monty, we love you! The pair jump up and down ecstatically like there is no tomorrow… or 1958… and roll this puppy home. Readers, continue to be patient and good-willed acolytes and maybe the Retro Decorating Gods will Let’s Make a Deal like this for you, too, when you go thrifting this weekend.

The rotisserie (box below) was never used, Mint in Box. Read on for these little lovebirds’ treasure hunting story of discovery. Dawn — whose blog is Pretty In Pink — writes:

Oh one minute, though. You know what I also love? Dawn takes photos — good photos — of all the stinkin’ rotten little details of this bbq and its accessories and instructions…. and sends me the photos tout suit. Yes, it’s ALL so Fascinating, you can tell she thinks to herself. Soooo Fascinating……. Good girl, Dawn, you know I approve and am very grateful to be empowere to show all this lovely detail — you made is soooo easy for me to do this story. Okay, so here you go, Dawn really writes:

Hello Pam-

Do you ever have those times when you find something so retrobly fabulous that you MUST share with someone who can appreciate it?

That would be me today.

My fiance, Brian and I, took a very unexpected road trip today. It’s beautiful here in Central Ohio, especially seeing how its mid March! We just couldn’t stay inside today. So we traveled around. No particular destination in mind.

We came across a “General Store” in Lancaster, Ohio that sold antiques…And as we were perusing the aisles looking for anything that caught our fancy…We literally stumbled on what will have to go down in MY book as the ultimate gem.

We are usually in the market for Mid Century anything, and currently our focus has been on midcentury barware since we both collect.

But what was so amazing today that caught my eye?

A 1958 KamKap Kook-Out Charcoal Grill in almost MINT condition. I have NEVER seen anything like it in all my antique store, thrift store, yard sale travels. Sure. I dreamed. I hoped.

And there she was. With an already wonderful price of $59.99. We walked away. Discussed it. Came back for it. And the lady offered us 10 % off. Did I mention it came with a rotisserie that had NEVER been used? Complete with box? Instruction manual (Dated 10/29/1958)

Yeah. We loaded that bad boy up and took her home. We are sooooo very excited. I did a quick search on your site and did not see any other articles about retro BBQ Grills. A quick search of google and ebay didnt really tell me much either…

Do you know ANYTHING about these grills? We love it. We plan on using it. I am getting ready to post my own blog about it and I have fantastic pictures if you want to see them…

Thanks again. I just had to share with someone else that understands how exciting it can be to find such an unexpected treasure. 54 years old and it looks like it was bought a few years ago!

A happy reader-

Dawn

Thank you, Dawn. Kook-out. hahahahahaha. No, I know nothing about this grill. I will hypothesize: Another local/regional product… from back in the day when local/regional manufacturers created all kinds of useful and sometimes, kooky, products that principally served local/regional markets.

Readers: You can read more about Dawn and Brian’s find and see more photos on their blog, Pretty in Pink.

Regarding other grills on my site: I have written several times about the fabulous GE Partio Cart – this may be the creme de la creme of vintage barbecues, kind of like how an Electro-Sink is a Dishmaster gone Robocop. The Turco barbecue ball is another groovy barbecue design.

My question back at you is: Will you and Brian have the heart to use your Kook-Out? Please Do! Let’s ALL commit to setting our New Old Stock free — to giving these items a happy, productive, useful, much-loved life!

Readers, what are you looking for this weekend?