Mid Century Culture

The history of Christmas lights

Posted by: pam kueber • December 16, 2009

1948_NOMA_catalog_saucer_replacements 1 When you buy a mid-century home and start getting into the aesthetic, it’s almost inevitable that you will be attracted to vintage holiday decorations, too. Post-war Christmas decorations are (generally) cheap, cheerful, and plentiful. If you want to know more about them, my husband found a wonderful website that chronicles the history of vintage Christmas lights and features identifications guides, too. Heck yeah there is more →

Comments 19

Anita’s oriental figurine lamps with shades from Meteor Lights

Posted by: pam kueber • December 29, 2008

anita-vintage-oriental-lamp-5

Anita has been decorating away! She scored a wonderful pair of chartreuse oriental figurine lamps – then topped them with shades from Meteor Lights. In addition, take a look at the way she’s used vintage grasscloth – and even a surfboard – in her mantletop display. I’m ready to tiki at your house, Anita!

3 more great photos…

Heck yeah there is more →

Comments 8

.
.
Kitchens – Countertops
Over at her blog The Home Project, reader Linn and her husband continue to chronicle the remodel of their adorable bungalow kitchen. Recently, they rolled up their sleeves and installed a stainless steel countertop right over the old, existing laminate countertops. The headline: When first considering the stainless steel countertop option, Linn contacted a big [...]

The most popular laminate design in mid century America? Boomerang Formica? Nope, guess again. According to materials expert Grace Jeffers, the most popular design was actually linen. You know what I’m talking about — that kind of tight-to-medium-weave with nubblies stuff. I had it both my bathrooms with vanities. In pistachio green = absolutely iconic. [...]

Wow, does anyone know about countertops like these? Becky recently bought a time capsule and her french provincial kitchen (I’d call it) includes these countertops. Reminds me of these Fritz floor tiles. Anyone work with this back in the day who knows? Kind of, an early-days version of Silestone or the other composite-quartz countertops sold [...]

A reader wrote to ask how to bring the luster back to her vintage laminate countertops. Paste wax, maybe? To get the answer, I turned to expert Grace Jeffers. She is the writer, design historian and materials expert responsible for restoration of the Ralph Sr. and Sunny Wilson House – including its gorgeous Mondrian-style kitchen, [...]

UPDATE (Oct 2011): Click over to –> this story to get an update on all three sources for boomerang laminate. If you are planning Formica Boomerang countertop in aqua for your kitchen renovation, you’d better order now. Alas, if you were planning the skylark (light blue) or coral, it’s already too late. Following up on [...]

More Posts from this Category