David and Kristin have the eye for mid century modern decorating, and, it turns out that Dave is one handy guy. A
fter I declared that orange is the Retro Renovation color of the year, he sent me photos of his living room of his 1959 split level house, with all the gorgeous orange accents. Of course, I also noticed the fantastic mid century modern panelled, or latticed, wall in the room. It turns out that he designed and installed the wall himself — for only $250 — and it’s 24 feet long! Today, he tells us how to make a panelled wall like this one.. and gives us peek inside his and Kristin’s lovely home.
now
Of course, I asked Dave to start us out by explaining his “Retro Renovation story.” He writes:
My wife and I searched for a house for about a year, going to open houses every Sunday. My requirements were brick, 2 car garage, a driveway that we didn’t have to move cars around to get in and out. We hadn’t seen anything that met our needs for the right price until we saw this house for sale by owner.
It is a trilevel built in 1959, and has a pink bathroom in perfect condition that we both fell in love with. I am sure most buyers were scared away because the house needed “updating” but we just fell in love with it. We put in a contingency offer, hurriedly got our house on the market, and sold it in less than a month.
We started loading up on design magazines and quickly discovered that mid century design fit our house to a tee! Items have been purchased for the house from 2 great mid century shops and several different antique shops in town.
We have been here for over 4 years now and continue to take on new projects, one room at a time. I found your blog early on in our renovation and read it every day for ideas and inspiration.
I thought you might like to see pictures of our living room. Our accent color is orange and it is my favorite room in our house.
I did the wall myself. It is just strips of MDF. It was a time consuming, low cost project. I have about $250 in the whole project (including renting a paint sprayer). The wall project evolved from a picture in the now defunct Metropolitan Home magazine. My wife brought it to my attention and asked if I could replicate it. I kind of took it on as a personal challenge. I spent two days laying out the lines on the wall. The wall starts in the living room and continues into the dining room approximately 8′ tall by 24′ long. The next step was cutting 1 sheet of 3/4 MDF (medium density fiberboard) into 3/4 x 3/8 strips on the table saw. Yep, only in 4×8 sheet ! I set up a miter saw outside the front door and cut pieces to length, one at a time, using my lines on the wall to mark the strips (not a tape measure) because that was more accurate. I then adhered each piece using powergrab adhesive and pin nails. I only worked on it about 2 hours a day, maybe 3 days a week.
After about 5 weeks, and about 6 hours of caulking, it was ready for paint. I rented a HVLP (high velocity low pressure) sprayer from a local rental store for the weekend, primed first, then added 2 coats of latex paint. It has been done for about 2 years now and it still makes me smile every time I walk in the house! Note: the tone-on-tone curtains are from Penneys and were $30 a panel and fit PERFECTLY with NO alterations. What a lucky break! — Dave and Kris
That is so impressive, Dave — like I like to say, “some therapy.” You now move ahead in our overachiever of the year award, ahead of Uncle Atom, who has not actually finished his tiki totem pole, and TroySF, who is resting on his 2010 laurels (so far.) Thank you so much for sharing, the house is really truly stunning. I love the living room — with its mix of white walls, light gray upholstered furniture, the blonde Heywook Wakefield and the puches of orange. You two really know what you are doing — in your next career, you need to be a decorating team, truly!
Julie Jacobson says
Ohmigosh! The living room is so warm and inviting, the bedroom so sexy and glamorous. Beautifully done. Can we see the kitchen?
Dave Bramblette says
NOT THE KITCHEN!!! It is sooooo bad. 1980’s laminate job. The sad thing is I build cabinetry and furniture for a living and my kitchen is awful. It will be the biggest and most expensive job, so we are saving up for it.
Cindy says
Dave,
Could you please share your kitchen when you are ready to remodel?
I just purchased an 1980s mobile home and everything looks intack in the kitchen except the appliances and some doors missing to cabinets, but I’m not sure what to do with it. I am married to an architect and he’s ready to divorce me on this mobil home thing. I bought it for the location and was not allowed to see the inside. Oh what a nightmare. but I was able to get it clean enough before my husband saw it. My marriage may be saved yet.
Dave says
Hey Cindy, I will be happy to post my kitchen when it is done. It might be a while, we are working on our den 1st. It sounds like you have a challenging project. Best of luck !
Gavin Hastings says
I meant to add earlier:
The Supreme line of draperies from Penney’s are a perfect choice.
Simple, appropriate and a bargain to boot!
Lynne says
Unfortunately, the JC Penney’s Supreme drapery line has been discontinued. I was told they are looking for a similar replacement, but as of right now, we’re out of luck.
pam kueber says
I am seeing JCP Supreme online…. 1/2 price right now, actually…. ?
Lynne says
They may still have some in stock, but I ordered 2 different pair and they sent me an email saying that they were no longer available. I checked at my local store (Illinois) in the drapery dept. and they said the company folded.
pam kueber says
drats.
Nina462 says
Lovely! Simply lovely!
Lynn-O-Matic says
Wow, I adore every inch of this inside and out (OK, not every inch–Susie Safety does not like the look of those stairs with no railing). Congratulations! It must feel amazing to come home to this place every day! This absolutely looks professionally designed and executed. Kudos to both of you.
I would love to know the brand and name of the sculpted rug in the living room. Thanks so much for letting us see your stunning home!
Frank says
Gosh, that is one sweet home. Well done Dave and Kris.
Maryann says
Absolutely STUNNING! I love every inch of this room !
Bravo!
Lindsay B says
WOW! I think this is the best looking space around! I would pay you to design my home if I had the money. Great Job!
Matt says
Very, very nice. Can I ask where the rug came from? Its what we’ve been looking for!
Dave Bramblette says
The living room rug came from The Cherry House furniture store. The back of the rug reads: Surya Carpet Inc -collection: Mystique-style: M85-color: brown-size: 8×11. I hope that helps.
Brittany says
WOW! I want to see more pictures!!
Lawrence Bill says
Dave,
I’ll add to the chorus of accolades–your living room is awesome and I am blown away by what you have done to enhance your living space. The wall covering is fantastic and you are clearly someone who “gets it” in terms of furniture. The playful arrangement of color, materials, styles and textures is inspirational. Refreshing. I mean, how many times have we retreated in disappointment from otherwise lovely mid-century homes because of the yukky furniture or wrong colors? By the way, it appears that your bedroom–another model of mid-century influenced style–has grasscloth wallpaper. Did you install it, and if so, where did you buy it and how difficult was the job?
Dave Bramblette says
Thank you so much Lawrence Bill, we did not install the wallpaper ourselves and I am glad we didn’t. The wallpaper installers gave us a price and then it took them about 4 hours longer than they thought it would. They had to cut the paper with heavy duty scissors because the bamboo strips were so thick. We loved the end result and gave him a little extra for taking the time to do such a quality job