Time to check up on readers and their projects. Over at Adventures in Retro Renovating, Lilynumph and her husband threw out the wall-to-wall carpet and refinished the beautiful wood floors underneath. They also retiled their entrance way, and added a midcentury door with six triangular inserts (go look). Read on for readers hard at work on their homes (and posting on their home blogs):
- Eric builds small storage into the wall cavity at Our Modern Mess.
- John and Diane at Rancho Tostado complete a sunny Alexander Girard-inspired office remodel.
- Mr. Betty Crafter also is making progress on his office — carved out of space in the barn.
- More from the Crafters: Betty gets the pretty apple green VCT floor polished.
- And Eartha Kitsch of Ranch Dressing is restoring vintage 1963 film — “The Pam Films” onto video. OMG, so heartbreakingly/warmingly sweet.
Over at Our Modern Mess, Eric has been building some additional shelving right into a wall cavity in the kitchen. I think I read it was a special present project for Susan. A good one! Using wall cavities to create additional storage space is a great idea, especially if you have the walls gutted. In particular, be on the look for wall cavities are even deeper — all the more space for extra storage. Note, it takes fussiness to finish off the the openings in these kinds of spaces, though.
John and Diane at Rancho Tostado completed a sunny Mondrian- / Girard-influenced office remodel for John. They added blocks of yellow, orange and red throughout the room, using Marmoleum click tiles and painting the back of Ikea Billy bookcases. They also show their key inspiration — the Miller House with interiors by Alexander Girard. What a great space.
Betty Crafter’s Mr. has been working to convert space in the barn into an office. Crikey (as BC says) don’t we all want a barn to be able to decorate, too? My favorite part of the room so far is how they used a vintage pull-down school map for a window treatment. Brilliant. See more of the barn office transformation-in-progress over on Betty Crafter’s blog.
Remember Betty Crafter’s fantabulous knotty pine kitchen? She recently had the floor professionally polished – read more on her blog. We’ve talked about this issue before — YES, polish your VCT floors or have them polished and buffed — it’s well worth the shining glory.
Finally, over on her blog Ranch Dressing, Eartha Kitsch has been featuring home movies that she found at a flea market and which she has been converting to videos. From the early 1960s – a Pam growing up. Not me, but holey moley, that’s my timing. In this snippet, we see >> Pam and the Pug. << Oh my gosh.
msdb says
There is nothing like some green tile in your kitchen
Jennifer Kepesh says
Love LOve LOVe LOVE the Mondrian/Girard-inspired office redo! Great inspiration for our eventual redo of what we now call “the useless room.” Great job, John and Diane, and thanks, Pam, for highlighting it!
Tut says
Thanks for sharing your old film. I really wish my parents would’ve had a movie camera. Nothing looks better than Super 8 movies. I like your swingset because Ii’s just a swingset – no forts or plastic rock stairs or ugly fabric roof. Just proper painted steel and rusty bolts with square nuts. Now that was fun!
Victoria says
We put Armstrong VCT in the kitchen. We bought a Sears polisher second hand from a small office ($50, made of metal and parts are available from Sears if necessary) and use the Armstrong polish. 4 or 5 coats, then buff like crazy. Super Shiny.
pam kueber says
Yes, I am on the lookout for a vintage buffer myself!
Lauryn says
Oh my, that pug video made me so happy!! I love it all, but especially the music and the clothes on the line in the middle of winter!
Dulcie says
I love the idea of building shelves into empty wall space. I could certainly use the extra storage room in my mid-century home. Unfortunately, my home is mid 19th century and there are logs underneath the plaster. I haven’t lost faith that some day I’ll figure out a way to get more storage space in my home though.
Tasha says
Ooh, I’m digging on all the office ideas as I plot out my little future basement area!
And Betty Crafter’s kitchen is completely drool-worthy in every way. 🙂
Lee in Florida says
Aww… snow pug made my day.
Annie B. says
Oh, my goodness! So many happy, industrious, creative people with such striking results from their labors.