Mid Century Modern Furniture

Based on my last post about my dream living room, I think it is obvious that I like mid century modern furniture. Rooms with hits of mid century modern really appeal to me. Of course I would not want the room to look retro, but in small doses the furniture just looks good. BONUS: (a side note that is important to me) most of this furniture is readily available used- a lot in good condition and for incredibly reasonable prices.

Inspiration...

My Dream Living Room

I made up a storyboard for my dream living room (not necessarily for the cottage but for a city apartment). I picture the walls a warm cream colour with lots of black frames and thick white mats and lots of wood elements to introduce warmth into the room(s).

What it involves:

1) the Stylus Lyric sofa (when we were sofa shopping it was my tied with the sofa we eventually bought) in beige
2) the personalized street sign I made a few weeks back (not shown in the above storyboard)
3) lots of black and white photography in black frames with thick white mats (which we already have in our apartment in Montreal)
4) a mid century modern sideboard (which I don't have, but could definitely find online thrift shopping)
5) wood lettered bookends (I would actually prefer them in black)
6) upholstered dining chairs
7) a mid century modern armchair (which I have blogged about quite a few times, also a potential online thrift find)
8) an oval, pedestal coffee table
9) black and white toile fabric (for pillows, etc.)
10) a large, simple, clean lined dining table (also a potential online thrift find)
11) accessories- some of which I already have (e.g., ottomans, bowl, throw blanket) and some I would need to buy (e.g., water hyacinth baskets)

Old Signs

I love the look of old street, bus or subway signs. They are widely available (mostly reproductions) but I thought I could make one that was a little personal. Mine includes all the streets that my husband and myself have ever lived. I am thinking that I would like it too be quite large (maybe 2 x 7`), matted and framed.

Now to figure out where to have it printed and how to find an inexpensive custom frame...

A Cheap Countertop Makeover

I know that I have blogged about painting countertops in the past, but this is a little different. My previous suggestion was to use melamine paint (which I have personally used and it does work great!). This time I am suggesting that you can buy a kit that results in a natural stone finish.


I recently watched an episode of House and Home Online TV where they made over a table-top with the Rust-Oleum Countertop Transformations kit. I found the kit (which is available in 5 different stone finishes) at a big box store for $50 and after 5 easy steps (sand, roll, spread, smooth and seal)- viola!

The Finishes

Before (P.S. these pics are not from my house!)

After

Craigslist Challenge

I challenged myself to take a bedroom designed by Sarah Richardson (the master bedroom on season 2 of Sarah's House) and re-create the room using Craigslist finds.


I found a headboard (which came with 2 night tables and a bed frame) for $100!


I also found a similar chandelier for $100, pair of chairs (with ottoman) for $200 and a dresser (which came with 2 night stands-shown in picture below, a headboard and a bed frame and a large mirror) for $300!!

Lastly, I found a pair of lamps for $60. Not exactly what I was hoping to find, but replace the shade with something more current and they would look great!

On the show she gives herself a budget of $11,000 for the room (including construction). My price tag (minus accessories) = $760 total and their are several items that are included with the finds but would not be necessary in the room and could resold to make back some of that money!

DIY Project Nine- Custom Door Mat

I have been looking everywhere for an attractive but practical carpet runner for our mud room. We had a carpet made for the tight area (years ago) but I find that the winter is very hard on the light colour and it always looks dirty. Most of the utility mats that I found were either too wide or too small (or too ugly) for the area so I decided to get creative. I came across a okay looking, 3 x 4' brown utility mat at my local big box store for $9.99. The only problem was that only one brown mat was left. I mentioned to the salesman that the carpet was a little wider then I wanted and he suggested I just cut it with scissors. This gave me the idea to buy 2 mats in different colours (brown & grey) and splice the cut pieces together. So that's what I did...

Before- tape (cut) line marked on carpet


The only casualty of the day...


After-





What you will need:

- 2 (or whatever number you want) utility mats (with rubber underside)
- scissors (good & sharp)

- tape
- measuring tape

How to do it:

Begin by measuring the physical area for the carpet and determine the dimensions of the finished product. Next, decide how you would like to arrange the carpet pieces e.g. I went with one stripe of grey carpet on either end of the brown carpet to form a long runner. Once you have the dimensions and arrangement figured out, on the carpet itself mark where you would like to cut with a long piece of tape. Use the measuring tape to make sure your tape (i.e. cut) line is straight on all sides. Verify that the tape is secure and will not move once you begin cutting. Once you are convinced that your tape line is straight (i.e. measure twice-cut once), using sharp scissors cut the carpet along your tape line. Repeat this procedure for all cuts until you have the pieces you need for your carpet arrangement. Once you are complete, simply place the carpet pieces next to one another (butted up) and the rubber underside will prevent them from moving around.