September 28, 2007
The House that Fink Built
I found the television solution of my dreams, but not at any online store. Finkbuilt's brilliant RetroVision 2000 AV Cabinet is the marriage of two eras, one era in which television was king, displayed prominently and proudly in the center of the busiest room in the house, and another era in which television rightfully takes the backstage to a more active lifestyle.
Tragically, this solution was custom-made for Steve's own home by his own two crafty little hands and is therefore not something I can click and order. Wah. I suppose then that I am out of luck until Wal-Mart decides to jump on the MCM bandwagon and make them for 35 cents using slave labor from Bangladesh? Thanks, but no thanks. Until Steve opens up his own shop, a girl will just have to dream.
Posted by Christiane at 10:36 AM | Comments (1)
September 19, 2007
The Boob Tube
I've been asking everyone I know, including the 1950's House Lovers and the folx at HouseBlogs.net, the same question: "What do you do with your television?"
This is the dilemma I've been trying to solve for five years!We're not big tv watchers. We love to rent movies, but even then we only watch one a week or so. The television is currently stored in a tv cabinet from Target which threatens to fall to pieces every time we open and close the doors (and isn't really mid-century anyway).
I have looked everywhere for a tv cabinet that is even slightly mid-century. We have found some modernist cabinets that would fit a flat panel, but we have a 26-in regular old tv and don't plan to spend money on an upgrade any time soon. We also have rabbit ears since we don't subscribe to cable :)
I've thought about getting a vintage sideboard and just setting the tv on top, but I don't want it to be the focus of the room, KWIM? Any help? Help!
Thanks in advance.
I've gotten a few responses, but not quite what I'm looking for. The ideal situation would be a sideboard that was deep enough for our current tv set. I've thought about having a custom piece of furniture made (maybe we could trade a door for one?), but I'm not sure that I want to spend money on something like, you know, teevee.
Ping 'em if you've got 'em! ;-)
Posted by Christiane at 10:34 AM | Comments (5)
September 07, 2007
Back Door Blues
We were interviewed by the Austin-American Statesman today and, while cleaning up and getting ready, I realized how much of our home is still technically unfinished. It might not be obvious to everyone that visits, but there is still so much left to do!
When we originally planned the house, we knew we wanted the driveway to extend into the backyard. We planned to build a 50's style carport (check out the I Dream of Carport post for more details) which would extend to cover the back entry to the home, and we figured this would become the main entry and exit point.
It took us six months after moving in to get the new driveway, and we still don't have a carport. Instead, we have a boat and two unsheltered entrances, and we usually park in the front and enter and exit through the front door.
There are so many problems with this setup that I have trouble keeping them all straight. For one thing, we don't really have any landscaping between the front driveway and the front door, so we find ourselves walking through mud during wet weather (and we've had a LOT of wet weather over the last few months). The front door doesn't have a covering either since the deck is still somewhat unfinished, so we drag the mud and the wetness inside when we enter. There isn't a lot of room inside the front door for loitering or unloading what with the stairs directly inside. And there is no organization other than the shoe bucket... and it is overflowing with shoes the kids have outgrown. Backpacks, purses, keys, mail, all end up haphazardly piled inside the front entrance and on the stairs. I don't suppose guests feel very welcome when they arrive.
This brings me to the point of this entry which is a plea for help! With winter fast approaching, the need for a new solution is imminent. It seems to me like we need to accomplish four major goals:
1. Use the back of the driveway for parking cars (this means we need to move the boat and install a remote-controlled gate opener).2. Stop tracking mud and wetness into the house (we will need a carport, too).
3. Create an organized space for the coats, shoes, bags, keys, phones, and mail (this means organizing the nook next to the back door).
4. Use the front entry for its intended purpose (and landscape in a friendly way so that no one has to walk through mud or pools of water or stand under a dripping deck while unlocking the front door).
These are enormous tasks. Have you been through any of this? Advice? I was having fun checking out Better Homes and Gardens article on "Do-It-All Entryways" and thinking about our stuff and what to do with it. I need the solutions to be (1) fast, (2) easy, and (3) inexpensive. Isn't that how it always is?
Posted by Christiane at 11:42 AM | Comments (0)
November 09, 2006
Backsplash
Over the weekend, I crossed one of the larger tasks off of my crushingly long post-move-in-to-do list. I finally installed the mosaic tile in the kitchen. We ordered it in a big hurry about 5 months ago.
I've had tile work done before, but never tried it myself. I had always considered it a black art practiced by the most elite and mysterious handymen. The kind that prefer to work alone, talk very little, and won't look you in the eye. Reading the instructions on the grout mix, I felt myself being pulled into their world. "Dampen with a Turkish towel." Oooh, Turkish! "Cover the grout with #40 paper to slow the drying and repel debris from other trades." Oooh, those other trades and their icky debris! Cretins!
I chose Saturday, Sunday, and Monday nights to do the work after the kids went to bed. Saturday was gluing and cutting the tiles. The glue didn't smell that bad. And by 2am, I couldn't smell it at all. Not so for the rest of the family, each of whom woke up one by one with horror movie nightmares. I hope we didn't lose too many IQ points that night.
Sunday was grouting, which takes about as long and gluing and cutting. Another night up until 2am. Christiane was getting pretty antsy about getting her kitchen back.
Monday was wiping that last bit of film off and putting all the outlet covers back on. At 24 hours, the grout film is easy to wipe off, but hard to find. I inadvertently grouted a few coffee cups, plates, and knives that were in the sink at the time. It took longer than I thought, but I was only up till 1am.
I did the work in such a flu-fever-late-night-blur that I hardly remember doing it. It looks great, but the mysterious art of tiling still alludes me.
Posted by David at 03:18 PM | Comments (2)
August 30, 2006
Decorating the Erwin House
There is something terribly gratifying about the sconce on the stone wall.
My mom and I lived for a year with my grandparents when I was 4. I remember my grandfather's basement-turned-den: he had a fully-stocked bar with a collection of miniature liquor bottles, a number of model trucks from his days as a transportation manager for Altorfer Bros., and lots of chrome. The Rejuvenation Aloha on the stone wall is straight out of his basement, the light I later used to do homework by when I sat at the ladies' desk where my grandmother paid bills.
Next on the list: one of those spiky 60's wall clocks.
In the meantime, we're shopping for shams for the master bedroom. Since we didn't paint the game room in the classic aqua blue, I've been trying to use aqua in the bedroom. I'm not going for the West Elm tan and cornsilk that everyone loves, rather I'm looking for that crazy greenish blue of the space age.
I love this pattern from PillowsandThrows.com, but you can't buy the shams separately. We also liked some patterns from West Elm and Pier One, but finding just shams is going to be difficult. Wouldn't it be cool if there were a Formica-flavored boomerang fabric? A girl can dream.
Posted by Christiane at 10:41 AM | Comments (10)