Danish Couch

We found a great deal at the Salvation Army a few months ago and have had this project sitting for a while. Mr Modtomic has inspired me with, his similar project - Mr. Modtomic Couch - to post about ours. We found this great Danish couch without cushions. My wife will be making cushions for it, but we can't find anybody that sells the springs. We found a couple of leads online but they have all turned out to be dead ends. We have thought about using clothesline, or some vinyl coated cable from the hardware store. But, we would rather find the real springs if they still exist. Has anybody else had experience with this?

I think the couch has great lines and I have seen some examples online in much better condition selling for a pretty penny. I think we have found a good one, we just need to find the missing springs and get the cushions made. What do you think?

Estate Sales and Football, What a Weekend!

Can't beat a weekend full of excitement like some good football and estate sales! We started our Saturday morning out doing the couple of estate sales that were on for this Super bowl weekend. There, weren't many, but they proved pretty good. I wasn't even sure I wanted to go, but my wife usually has a way of making me go. First a big breakfast of bacon and eggs, then out the door we went. We always look on the internet to see if there is anything that interests us. This week we really didn't see much in the photos. Sometimes that can be deceiving. We found some things, even though we didn't see much in the photos this time. Sometimes that's how it works. Well, while I'm watching the end of the game I'll upload some photos for you to enjoy...

Unused (or slightly used) GE Sandwich Grill and Waffle Iron.

Can be used to grill sandwiches, cook bacon, etc.

Came with the original manual with recipes included. Great illustrations inside!

Unused (or slightly used) Oven Broiler.

Can be turned over for different cooking features!

Or, you can store it on it's side!

Cooking guide on the side.

We found this cool little desk lamp that still has the original tag on it. It looks like it has never been used!

Directions to hang on a wall.

Flock of birds wall sculpture. You wouldn't believe how cheap this was! I think it might be a C. Jere, but there is no signature. I found one on Ebay that looks just like it that is signed. 

Original oil painting by artist Doug Kelly. I don't know much about the artist and don't think he is very well known. The only thing I know is the artist is supposed to be a relative of the estate owner. All I know is I liked it!

The Kitchen

So I'm not off to the fastest start, but I will try to speed things along here. Tonight, I will post a little about the kitchen of our 1963 ranch. The kitchen was one of the first things that sold us on this house. Those Geneva cabinets did it! Although, the previous owner took the liberty to paint the cabinets with a brush, the fact that they are textured probably hides some of the imperfections. I actually like the color, so we will go with them. I wish the countertops were more like the originals (whatever that was) but they aren't bad. We still have a lot of work to do in here, including a new backsplash. We are thinking it will be either true vintage mini-tile, if we can find some, or the popular glass tile you see often now. I have some under-counter LED lights to add. We still need to brighten up things some. Those dark brown cabinets do soak up the light. Speaking of lighting, the previous owner had modern track lighting up, but we took that down when we ran across a very nice vintage Imperialite at an estate sale. Enough writing, now for some photos...

Stainless Thermador double ovens. And I thought stainless was a recent trend! They even blend well with the modern microwave.

Geneva logo detail. This was actually painted over when we moved in. I had to take it off and strip it, hoping it still looked good. We were pleased!

Handle detail... 

Clock detail. Anybody know how to fix this? It doesn't work, but it still looks good.

My wife's pot holders

Imperialite we added from an estate sale.

After the cleanup.

Our home(s).

Okay, to start things off here I am posting some photos of our home, with a little background information. We lived in a small bungalow, a little over 1,200 square feet, for 16 years. This past summer I got the bug to look for another house, with a two car garage. I like to work on my cars and we have two Miatas that do not need to stay out in the elements year round. When we started looking I didn't have a preference on style or period. We were just having fun looking, and visualizing ourselves in a different surrounding. We loved our neighbors (still do) at the old house and regretted having to make the move because the neighborhood really was (and is) special! I won't go into details at this time about all the houses we looked at and the ups and downs of buying. Let's just say the house we ended up with was not the one we first wanted. However, I think we made the right decision and we really love the choice we made. My wife and I are artist types, so we were looking for something we could have fun with and I think we got it! It's a ranch house built in 1963. It has the typical low pitch hip roof, is well built and has some style that I will share as we go along here.

Here is a shot of the front of the house as we closed, before we moved in...

Here is the back of the house with two patios after we moved in. Khaki our pug is in the shot.

Here are two more recent photos of the house with the winter snow.

And now you can see a shot of our old house. It's cute enough, but it's time to move on.

And move on we have done! There is still a lot of work to do, as you can see from the outside we need to do some landscaping. In the future you will see some of the inside. Hey, the fun is in the fix-up right?

Gonna try this blogging thing!

We have been following several blogs for the past few months about mid century design as inspiration for our newly acquired mid century ranch. We have been moving along in our quest for such items and have been thinking about starting a blog ourselves. My wife has been sending out emails to friends with attached photos of some of our estate sale and "junkin" finds. I have been thinking it would be better to just start a blog, so here it is! So, look forward to seeing photos and comments from our adventures.