Mid-Century Austin Barber Shop

I was out for a stroll around the neighborhood and remembered we needed milk. I walked to the nearby strip mall where our grocery store is but because I was coming from a different direction, I happened on something new.

A mid-century barber shop oddly tucked into the middle of a strip mall.

This particular strip mall was probably built in the '50s and from the looks of things this old school barber shop was an original tenant. All the other tenants have sadly been replaced with cell phone stores and the like.

I love the mid-century look of the place and I'm thinking about getting a cut there, but I'm a little scared. I kid you not, the two haircuts advertised were a flattop and a fade. It's almost too perfect really.

Looks like they do shoeshines too. If I find out they do straight razor shaves too, I'm just going to start hanging out here.

Another Mid-Century Ranch in Texas

I have been obsessed with this house on Mid-Century Modern Freak since the day I saw it.

The mid-century paint colors are perfect, the furniture inside is perfectly complementary and all the details are in place. Check it out on Mid-Century Modern Freak and get obsessed yourself, and once you are you can check out even more images here.

A Little More American of Martinsville History

I've touched on the history of American of Martinsville a little when I was trying to track down what line our American of Martinsville bar is from. (Turns out it's from the Dania collection.)

For some reason it never occurred to me that Martinsville might actually be a city where they made all the American of Martinsville furniture. In modern copywriting and naming you'd never throw the name of the town you're from in your company's name because you never know when you're going to expand or move out of town. But I guess American of Martinsville planned to stick around, and stick around they did, for over 100 years.

And the city of Martinsville has a little history on their furniture making legacy, which includes American of Martinsville, Bassett Furniture and Hooker Furniture Company. The American of Martinsville portion of that history is:

In 1906, American Furniture Company was founded by two Martinsville tobacco men, Ancil Witten and Charles Keesee. With 12 other local business leaders, these men raised an original capitalization of $30,000. The company has grown substantially and first surpassed $100 million in sales in 1989. Today, the company specializes in producing furniture for the hotel and healthcare industries, and operates under the name American of Martinsville. Open a dresser drawer the next time you stay in a hotel and, chances are, you'll see an American of Martinsville logo.

Mid-Century Modern Kids' Books: Orla Kiely Numbers and Colors

We were at the library this weekend and I happened upon two great mid-century modern kids' books: 

Orla Kiely Colors 

And Orla Kiely Numbers

Great covers for when they get left on your coffee table (or floor) and great design inside to help your little one learn the basics.

Wood Mid-Century Modern Fence

There have been a lot of severe storms in Austin recently. One storm was so strong that it broke the gate on our driveway. It wouldn't be a big deal and I'd probably just take the whole thing down, but we have a dog, which means that we need a gate. Replacing it has been on our to-do list for a while and it's  it's literally held together with string right now, so I'll probably have to replace it soon.

Replacing the gate probably has future implication on what the backyard fence on whole looks like when it gets replaced

And maybe the frontyard planters too if we want to carry the them to the frontyard, like authentic mid-century landscaping would

So I've been waiting for the perfect mid-century fence inspiration to figure out how I'm going to replace the gate. I think I found it.

I love the stacked look and it's really thick which makes it feel strong and solid.

And if you get a glance from the side, which you probably would with a gate, it still has a nice look.

I didn't have a ruler handy, but I think it's 2x4s on top of 2x6s with about an inch overlap.

I'm going to wait on the gate a little longer (the sting is holding up fine for now) so that we can come up with a complete plan for both the front and backyards, but I'm pretty sure this stacked wood mid-century fence style is going to play a role in the final outcome.