Our Mid-Century Modern Kitchen Remodel

We knocked a whole lot of items off our to-do list with a complete remodel of the kitchen and nook, including removing the wall, putting in a breakfast bar, new (matching) cabinets, new counters, new ceiling lights, new (matching) floor, replacing the back splash with tile and fixing all the electrical problems.

Before:

During

After

Random Mid-Century Pictures from ATX

I've amassed another collection of photos that are interesting enough to share, but not cohesive enough to build a full post around. So here are some pretty pictures to look at.

A red vintage screen door with a mid-century door behind it.

Another wooden mid-century front door. I've said it before and I'll say it here because these two doors make good examples, authentic mid-century exterior doors have bigger windows than their modern counterparts.

And a red mid-century modern front door, although this one does have pretty big windows.

Some modern landscaping with gray stones and cement slabs. I love the clean lines this creates.

An old apartment building in my neighborhood with a collection of mid-century globe lights.

The same complex had these large modern rusted-metal planters.

They're a great look, but probably a little big for most mid-century homes.

My mom recently picked up this vintage metal tea holder.

And this red and white Belgium apothecary jar.

And finally, I came across this bench that had the wood replaced with old corrugated metal. It made for interesting look and the fresh blue paint is a nice contrast.

Retro Kitchen Wall Clock, Red and Mint Green

I was looking for something totally unrelated and I happily stumbled upon this retro kitchen wall clock. If you measure it out, it's smaller than you think, but it could work perfectly over the sink or fridge. And it comes in both cherry red and mint green, so that's enough to add it to any retro kitchen.

Mid-Century Modern Kitchen Timers

I recently went on the hunt for a mid-century modern egg timer. There are more than a few options out there, almost all of them in stainless steel.

Ordning Kitchen Timer

Egg Stainless Steel Timer 

Retro Kitchen Timer with Magnet

Amco Nickel Timer

Countdown Stainless Steel  Kitchen Timer

But the cutest of the lot is definitely the Owlet Kitchen Timer

My Mid-Century Cocktail: The LBJ

My search for a signature mid-century cocktail has come to an end thanks to a work happy hour. We went to the Stephen F. Austin hotel bar, where I ordered one of their signature cocktails: The Lady Bird. On the menu, the Lady Bird cocktail is simply described as Grey Goose La'Poire vodka, St. Germain Elderflower and lemon. I've never had St. Germain or any elderflower liqueur before, but it tastes fantastic and sounds like it came out of Skyrim, so I love it.

I went on a hunt for a cocktail with those and only those ingredients, without any luck. I was hoping the Lady Bird cocktail at the Stephen F. Austin was just a renamed elderflower and pear vodka cocktail. Turns out it's not. So I had to start experimenting (or get a job at the hotel bar, but that seemed like a long way to go for a cocktail recipe).

Luckily, the St. Germain website has an extensive cocktail menu so I had a place to start. The closest thing to the Lady Bird cocktail seemed to be the French Gimlet or the Pear Tree Martini. But neither of them had the right ingredients or right taste. So, after a few trails and tastings, I came up with my own mix.

Since I can't be sure it's the exact recipe of the Lady Bird cocktail (though it's probably pretty close), I feel like I can give this cocktail its own name – making it a true signature cocktail for my mid-century home. Taking from it's inspiration (the Lady Bird cocktail), point of origin (the Stephen F. Austin hotel and the city of Austin) and the fact that it will be served in a mid-century home, I'm dubbing this concoction the LBJ.

The LBJ

1 part Grey Goose La'Poire vodka

1 part St. Germain Elderflower liqueur

A squeeze of lemon

Ice

Now I just need to tinker a bit to make it perfect for our Austin home. I'd love to find an organic pear vodka (which I don't think exists) and an organic elderflower liqueur (which I can't find for sale in Austin). So that might mean infusing my own pear vodka (organic vodka and organic pears) and shipping in some organic elderflower liqueur. It's extra work, but that only adds to the story of our signature cocktail. 

If I can make this an all-organic cocktail, I'm going to dub that version The Organic LBJ. It not a totally original name, but it's the perfect mix of old and new Austin.

My Mid-Century Austin Estate Sale Finds

Last week I mentioned an estate sale I hit up. It was one of the better ones I've been to for kitchen items. The kitchen is the room that we still need more mid-century details in, so I picked up a few things.

Like this candy dish / serving dish

And this cheese plater

They also had a gold and ruby version of my mid-century cuff links so I had to pick those up in case the wife ever wants to accessories with gold, I can still match.

But the best find was a monstrous mid-century dinnerware set. There are 13 complete sets (plate, salad plate, bowl, dessert bowl, coffee cup and saucer), 3 serving bowls, 2 serving platers and enough extra pieces that we don't have to be too scared if something breaks. All told, we got just under 100 pieces of of this avocado green dinnerware set, which has a nice fade to it.

The only downside it that it's unmarked and other than a few people selling a coffee cup or two, I haven't been able to find out anything about the set.

Just look at this handle, who wouldn't want a few of these in their cabinet?

The Hunt for a New Mid-Century Cocktail

A while back I went on a hunt for the perfect mid-century cocktail to serve at home. I thought the Moscow Mule was the answer, but I overestimated two things: how much I like ginger beer and how much other people like ginger beer. I made the switch to ginger ale but the drink lost something and it wasn't unique enough to be a signature house drink anymore.

So I went on the hunt again and came across the Zombie. It's an authentic tiki bar drink, but way too complicated to be our standard dinner party drink. Anything with seven ingredients, an umbrella and some fruit is too much work. I'd be making drinks all night and never get to mingle. But next time I'm at a tiki bar, I know what to order.

So I'm still on the hunt for a signature cocktail that I can serve at home, one that won't keep me trapped in the kitchen all night.

Vintage Pumpkin Candy Bucket and Carafe

I hit an estate sale in Allandale this weekend and came away with two good finds. First, this vintage pirate jack-o-lantern with a mustache pumpkin candy bucket.

It's your standard plastic pumpkin candy bucket, except 100 times better because it has both an eye patch and a handlebar mustache. It's missing the handle, but we needed a bowl to store the Halloween candy we hand out, so this will be perfect. Or we might just put it in the window.

Second, this mid-century coffee carafe.

I'm kind of a sucker for starbursts these days and this baby's got them in spades.

There were some other interesting mid-century pieces there, but we don't have any more room for chairs or other random furniture, like a magazine racks. But it leads me to believe that the best plan for estate sales is to stick to mid-century neighborhoods in Austin, the number of good mid-century items increases greatly in these areas.