Modern Art for a Mid-Century Home

My wife and I don't often agree on art. In fact, we rarely agree on art. While I love the theoretical debates that blossom from those disagreements, it sometimes makes it hard to fill the walls.

So when we find an artist that we can agree on, we know to snatch up a piece. And that was the case with Jerry Brem.

We had a big blank spot in our breakfast nook, where the previous owners hung an old lady painting and set up lighting to highlight the art.

It's a pretty important spot because you see it as soon as you step into the living room, and since we decided to not have a formal dining room there's no table to break that wall from the rest of the house. My wife was hoping for "something that reminds us of Austin, so we continue to treasure it while we're here and can remember it if we ever leave."

Jerry's paintings fit that to a tee. They tend to be bright and colorful, just like Austin. And, while he lives in North Carolina now, he spent some time in Austin — you might have seen his paintings hanging in Amy's Ice Creams. And the guitar painting we picked is a definite reminder of the wonderful and vibrant music scene here in Austin, TX.

Jerry was nice enough to show us some of the other work he's bringing to shows these days. I was blown away by his most recent piece.

You can see more of Jerry's work and a list of upcoming shows his website. I hear he'll ship paintings if one isn't near you.

A Modern Travel-Themed Nursery

When we were setting up our travel-themed nursery, we searched high and low for reference photos of any other modern travel nursery; we came up empty and had to forge our own path. We're happy with our travel nursery, but we're not interior designers so it would have been a lot easier if we had some inspiration photos to build off of. So when I run across a travel-themed nursery I like, I post photos in hopes of helping anyone else getting ready for a jet-setting baby.

Katie, who is an interior designer at Re:fresh Design Studio, set up a fantastic travel-themed nursery in her own home.

Check out her site for more photos and a list of where you can find these inspiring items.

Mad Men Design

If you're like me you were happy to hear that Mad Men is coming back for a fifth season. When we put in our new front door, we're are definitely still planning on copying the Mad Men door knob.

In celebration of all the fantastic mid-century design we'll see in the fifth year, here's an inside look at the set and production design:


The LA Times has a piece with Amy Wells (Mad Men's set decorator) where she gives a tip about buying and restoring mid-century furniture:

"Old wooden furniture, particularly American walnut and Scandinavian teak, is so forgiving," said Wells, who swears by an oil-based rub-on and wipe-off product called Restor-A-Finish sold at hardware stores and antique centers.

And if you check out the last page of the article there's a list of her favorite places to pick up pieces. Very helpful, if you happen to live in California.

Update: It's been pointed out that if you're reading this post in a feed reader you can't see the video. Here's a link.

Mid-Century Patio Bench

Our front patio is in need of a bench. There's a spot in the bushes where the old owner put their grill.

We're keeping the grill in the backyard, so we need something to fill the space and some additional seating would be nice.

So I went on a hunt for mid-century benches. Here's what I found.

The uber modern benches (that are uber expensive):
Luma Designer settee

Etra wood settee

Talt Bench

The modern benches that I'm not sure would hold up outside, but have a great mid-century design:
Gus Modern Return bench

Nelson Platform bench

Zeta bench

The you-live-in-Texas retro metal glider bench:

The serious contenders:
Achla Square on Squares bench

Mendocino bench

A Torrans metal glider, we'd probably do a Bellaire metal glider in turquoise or a Thunderbird in aqua

The Future Through Mid-Century Glasses

A few atomic age, mid-century videos have popped up on the internet.

This video is worth watching for the reversible mid-century couch alone.

This promotional video from Disneyland shows just how far we've come in a little more than 50 years.

Selections from two industrial films from the 50s. First, the Frigidaire kitchen from General Motors' "Design for Dreaming," a promotional film for the 1956 Motorama. Second, a section from film coverage of the Monsanto "House of the Future," located in Tomorrowland in Disneyland.