Broyhill Premier Sculptra Collection

A few years back we bought a great 6 drawer Broyhill Premier Sculptra dresser on craigslist. At the time we didn't know anything about the Broyhill Premier Sculptra line we just liked the piece and needed a dresser. Then yesterday I was browsing a local vintage store's website and saw this picture:

It's the exact same handle as our dresser. So I did a little research (the wife would say a lot of research) and found out Broyhill Premier also made a Sculptra desk, which looks like this:

Since we've been looking for a new desk and since the dresser and desk will be in the same room, we went over an picked it up.

But that's not the end of the story, I learned way to much about the Broyhill Premier Sculptra line to not share. Broyhill Premier introduced the Sculptra collection in 1957 and continued making it into the early to mid 60s. Broyhill is probably best known for their Brasilia line but they've got a long rich history, the part that's important to the Broyhill Premier Sculptra collection is:

As the American population grew steadily more affluent throughout the 1950s, Broyhill recognized that tastes in furniture were shifting. In the past, buyers of moderately priced furniture had sought massiveness and elaborate embellishment, but the company's executives felt sophisticated styling and quality were becoming more important. In 1957, in an effort to meet this demand, the company established the Broyhill Premier line. The old Lenoir Chair Company plant was given over to production of these pieces, and a separate, additional sales force of 30 men was established. In addition, Broyhill began to institute a quality control program, complete with a lab, to insure that its Premier products lived up to their name. In 1958, Broyhill began an expensive national advertising campaign to support the introduction of its Premier products.

Although the new line won consumer acceptance, it did not turn a profit until the 1960s. Broyhill added upholstered products to its Premier line, as the concept began to bring in revenues. Once the Premier line had been established, the company grouped its remaining products under the label 'Lenoir House,' which included a variety of medium-priced, moderate styles of bedroom and dining room furniture that made up the bulk of the company's sales.

From what I can read on this Broyhill Premier Sculptra sales tag they advertised the line this way:

Sculptra has the variety and sophistication of an "import" look combined with the very much American versatility of use, adaptability to changes in living patterns and coordination, for today's room loves
Sculptra
by Broyhill Premier

Sounds like the perfect collection for our study.

Done: Nursery

We've put the final touches on the travel-themed nursery. It's been a pretty great transformation for empty extra bedroom to perfect little space for a little one. Here are the final results:

Done: Fix attic ladder

One of the steps on the attic ladder was a bit dodgy, the back half of it was broken. A little time and a little work and there's much less chance of someone falling down the steps now.

Done: Add protective sheeting near exhaust flues

Protecting wood from being too close to warm metal seemed pretty important, and a bit of protective sheet metal was all that was needed to do the job. The water heater closest outside is a safer place these days because all the wood near the exhaust flue is covered.

And if you're going to buy enough sheet metal for one job, you might as well buy enough for two jobs. So I went ahead and protected one of the beams in the attic from the exhaust flue near it. It's an exhaust flue that's not currently hooked up (it's left over from an old furnace), but it was on the inspector's report so I figured I'd knock it out while I had some sheet metal laying around.

New fridge and dishwasher

We were one of the lucky few who were able to get in on the Texas Trade Up Appliance Rebate (cash back for buying energy efficient appliances). So we upgraded the fridge and dishwasher to much more energy efficient versions. We figured that while we were making that upgrade, we might as well upgrade to stainless steel as well - so they match the stove and microwave.

These are sitting in the kitchen helping us save on our water and energy bill: