If you're interested in seeing them yourself you can buy tickets on Saturday at the Tea Embassy located at 900 Rio Grande.
2011 Austin Heritage Homes Tour
If you're interested in seeing them yourself you can buy tickets on Saturday at the Tea Embassy located at 900 Rio Grande.
Authentic Mid-Century Ranch Exterior Colors
We're getting pretty close to selecting an exterior accent color for our mid-century ranch home. We have a big stack of paint chips that has been whittled down from a huge stack of paint chips. Then I had a minor scare because I only want to do this once, which means I want to do it right. So I went on a hunt for authentic mid-century ranch exterior paint colors. If you're looking for the same, let me do the legwork for you.
I started by looking at mid-century home brochures.
I haven't found a better collection than Antique Home, although Flickr can be helpful too. I moved past home brochures after realizing two things: 1) they're going to contain the safest color palettes because the seller was trying to reach the biggest audience, not exactly what you need when you're looking to add a pop of color, and 2) I didn't really have a way to get the color from the image to my house. I could get close; printing off the picture and scanning it at the paint store would be an option, but I figured there had to be an easier way.
So I went directly to the source, paint companies. And boy did they provide.
California Paints has some fantastic colors and insights into mid-century paint colors. Their mid-century modern color palette spans popular colors from 1940 to 1960.
California Paints' Post Modern paint palette is probably closer to what I'm looking for.
Sherman Williams has a Retro Revival line of paints that's intended for the mid-century home. But they were too pastel for me.
Anna Sova's mid-century modern color collection that have a lot of great color options that pop.
Then I went outside the box a bit and found the original Eames fiberglass colors (hat tip to Eames Office).
The Brilliant Yellow or Light Blue could make fantastic exterior accent colors.
I think we're on the right path with our color selections and once we have our big stack of color chips down to one or two, I'll be sure to share.
I started by looking at mid-century home brochures.
So I went directly to the source, paint companies. And boy did they provide.
California Paints has some fantastic colors and insights into mid-century paint colors. Their mid-century modern color palette spans popular colors from 1940 to 1960.
The post-World War II housing boom and the popularization of modern architecture brought bold colors in deep tones into popularity once again. Earth tones dominated exteriors, while interiors featured sophisticated, modulated neutral shades like bone, gray-beige, pearl gray and taupe alongside saturated accents in fuchsia, teal, evergreen, charcoal and chocolate with strong contrasts in chartreuse, tangerine, gold and sulfur yellow.While this is the period I'm looking for, the main color on my mid-century ranch is white so earth tones and neutrals isn't really the exterior color I'm looking for as an accent. Although the Teal Accent might be an option.
California Paints' Post Modern paint palette is probably closer to what I'm looking for.
Strong contrasts characterize the colors of the Post Modern/Cold War era: pale neutrals and pastel tints, used both inside and outside the home contrast with bright, clear accent colors. Deep shades of gold, yellow-green, red-orange or red-brown and bright blue, mint green and turquoise provide bursts of color in houses painted in warm beige, tan, avocado, peach or cinnamon tones.Bright blue, turquoise or mint green are exactly what I had in mind for an exterior accent color.
Sherman Williams has a Retro Revival line of paints that's intended for the mid-century home. But they were too pastel for me.
What’s old has circled back again! Retro Revival, features contemporary colors organized into a primarily mid-century sensibility. Part art deco, part 50’s suburban, part 60’s mod, these awesome retro colors are fresh and re-freshed for today’s tastes and styles. Know what’s so great about using classic colors with a new twist? These colors are familiar. We have seen them before in others ways, but re-purposed for modern day, they take on an entirely new light. Are your ready for your own Retro Revival?
Anna Sova's mid-century modern color collection that have a lot of great color options that pop.
Post-war American pleasures, from 1945 to 1960, VJ Day to JFK. The fabulous fifties brought hedonistic consumerism balanced with a beatnik poet's austerity. A passion for anything modern, new technologies and materials helped create biomorphic, abstract and expressionistic designs that were sleek, elegant and functional. Mid-century colors available in high fidelity for plywood blondes with swivel hips.
Then I went outside the box a bit and found the original Eames fiberglass colors (hat tip to Eames Office).
I think we're on the right path with our color selections and once we have our big stack of color chips down to one or two, I'll be sure to share.
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.
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.
Katie, who is an interior designer at Re:fresh Design Studio, set up a fantastic travel-themed nursery in her own home.
Mad Men Design
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-FinishAnd 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.sold at hardware stores and antique centers.
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.
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