Mid-Century Art: Matt Mills (again)

I've mentioned Matt Mills before for his mid-century furniture art, but he also has some pretty amazing travel art that would look good in any mid-century home or travel-themed nursery.

Broyhill Premier Mid-Century Furniture Ads

As I was hunting for any information I could find about Broyhill Facet furniture, I came across a few vintage Broyhill Premier ads that I had never seen before.

This mini-brochure for a Broyhill Premier and Air France cross-promotion with some great illustrations of the Saga, Invitation and Trianon lines.

And this two pager which includes the Broyhill Sculptra, Saga and Cerama lines. 

The Broyhill Cerama line is another one of those mystery lines that I've never heard anything about before, but it looks like an interesting collection. The only time I've seen the Sculptra triple chest / platform before now is the illustration in the Broyhill Sculptra brochure. To me, it looks a little out of place with the rest of the Sculptra line, with rounded squares instead of the hard corners.

Broyhill Premier Facet Furniture

David over at A Modern Line recently came across and rehabbed a Broyhill Premier Facet dresser.

He couldn't find anything about Broyhill Facet furniture online, so he asked me if I knew anything about it, and he was kind enough to send along some pictures.

I'd never even heard of Broyhill Facet furniture before, but I really like the look of it.

My guess, based on the design and details, is that it was made sometime in the '60s. David mentioned the the glides on the drawers are steel, not wood, which further points that direction.

But other than that guess at a decade, I've got nothing. If you know anything about the Broyhill Facet collection, please leave a comment with what you know.

Removing Paint in a Mid-Century Home

I took on a small weekend project, getting some paint off of the floor in the hallway. It wasn't a lot of paint, just a few spots here and there. The type of thing a house guest would never notice (we didn't  when we bought the place), but you see it one day and then you can never un-see it. You're always catching it out of the corner of your eye and eventually you break down and have do something about it.

Not knowing exactly what to do, I took to the internet to find out how to safely remove paint from a wood floor. And after spending a day trying all of the non-chemical options, I picked up some Goof Off Professional Strength Remover and decided to give it a try.

I will say a few things:

1. I used it sparingly, literally using a Q-tip, keeping contact to the wood at an absolute minimum.
2. I wiped it up immediately after the paint was gone, keeping the time of contact as short as possible.
3. I had to crack a window even though I was in an already well ventilated area.
4. I gave the entire area a good clean and polish afterward just to be safe.

All that said, I got almost all of the paint off without a problem and it didn't hurt the wood in the slightest. There are one or two very small dots of paint that if you get down on your hands and knees you can still see, but everything else is gone. 

Which is my final point, if you are using Goof Off to remove paint from your wood floor, don't lose perspective while working. Make sure that last stubborn dot is actually visible from a height higher than six inches before you keep working at it.

Mid-Century Art: Arthur Secunda

Sometimes there's just something about the simple use of color and shape, and that's the case for the mid-century artwork of Arthur Secunda.

He's been at it since the '50s and from what I can tell still at it today. I like his landscapes the best; I think they'd fit in any mid-century room perfectly, especially if you were leaning more towards the '60s and '70s with your look.

 But his more modern abstract artwork is interesting as well.