Monday, December 28, 2009

Have yourself a merry little MODERN Christmas!

Christmas is a fun time of the year to highlight your modern decor with a mod decorated tree!

Nothing quite says mid century Christmas than a silver tree! A vintage aluminum tree would be amazing, but since those are a little hard to find, for now I will use my silver tinsel tree. I have decorated it with red and white ornaments...handmade red and white polkadot bows, glass candy cane ornaments, red glass spiral ornaments and much more!

My mom's black and white Christmas tree is amazing! Check it out! She has a 7ft artificial white tree and has decorated it with some beautiful black, white and silver ornaments. She has quite a bit of "bling" on her tree too, which is really fun...reinstone word ornaments, black crystal sprays, and glittery high heel shoe and handbag ornaments. Lovely!


I think this black and white look would also look great with a real flocked tree if you want to have a real tree in the house! Growing up, my grandmother always had a real flocked tree in her house and it was awesome. For many years she decorated it only with purple bows and purple glass ball ornaments...an awesome modern look!

In keeping with our color schemes, both my mom and I wrap our gifts exclusively in corrdinating wrapping....paper, ribbon, bags, etc. It is so much fun to be on the hunt for a new paper or roll of ribbon that coordinates with our trees...such a great feeling when you find something new! The coordinating wrapped gifts under the tree really complete the look!

Happy New Year!

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Create your own pop art!

One of my favorite art projects in my house is my Marilyn Monroe pop art feature wall in my home office...check it out!


I found these Marilyn photos on wooden plaques at TJ Maxx for under $20 each. I thought that they needed a bold color background so that the black and white photos would really "pop" off the wall. I put my old chrome and black futon in my office and thought that a bright red would add some life to the room...perfect! Measuring and taping off the rectangle shape was the hardest part of this project and takes some time so that your rectangle looks centered on the wall and has nice sharp edges.

Measure...tape...paint...hang photographs...done!

Looks kind of Andy Warholish to me...love him!

I think this same concept would be really cool with personal photographs or portraits in black and white...imagine using a vintage b&w photo of a family member, portraits of your children, fun photo of your pet, etc....lots of possibilities! Give it a try in your house!

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Amazing mid-century artwork!

Let me introduce you to my new amazing vintage artwork! I recently purchased these these 3 pieces at Furniture Lounge in downtown Urbana, IL. I'm not sure about the background or history of these particular pieces, but for some reason I think they are from the 1960's. They are teardrop shaped wooden plaques painted with images of bottles...the turquoise blue on the plaques matches the walls in my dining room PERFECTLY! They were meant to be mine!

I have an awesome black & white photo of my grandparents' old diner in my dining room currently...the wooden plaques add some great color to the space and look amazing flanking the windows in that room! I also love how the natural wood border of the art pieces tie in with the hardwood floors and my kitchen cabinets...perfect!

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Fabulous Vintage Finds!

A little trip yesterday afternoon to my favorite store, Furniture Lounge, and I now have some great new vintage pieces for my house! I scored two tables, a lamp and some artwork...all amazing mid-century vintage items.

Love, love, love this lamp! The base and shade were sold seperately and my mom put the two together for an awesome pair. The base is a vintage Haeger Potteries lamp made out of light yellow ceramic and black metal. The shape reminds me a bit of a lava lamp! The shade is made out of fiberglass and has abstract swirls of black and copper all over it with black plastic cord whipstiching on the top and bottom. Don't they look great together!?!




The lamp now sits on one of the new tables...a two-tiered black metal table with smoked glass on top of both tiers...lovely vignette!


Stay tuned for another post about the vintage artwork I scored...

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Gerty wins!


I entered for a giveaway on my friend Abby's blog....and....I won! I am soooo excited!

Lucky Fiona donated a dog collar and leash for Abby to give away on her blog. These collars are awesome! They use really fun and fashionable vintage fabrics to make both collars and leashes. The hard part is going to be choosing which collar to pick for Gerty...so many great fabric choices!

Check out Lucky Fiona and get your pup an adorable new collar!

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Decorate your dog crate!

Love your dog...but not the look of their dog crate in your house? I'm sure I'm not alone on this one...

Solution: drape a decorative custom fleece blanket on top!

No-sew fleece blankets are super easy to make and the fleece section of your local fabric store is loaded with solid and pattern choices of fleece material. Lots of possibilities! The only materials needed are two pieces of fleece and a pair of scissors. Inexpensive! If you have never made a blanket like this, check out an instructional video here.

My mom and I took on this project together, each creating blankets to go on the top of the dog crates at our houses. We both decided to go with a whimsical dog bone print and a solid black on the reverse. Dog bone print certainly isn't for everyone though....if the whimsical look is not your style I think a pattern & solid or two different solids that coordinate with your room would be great!

Crate and blanket at my house:



See how much Gerty loves her little cave!


Two crates and one big blanket at my mom's house:
Notice how the black and white dog bone pattern coordinates with the black and white buffalo check curtains in the room.



If you make your blanket big enough to cover all sides of the crate, you can completely hide the crate if you ever want to!



A fun and easy project that camouflages your four legged friend's home and gives them a cozier place to rest! Another great thing about this project is that the blanket can just be thrown into the washer and dryer if it gets dirty!

Monday, September 7, 2009

Appliance Quick Fix

One of these things is not like the others, One of these things just doesn't belong

The white dishwasher in my kitchen stuck out like a sore thumb with all of the other black appliances. Instead of buying an entirely new dishwasher I opted to purchase new black panels to update and coordinate. A quick phone call to the Lowe's Appliance Parts & Accessories Hotline (1-800-476-8160) and a few days later the panels arrived. For only about $60 I think it turned out great. See for yourself...

Before:

After:




I absolutely LOVE the way all the black appliances match now. Such a coordinated look for only a little money!! Gotta love that!