Beginning Projects | Finishing Touches

Alright alright, I know I said I'd post about the garage remodel like weeks ago. The garage isn't moving as fast as I hoped so I don't have our final drawing to post yet. We did sign a contract, put down a deposit, and have made a fair amount of headway on design. We had a structural inspection that we are waiting on results from.

So I'll leave you with the garage in all of its current glory! Haha.

In the meantime, here is the latest in and around the house as we have done a bit of accessorizing:

New welcome rug added to front hallway, at a good price from West Elm 

Got that Platner table we were considering for the living room.
(See it in the foreground here next to the couch).
It was the Semi-Annual sale at DWR, so good timing,  

Second view of Platner table

Accessorized the new Rubix table with this Tubular Burst from Dwell.

Closer up on the Tubular Burst

The clock in the guest bedroom kicked it
and gave us an excuse to get this little beauty—
the tripod clock by George Nelson. I even love the box!

Here it is happy in its new home

In the backyard where we lost a dogwood tree, we transplanted a fairly mature
walking stick tree from my parent's yard. Around it we planted more
Creeping Jenny and Autumn Ferns.

I'm including a picture of the screen porch because it's the end of fall (and daylight savings),
and we have loved spending so much time the past few months on this porch!

And here are a couple of pics from our last dinner party:

We bit the bullet on a set of tables and chairs to avoid repeated rental fees.

That being said, I still got the copycat version of the real Tolix chairs – it was

just too many to make that kind of investment. Very happy with how they look though.

We hung Napa style lights from small hooks under the house
and anchored them to a fence post that Mike cemented in a 5 gallon
bucket. That way we can just roll it in when we need extra light on the deck!

Happy Monday everyone. Will report back soon...

Summer Snapshot

Hi everyone,

Well, it's been a while, hasn't it? So sorry for the MIA move. We have been doing some stuff, although at a slower pace than normal. Slow pace is not for long, as we are ramping up for a full garage reno. More on that in a bit. In the meantime, here are a few pics from our house summer (where did the time go?!):

The Nest  has finally found its home in our home! I don't care how it
works to be honest — it could not be prettier :)

(Since by day I am a graphic designer, I appreciate all the nice packaging as well)

The deck was stained! It's not the final color, but it was recommended
to us to go light at first and let the wood settle/acclimate. It gives us a
chance to get used to the color, too, and decide where to go from here next year.

The new Rubix side table from DWR has landed in our LR. Happy
with how it looks, and just a bit more to go in here!

Next up we need a piano bench (undecided) and a table for the opposite
side of the couch – thinking the classic Platner side table would be a good
fit there. Here it is:

Acquired this fabulous print of Palm Springs poolside by Slim Aarons a few weeks ago—
couldn't be more in love. It's at the framer's now, but will be going in this bathroom with the green tinted mirror.

So as far as next steps beyond this summer... we've been working on the garage planning. We have plans (started), have a contractor selected and on board, and are going to get rolling SOON! I will put up a post about that in the next week. Check back in..

Here we go again :)

Room for Living

Hope everyone is having a good summer so far!

We finally have a living room that looks like, well, looks like someone lives here, so I thought I'd post updates...It's quite lovely to walk through a room and actually have furniture in it, albeit minimal furniture!

Living Room - Current Status

Those chairs you see in the background (Dining Room) are the Saarinen Executive Armchairs that I found on One Kings Lane several months back. It took a while to figure out what to recover them in, and thanks to everyone who cast their vote:

Before: Vintage mid-century banana yellow vinyl !!

After: Grey soft leather circa 2013 :)

For an early birthday present, Mike got me some accessories I wanted. They are from a Czech company called Sklo who handblows glass into sculptural objects – each piece is different. Here are a few I love:

I ended up with one of their Glass Knots in white, which went in the Dining Room

And the Tilt Vase in champagne, which is on the temporary end table
beside the couch in the Living Room

Speaking of temporary end tables...we are considering the following for a more permanent solution:

Helix table, DWR

Eames Side Table with Walnut Top

Rubix Table – with Various Tops

Platner Side Table

Decisions to happen sometime soon(ish)...

The last thing I'm really excited about was a surprise score from the Floor Sample Sale happening right now at DWR: A Wishbone Chair from Hans Wegner – for our office. 

Wishbone Chair from Hans Wegner

Don't you love a good find?!

Backyard Party Time

It's nice to finally have a yard to celebrate in, and our first backyard party went really well! We did dinner for 16 on our new deck...family-style passed dishes, mostly ready ahead of time, so not a lot of stress during party time. The first of many of these we hope!

These are the only pictures I have before I overserved myself, so there you have it :)

Deck Week

Deck week has been pretty exciting!

We've had the deck itch for a while and found a great builder in Jeff Waldron from Charlotte Decks and Porches.

We wanted a low platform deck, with clean lines and no embellishment. This fits well with the low, wide shape of our ranch house and adds to the mid-century vibe. Here are a few decks we drew inspiration from:

Our deck vision came to life in this drawing from Paragon Landscape:

Initial design model showing the deck  

And off we went!~

First step: lay the footings

Second step: the frame

...Continued frame...

...Laying the deck boards on top – before they get screwed down...

... and the final product:

The finished deck!!
(before stain)

Note: the new grasses Mike planted on the left corner of the screen porch! We love the vibe and want to put more in the yard. Something for another day...

Mad About Modern

Kind of a break from my normal posting, but wanted to share pics of Mad About Modern, the mid-century modern home tour that was in Charlotte a week ago Saturday.

My team from work did the graphics and I also served on the committee this year which entailed helping to curate the houses, run the tour day-of, etc. Although we decided not to show our house this year, it was fun being a part of things.

Some of these houses were super-cool, and I am so glad that Mad About Modern is a part of Charlotte!

Event poster

Direct mailer

Yard sign

Here are some of the houses:

This one was 2 unit combined inside of this mid-century apt building 

This year's tour had the biggest turnout yet and raised a good amount of money for Historic Charlotte, the non-profit organization who hosted it. Good all around~