Practical Encylopedia of Good Decorating and Home Improvement

Sorry for the short hiatus is blogging- last week was quite busy around here.  I am back to the computer and have decided show my appreciation for your patience by showing you one of my favorite ever finds:  The Practical Encyclopedia of Good Decorating and Home Improvement (do you hear angels singing?)!  The PEGDHI comes in an 18 volume set of full color retro glory and was published in 1970. 

Want to know how to decorate with plaid or important things to consider when designing a vacation home? This is the perfect set for you!  My copy is rife with Post-it flags that mark photos I liked.  In the future, I'm going to try and post up a picture a week and tell you what I liked about the room or idea.  Here's a few photos to get you started.

This book is certainly unafraid of color

What an awesome rocker for a nursery- and those green cribs!  I think they might be unsafe...

Neat wall treatment, although it migh induce seizures.  I think it would be cool to do something similar with polyurethane instead of two different paint colors so it wouldn't be quite so hard on the eyes.

Collections: Salem North Star

Almost four years ago, I picked up my first two Salem North Star pattern small berry bowls at a San Leandro, CA garage sale (once a year, in May, the entire city does a yard sale- really fun!) for 50 cents.  Of course I was immediately hooked by the cool atomic-inpsired starburst pattern (in aqua, no less!) and have been on the hunt for more ever since.  Just recently I picked up an ice bucket at my favorite local thrift store, Thrift Town, but I've mostly had to grow my collection with the help of eBay.  This acutally is my everyday china, as much as it pains me to put it in danger of being broken.  What's the use of collecting something as functional as dinnerware if you're not going to use it? 

I love the teapot and the fact that some pieces are solid aqua and some have the starburst pattern.

One of my favorites- the free-form gravy boat. 

I occasionally make unnecessary gravy just so I can use it.

The salt and pepper shakers are cool, too. 

And you can never have to many serving bowls.

I think 12 might be enough of these mugs...

They look great in the cubboards

My most recent find- the ice bucket.  Now I need some tumblers.

Estate Sale Scores: Orange Kitchenware

In last week's post (about the buttons), I lamented "the orange Le Creuset pot that got away."  Well, this week I found another (almost as) cool vintage orange enamel paella pan with lid at another estate sale.  It will look great next to my orange sauce pots and my orange teakettle- all finds from the past two weeks! 

Very lightly used ORANGE paella pan with lid

So much better than a boring silver tea kettle, don't you think?

Latest Reupolstery Project: Slipper Chair

One day last fall Marc and I hit an estate sale up in Walnut Creek, CA. We went late in the day (around 2pm is LATE for estate sales) and we weren't really expecting too much. However, as we pulled up, I spotted these beauties in front of the garage. Two mid century chairs with beautiful teak wood bases (one shown below). We thought $40 for the pair was quite reasonable and we snapped them up, destined for a place of honor in our master bedroom.

Alright, so you have to look past the frumpy cushions and past-its-prime upholstery fabric. After spending months searching for the perfect fabric (tip for all you ameteur upholsterers out there- eBay is your best friend for cheap, high quality upholstery fabric), I finally got down to business over the Christmas break. I've still got one to do, but it feels great to be done with this one. I think since I've got the blog going, I think I'll do a little step-by-step how-to, so look for that in the future.

Begin the demo!

The great wood base, with the tag from 1967 still attached!

Ah the upholstery stapler with air compressor, a MUST have for upholstery work. Have I mentioned how much I love being married to a man who loves power tools?

The final result- although I think I might add a few buttons to the back.

Ashtrays as Art?

Now, I can't take credit for this idea, as it was really my friend Ashley who inspired me on this one. She has a retro/mid century kind of vibe to her decorating style, and when I went to her house for the first time, I was intrigued by some of the cool objects d'art she had decorating her place. They were being held up by plate holders and displayed like decorative plates...could they be?- yep, they were ashtrays. While I was (I must admit) a little disgusted at first, I realized that they were actually really cool and kinda, well, pretty! Many of them had all kinds of neat colors and glazes, and were really designed to be shown off in the fashionable mid century home. After I opened up to the idea, I started to see attractive ashtrays during my treasure hunting. What really cemented ashtray collecting with me, however, was the one we were given by Marc's grandmother (who is forever trying to give us things), which says "The Perchers" and had graced her home for over 40 years. Now I've got a small collection that I, like my good friend, display on plate holders in my house.

Our family heirloom ashtray

A great score: it's orange, it's fiestaware, and it's radioactive!

I swear the aqua things just find me now

I'm not sure this one is an ashtray, but it's pretty nontheless. It's made by Jacquin and has beautifuly jewel-toned crackeled glass along the rim.

A row of funky-shaped ashtrays graces our wine glass rack in the dining room.

My Atomic Color Palette, Color 1: Aqua

Walk into my living room and something will become readily apparent- this girl likes blue! But not just any blue- aqua blue, THE iconic mid century/Atomic Era color. One of my first aqua finds is probably my coolest, and in fact it plays a large role in my blog banner: my little aqua microscope. I picked it up a few years ago in the Salvation Army in San Leandro, CA (RIP), and it even came in it's own cool wooden box with some microscope slides and vials of questionable cleanliness. Now it has a place of honor as a bookend on my nifty room divider in the living room (a $30 estate sale score), and has served to inspire the room's color palette: aqua with pops of orange. More on orange in later posts!

Room Divider with open shelving, creates a bit of a foyer when you walk in the front door

Little aqua microscope finds a home

Perhaps our only "new" purchase from a furniture store- Our couch from Sphere Designs Furniture in San Francisco. The cool lamp came from a local consignment store.

Lane Acclaim side table in perfect shape- thank you estate sales! Check out that dove-tailed action on top...I'll devote a post to this line later- this is only the tip of the iceberg...

More Lane Acclaim- this time a side cabinet, and an estate steal at $5!!!

More cool dovetails...it's a signature of this line.

Knock-off RAR Eames Rocker with a cool eyeball chrome lamp. Check out those groovy I Dream of Jeannie lamps on the mantle

My husband's crowning acheivement- built-ins and a great mantle! I helped design it and do the finishing work, but he did all the heavy lifting.

Next project: Replace the beige marble fireplace surround with more mid century-esque white stacked stone.