modern thrifter

[ WHITE FLOORS: UPDATE ] It’s been about seven months...

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 21:58:00 -0800

[ WHITE FLOORS: UPDATE ]

It’s been about seven months since we painted our dark wood floors white. I’ve been getting a lot of questions lately about how they’ve been holding up, so I thought it was time to give an update.

First off, let me say that I have absolutely no regrets about going white. Our primary goal was to lighten our space in order to make the dreary Seattle winters more bearable and it really has helped (maybe not as much as sun would, but it’s the next best thing).

The second thing we had hoped to achieve was simplifying the color palette. The ceilings, floors, and baseboards were all different shades of wood. Add to that white walls, black doors and beams, and burnt orange painted window trim, and we had quite the hodgepodge. By painting the floors and baseboards the same white as the walls, we’ve eliminated a lot of competing elements. We’d still like to paint the window trim black, but that will probably be a spring or summer project.

If white floors sound like they are high maintenance, I can assure you, they are. But here’s the thing, they are no more difficult to care for than ultra dark floors. They both require daily sweeping and frequent mopping. We still have dark floors in the bedrooms and bathrooms, and I clean both colors at the same time. When I’m done, the white looks considerably cleaner than the dark.

I don’t want to be misleading—they have had their share of faults, too. One of the first problems that we ran into is scuffing. We are a shoes-off type of house, but there are always the random times where someone does come in without removing their shoes. Not all shoes scuff, but there are plenty that do. It’s not just shoes, either. In fact by far the most problematic scuffs have come from toys (presumably cars being raced at ghastly speeds). Most of the scuffing is very light and only really noticeable in bright lights.

The other problem we’ve discovered is that the paint is chipping in the cracks between the boards. The wood is an engineered click-together bamboo with about 1/8” dip between each board. When we sanded the floors before applying primer, we weren’t able to sand down into the cracks, so I’m assuming that’s why the paint didn’t adhere to those areas as well.

The chipping and scuffing are both confined to the heaviest trafficked areas—the hallway and the area near the entry between the dining and living spaces. The rest of the floors look almost exactly the same as when they were first painted. We’d still like to finish the other rooms this summer, and when we do, we might just add another coat or two on the damaged spots. Also, I should point out that most of the chipping occurred in the first few months. We really haven’t seen much change since then, so I would assume that it won’t get that much worse over time.

In the end, I guess I would say that white floors are not for everyone. But for us, they were an inexpensive solution that has made a huge impact on the ambiance in our home.

** Note: both of these photos were taken today in different areas of the house. The second photo is of the most heavily trafficked spot.

[ VALENTINES ] The kids and I have been making handmade...

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 11:10:26 -0800

[ VALENTINES ]

The kids and I have been making handmade valentines for classmates for several years now, and we always have a great time getting crafty together. This year I came up with the idea to make little spinner cards. If you never made something like this, the concept is separate images glued on each side of a stick. When the stick spins, the images combine like a very simple animation.

We decided to draw a heart on one side, and the arrow on the other, then glue them to sucker sticks that I purchased at Michael’s. When spun, the arrow appears to be going through the heart.

To make these a little cuter, I typeset the words with a rubber stamp printing kit that I found last year at the thrift store. This tool has been really handy, though changing out the letters can be somewhat frustrating. The kids each stamped their names on all of the cards, and then I made the mistake of letting them play with the stamper for a while. This is what the case of letters looks like now:

I had hoped that the kids would be able to do several of the steps involved in making these cards. But honestly, they turned out to be just a little too much for them to tackle. Instead, I’ve spent the last two days assembling fifty of them for their classmates. Not to worry though, I get plenty of enjoyment out of making things like these.

Happy Valentine’s day everyone!

[ GEORGE NELSON EXHIBIT ] There are still a few days left to...

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 21:09:38 -0800

[ GEORGE NELSON EXHIBIT ]

There are still a few days left to catch the George Nelson exhibit at the Bellevue Arts Museum (it ends this Sunday). We took the kids last friday for the free admission night, and I’m so glad we went. Though we would have been able to spend more time taking in the amazing furniture and architecture without the kids, it’s always nice to see how much they actually enjoy art museums.

Alden was particularly fascinated with the show, and couldn’t wait to get home to sketch some of the clocks that he’d seen. The next day he asked to get out some toothpicks and marshmallows, inspired by Nelson’s Marshmallow Couch, so that he could construct his own furniture.

Alden’s creation:

Clearly he’s more concerned with form than function—ouch!

[ OPEN SHELVES ] If you follow me on Pinterest, you might have...

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 22:01:00 -0800

[ OPEN SHELVES ]

If you follow me on Pinterest, you might have noticed that I’ve been pinning a lot of photos of kitchens with open shelves lately. Our plan is to (hopefully this summer) tear out most of the upper cabinets in the kitchen and replace them with simple shelves with possibly a short cabinet at the very top.

In the meantime, I’ve been anxious to try out some of the support brackets from Ikea to see if they will be up to the task of holding our dishes. We made the trek to Ikea last Saturday and picked up some wood brackets and a couple of shelves from the As-Is section. All total we spent $16 for this project.

I’m the type of person who would rather have completely bare countertops and surfaces. I had previously been storing my cookbooks and radio on top of my refrigerator, and my counter was starting to get cluttered with various dishes and bowls, so having a nice organized little space for everything makes me quite happy.

These are some of my favorite things in the kitchen: My new Jamie Oliver cookbook that my mom gave me, Meals in Minutes, which I highly recommend (really, this is such a great concept… three or four course meals with the recipes integrated so that everything finishes together), a pile of snack-sized cloth napkins that I’ve been creating out of fabric scraps, my Anri teak bowl, a butter crock that my in-laws gave me for christmas, my new little honey jar, and a cute radio so that I can listen to All Things Considered while I cook dinner.

I’ve mentioned before how much I dislike our travertine counters and backsplash. They have been on the demolition list since we’ve owned the house. When I was editing the photos, I thought I’d take a look at what the counters would look like without the backsplash (this is about a two minute photoshop job, so please don’t judge).

Though I’d still rather redo the entire thing, taking out the backsplash would be a huge improvement.

When it comes time to tearing out the cabinets and putting in the new shelves, I’d like to go with white brackets and thick wood shelves like this:

Do any of you have open shelves in your kitchen? Do you love or hate them? I’m guessing the top shelf gets a little dusty, but I’m hoping that having a cabinet at the very top will help a little with that.

[ DATE ] It’s rare for Patrick and I to get to spend time...

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 09:09:00 -0800

[ DATE ]

It’s rare for Patrick and I to get to spend time together during the day without the kids, so when he said he would be taking a half-day off this week, I quickly suggested a morning when both kids would be in school.

So, what did we do on our mid-week morning date? We spent the morning sipping coffee (purchased with a Chinook Book coupon) and browsing aisles of used sinks and toilets, reclaimed windows, and old light fixtures at the ReStore, of course. This is the type of place that is hard to get through with two kids in tow, and perusing the shelves without being distracted by the kids was a fun treat.

We went in with a long list of things that we’d hoped to find, but it’s not like shopping at Home Depot, and sometimes not a single wish list item can be found. We did find two boxes of really great click-together Marmoleum in a rusty red color that would have been nice in our office-turned-art-room, but there was only enough to cover 1/5 of the space, and purchasing additional boxes at full price would have set us back about $600. Sad.

In the end, we walked out with new drip pans for the stove (the current ones were here when we bought the house and have rusted beyond cleaning), some drawer pulls for a mid century kid’s sized desk that I scored for free from the curb, and some heat vent covers that we have now discovered are the wrong size and will have to be returned.

I’m sure this date sounds horribly mundane to most people, but I’m incredibly blessed to be married to someone who gets just as excited about used building materials as I do. And, tomorrow night we’ll be going out for a little more traditional dinner date.

[ MR. CHAIR ] This chair, the Mr. Chair by George Mulhauser for...

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 22:05:50 -0800

[ MR. CHAIR ]

This chair, the Mr. Chair by George Mulhauser for Plycraft, has owned the top spot in the chair category on my “maybe someday” list, for quite some time. Look at those arms and tell me you don’t want one, too.

Imagine my surprise when I received a text one evening last week from a friend who had just stumbled upon one at the Goodwill near my house. Here’s the photo that she sent me:

Granted, this wasn’t the gorgeous black leather that I’d been swooning over, but I was willing to compromise. The chair was in the collectables section and priced at $299—not cheap, but far less than we’d pay at a mid century shop.

My friend had warned us that the upholstery and wood were in very rough shape, but we were optimistic, and headed over right away. After examining the chair, we knew that we could restore the wood, but the upholstery was a different story. It was dirty, badly faded in spots, and it made a weird crunchy plastic sound when it was compressed. It was obvious, there was no saving the fabric. And with all of those tufts and buttons, it wasn’t a project we felt even remotely skilled enough to complete.

If we could have paid to have the upholstery done professionally, I think we would have brought it home, but there was just no way to live with it the way it was until we could save up to have the work done.

So, Mr. Chair, I do hope we meet again under better circumstances.

[ VELOCITY BRICK & MORTAR - CLOSING! ] Just this week...

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 21:53:00 -0800

[ VELOCITY BRICK & MORTAR - CLOSING! ]

Just this week Velocity Art & Design in South Lake Union announced that they will be closing their brick and mortar store and transitioning to an online only company. While this is sad news, there is a silver lining. Everything in the store is 50% off until it’s gone.

I made a quick trip into the shop this morning, and was surprised at how many great things were still left. It was hard to resist a Blu Dot Buttercup Chair at half the original price, but I persevered. I can’t wait to share what I did buy, but I’m keeping it a secret until we get it installed.

[ TWELVE LITTLE SPICE JARS IN TWO STRAIGHT LINES ] Okay, there...

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 11:17:41 -0800

[ TWELVE LITTLE SPICE JARS IN TWO STRAIGHT LINES ]

Okay, there may be a little too much Madeline happening in my house (books, movies, music boxes) but when I was setting these spice jars out yesterday to photograph, I couldn’t help humming the little Madeline tune.

I picked these up yesterday at Goodwill for 50¢ a piece. I couldn’t believe that there was an entire set of twelve still on the shelf. They had obviously been there a while because they were half off when I bought them.

They aren’t in perfect shape—there are a few dings and paint chips—but all in all, they are still pretty fantastic. The undersides of the corks are stamped “Sam Mann Designs” but I haven’t been able to find out much more about them.

My plan is to get a thin ledge shelf to set them on so that I can enjoy them instead of hiding them in a cupboard like my current messy spice heap. I’m also brainstorming how I can label them. Ideally, I’d get little vinyl words cut for them, but I haven’t checked into whether it would be budget-friendly or not.

On the shelf right next to the spice jars was this ceramic sugar/honey bowl. I already have a Franciscan sugar bowl that matches my teapot, so I plan to use this for honey. I’ve been buying my honey in bulk for a couple of years, and I’m excited to be able to keep a little of it out in something pretty.

I’ve been spending a lot of time in my kitchen the last few months (um, years), and now that the holidays are past, life is settling back into a more normal routine. January is always the time of year I get the urge to overhaul my whole house and it’s very likely that a little set of spice jars could lead to some cupboards being ripped off the wall.

[ THRIFT WRAP ] Yes, I’m one of those crazy meticulous...

Sat, 17 Dec 2011 20:23:00 -0800

[ THRIFT WRAP ]

Yes, I’m one of those crazy meticulous people who like to have all of the wrapping paper coordinated under the tree, but the cost of fancy wrapping paper and trim can add up quickly. This year I came up with some inexpensive gift wrap—thrift wrap, if you will—that I think looks pretty great.

Here’s what I bought:

5 yards of kraft paper in both brown and white from Paper Zone; $3 total

15 doilies (red and cream) at the thrift store; 75¢ for all

Giant spool of bakers twine (this thing will last for years to come); $10

1 sheet of scrapbook paper that I cut into gift tags; $1

Grand Total: $14.75 (and most of that was the twine, but seriously, I plan to use this for quite a while)

[ ICE CUBE CELEBRATES CHARLES & RAY EAMES ] I know this...

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 23:22:13 -0800

[ ICE CUBE CELEBRATES CHARLES & RAY EAMES ]

I know this video has been all over today, but how could I not post it here, too? Ice Cube may just be the perfect tour guide.

[ GARLAND ALTERNATIVE ] I have been wanting to trim my tree...

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 22:32:00 -0800

[ GARLAND ALTERNATIVE ]

I have been wanting to trim my tree with wool felt garland (like this) for at least the last three Christmases. I’ve looked into buying it and making it, but neither option is very affordable, and I just can’t justify spending that kind of money on trim.

An idea occurred to me while I was at the fabric store picking up some halloween costume supplies— red pom pom yarn! While it’s not an exact replacement for the wool felt, it still has a similar feel. I paid $6 for 50 yards of “Pomp-a-Doodle” yarn (enough for two trees!). Compare that to $15 for 8 feet of felt ball garland at west elm, or $38 for 15 feet on Etsy, and I think I found a pretty good deal.

[ THANKSGIVING NOSTALGIA ] Nothing makes me remember the...

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 14:24:29 -0800

[ THANKSGIVING NOSTALGIA ]

Nothing makes me remember the Thanksgivings of my childhood quite like the sound of the ball bearings spinning in a Foley rolling pin. Every year my mom would spend hours rolling out crusts for the many pies needed to feed our pastry loving family. Last year I found a beloved Foley of my own at Goodwill, and I can only hope that it gives my children the same warm memories.

Happy Thanksgiving.

[ MODERN DOOR CONVERSION ] A friend just emailed me a link...

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 12:22:00 -0800

[ MODERN DOOR CONVERSION ]

A friend just emailed me a link today to Crestview Doors. They are having a big sale until the end of November, and I wanted to pass along the savings to you. Crestview is different than most modern door companies because they sell conversion kits to use on existing solid wood doors. With their moderately priced window kits, you can change a solid door into something much more exciting.

Crestview is a new company to me, and until today I had never considered the possibility of converting a door. To get an extra 30% off of their clearance items, enter the code HOLIDAY at checkout.

If you are looking to update your door, but don’t want to go the DIY conversion route, be sure to check out Frank Lumber. We purchased a beautiful door there a few years ago, and I highly recommend them.

[ WAITING ] It was nearly two months ago that I placed my order...

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 10:15:00 -0800

[ WAITING ]

It was nearly two months ago that I placed my order with West Elm for our new living room rug. It was on backorder at the time, and so we waited and waited. Two weeks ago we finally received a letter informing us that the rug was out of stock indefinitely and that our order had been cancelled.

Emails keep flooding into my inbox from West Elm making other rug “suggestions” but really, they all cost more money than we care to spend right now.

So for now, we wait, trying not to notice the dingy, too-small, wool rug that currently resides in the living room. Waiting has never been a bad plan for us, though. It has kept us from several impulse purchases, and often allows us time to search out a really great deal.

In far better news, next week we are purchasing a much needed new (used) car for our family. Our current cars are twelve and twenty-two years old—obviously, buying a car isn’t something we do very often. The last time we purchased a car we had a very different financial philosophy and it took us five years to pay it off. This time around we will be paying cash up front and it feels really fantastic not to have any loans involved.

The car is coming from good friends who need to sell their vehicle because they are moving to Paris at the end of the month. It is working out fantastic for us all, since they will be able to drive it until just before they leave and not have to hassle with Craigslist buyers, and we are getting the exact car we’ve been wanting for a nice price, and from people we trust.

[ MODERN PYREX PATTERNS ] Pyrex has been all the rage for a few...

Sun, 13 Nov 2011 18:50:00 -0800

[ MODERN PYREX PATTERNS ]

Pyrex has been all the rage for a few years now, though for many, it’s been a lifelong love affair. I’ve collected a few pieces here and there, but a lot of the patterns I come across aren’t really my style. Lately though, I’ve been stumbling upon several more modern looking dishes that I’ve happily added to my stash.

My most recent finds have been a large Cinderella Bowl in Verde, refrigerator dishes w/ lids in Spring Blossom, and casserole dishes in Terra and an unidentified solid gray pattern.

Due to Pyrex’s increase in popularity, I’ve noticed the prices at the thrift stores going dramatically up, but when the condition is nice, I still think they are worth it. In an effort to organize and simplify my kitchen cupboards, I’ve been appreciating the lovely way the Pyrex dishes stack. Check out the Solid Cherry blog and see how they look in Madge’s cupboard!

While researching the pattern names for my new acquisitions, I found out there is a Pyrex Museum just short ferry ride from my home. How have I never known that before? I sense a day trip coming soon.

[ DOMINOS ] October was a blur for our family. We spent much of...

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 09:50:00 -0700

[ DOMINOS ]

October was a blur for our family. We spent much of the month fighting off illness and the rest of the month trying to catch up on everything that missed while we were sick. I still managed to get costumes finished for the kids, and of course, hit the thrift store a few times here and there.

Last week I brought home these large wooden dominos. I had no idea what they were when I picked them up and put them into my shopping cart. Eventually, I realized that the letters on the sides could be arranged to spell “dominos,” though, actually figuring out how the right order for the pieces was trickier than I expected. Each domino is about four inches tall and they are all held together on a long bolt with wing nuts on each end.

I love having things set around the living room that the kids can play with that aren’t traditional toys, so these are a great addition. The kids have been busy building towers and bridges, and setting them up in rows to knock over. In addition to the dominos, we have an old rotary phone, a vintage Royal typewriter, and these Plinc blocks from House Industries that are all set out for kid play.

[ THRIFTED SKIRT MAKEOVER ] One thing I’ve learned through...

Sat, 22 Oct 2011 22:28:45 -0700

[ THRIFTED SKIRT MAKEOVER ]

One thing I’ve learned through my years of thrift shopping—never trust vintage clothing sizes. I spotted this skirt in the “large” section and the tag was labeled size 12. I knew as soon as I held it up that it was much closer to my actual size than the tag indicated, but the length looked a little too frumpy for my style.

I inspected it a little further and decided that hemming it up was something that would be within my limited sewing knowledge. After cutting about ten inches off the bottom, I wound up with a fun $4 skirt to add to my wardrobe.

I don’t post much about fashion here, and by no means would I consider myself a style expert, but I do love mixing and matching thrifted pieces.

[ GOODWILL COSTUME CONTEST ] Need a little motivation to make...

Sat, 15 Oct 2011 09:17:29 -0700

[ GOODWILL COSTUME CONTEST ]

Need a little motivation to make your own costume (or your kids costumes) this year instead of buying them new off the rack? This year Seattle Goodwill is having a thrifted costume contest. Either post a photo of your costume from Goodwill on their Facebook wall or tweet a photo of your costume with the hashtag #sgwcostume anytime between October 10th –31st. The grand prize winner receives a $100 Goodwill gift card.

Want your costume featured here? If you enter the contest, email me a photo too (modernthrifter at gmail dot com) and I’d be happy to post them. If you haven’t seen the homemade costumes we’ve made over the years, check them out here.

Pictured above: Alden’s great white shark costume I made last year.

[ DOCOMOMO HOUSE TOURS ] Saturday we toured three Innis Arden...

Sun, 09 Oct 2011 20:56:02 -0700

[ DOCOMOMO HOUSE TOURS ]

Saturday we toured three Innis Arden houses on the Docomomo National Tour Day. I can’t tell you how excited I’ve been about getting an inside peek at this neighborhood, and I was not disappointed. The first house on the tour was the Sinclair House. Built in 1961 and attributed to architect William Bain Sr. The current owners have lived there since 2003, and since purchasing the house, have done extensive renovation, while keeping the integrity of the mid-century design. Interior photography wasn’t allowed during the tours, but there are several photos as well as more details about the history of the house in this Pacific Northwest Magazine article.

I wasn’t able to gather much information about the second house, the Schisler House, but I do know it was designed by Anker Molver and Rober Marquette. The original owners, Robert Matthiesen, a graphic designer known for his Seattle World’s Fair Century 21 Expo logo, and his wife, Eleanor, sold the house a few years ago to the current owner who agreed to keep the home in its original state.

Of the three houses, the last was my favorite. It is currently for sale and you can see extensive photos here. Make sure to take the virtual tour, too. The owners, Richard and Nancy Rust interviewed more than twenty prominent Northwest architects before finally selecting A. O. Bumgardner to design a house suited for them and their six young children.

I’m so glad I have a husband who enjoys spending the afternoon geeking out on modern architecture with me. Whenever we go to tours like these we come home inspired, motivated, and full of new ideas for our own house.

[ WEST ELM SNEEK PEEK ] Last night I had a chance to attend the...

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 11:07:00 -0700

[ WEST ELM SNEEK PEEK ]

Last night I had a chance to attend the West Elm Pre-Opening event at the new store in South Lake Union. The store was packed, and the photo doesn’t even come close to representing how many people were crammed into the store. By the time I left, it was shoulder to shoulder people and the temperature felt more like a tropical island than a blustery Seattle evening.

These aren’t really my kind of events (think Black Friday with alcohol), which I’m sure the bartender picked up on when I asked for a glass of red wine (really? they don’t want me to try to maneuver through hundreds of people and nice white couches with red wine?), but the chance to save 10% on the rug we’ve been eyeing seemed worth braving the crowd.

I was surprised at how much better all of the products looked in person compared to the catalog and online images. I would have expected it to be the other way around. Nonetheless, I didn’t succumb to the temptation to buy the beautiful $20 candle, or the $60 wool felt wreath that caught my eye. I stuck to my game-plan and ordered what I came for, the 9’x12’ embroidered flat weave rug. The store only stocks rugs up to the 5’x8’ size, so we are having it shipped to us. For some magnificent reason, we weren’t charged any shipping fees, not even the $25 large item surcharge. Combined with the 10% discount, we walked out with a great deal.

Here are a few of the items that I thought were particularly lovely:

White Wood Stool Side Table, $99

Martini Side Table, $129

Nest Core Homescent Candle (almond coconut), $19

Felt Ball Wreath, $59

By the way, the store is officially opened today at 10am. If you want to check it out for yourself they are located at 2201 Westlake Avenue across from Whole Foods.