Budget Minded Modernist
Cruising through the Scandinavian Design Center site today I saw a fun budget piece called the Roses stool. Designed by Peter Johansen, it is a glossy red lacquered wire stool suitable for both indoor and out….not a “unitasker”! $106 in US Currency. It could also work as a side table with a piece of acrylic or stone on top…
So, I’m going through some of my husband’s childhood photos and come across this little gem.  “Touch the lion boys, really…it’s OK!” Wow.  SO framing this – supersized.
….and I want it painted black…..
It was only a matter of time… I had to have a black room. I’ve seen so many beautiful ones in the past year and I wanted to play too. The dining room was one of the few rooms we hadn’t painted before moving in, so it’s been on the list for awhile. Feeling a bit worn out with the process of getting the siding out to bid, I decided to focus on a small, instant gratification project. Hello, French Bulldog Black from Martha Stewart’s Valspar line.
BTW, this is how we renovate. (That’s how the mailbox got done towards the end of the kitchen remodel.) When faced with a big project that is very involved with tons of planning and details, we get impatient and need to feel like we are moving forward…so we go completely off task for a weekend with a “play” project. I guess we could call it the attention deficit approach to remodeling, but neither of us have ever been diagnosed…..yet.
I worry that keeping the chair rail white will make it feel too traditional, especially because I have this big traditional buffet (that I want to go away!) I hate the temporary lampshades, and I don’t have a place for the cookbooks yet, but all in good time…I will have it worked out. This is just a start.
For those who like these kind of details: The photo over the buffet is by Jon Armstrong at Blurbomat. Deer “trophy” from Cardboard Safari. White MCM glasses are a recent score from my fave antique store in Chicago. Fawns are (2) Roselane and (1) Northern Pottery…all 3 found on e-bay. Dining room table is a Pottery Barn Shelton just scored half price a few months ago. Chairs are PB’s Marais knock-off, BUT I got them a few years ago at the Pottery Barn Outlet for $60 each. All in all, an extremely inexpensive makeover.
We’ve had our fix, and now it’s back to research, negotiations, no shows, fuzzy math….
I found this little gem at the flea market a few weeks back and in trying to research it, came up with very little. I was quite surprised..it’s not exactly high end, so I figured it was mass produced…but haven’t found a peep online or in my books. Manufacturer Jonken in Maspeth, New York.   US Patent # 2852221. The leg was supposedly patented in September 1958 by someone named Steiner.   The class is 248/188. That’s about all I could find.
The underside of the top is MDF and the glossy top is plastic or resin with a faux Mother of Pearl look. Oh well. It may remain a mystery, but my $15 bargain is very happy in its new home.
As always, I acknowledge the sin against art when I feature knock-offs. Moving on…
For those, like myself, who have always loved the gorgeous Giogali chandelier, your bargain has arrived. Designed by the Italian architect Angelo Mangiarotti in 1967, it is a timeless classic. Z Gallerie has taken it upon themselves to create their own version for only $299. No, these are not handblown Murano glass links…if they were, it wouldn’t cost only $299!  That said, I saw one in store and it does cast beautiful light through the glass much like the original does.
When our house was built in 1977, it was sided in a beautiful Western Cedar. If it were not for all the animal and water damage, it would still be beautiful, alas, it is not. It is their playground and they taunt me.
It has become apparent in our 9 months of living here, that our battle against the squirrels will never be over as long as the cedar is still on the house.  Indian chili pastes and sprays wash off and only last a short time. I think they are probably developing a taste for the capsaicin buzz by now anyway. As soon as we’ve patched up all the holes, they conspire in the woods and attack again….sometimes a new hole, sometimes right next to the old one….my personal favorite: just pick the highest, most difficult to reach hole and eat right through the patch to the hardware cloth, then chew just far enough around it to access the old hole. I have a metal plate in my hallway ceiling where one overzealous nester decided to try and chew through the sheetrock to greet new horizons. Looking up and seeing that beady eye looking back at you is enough to send any sane homeowner into a frenzied, irrational tailspin. As I frantically jab and scream at the hole in the ceiling with a coat hanger attached to an extension rod, my children must wonder, “What’s happening to Mommy?” Tree rats are turning me into Joan Crawford. That’s what’s happening to Mommy.
There is no way we can DIY this one. It would take years. We just can’t lift panels that heavy, that high by ourselves and so we are at that place we hate to be….having to hire out labor. I think T-111 will look cheap and present the same maintenance level. We’ve had a quote for Hardie vertical panel (smooth with trim piece battens) and are awaiting the one for Galvalume (12 inch rib in 26 gauge). As much as I love the look of the cedar, I just think the maintenance has already proved to be too much. Our house backs up to a state natural area and the wildlife is plentiful. We’d just prefer to admire the wildlife out the window as opposed to shaking our fists in the air like old farts every time we see a squirrel come near the house.
Our budget is, of course, the primary concern. No Ipe rainscreens here. We need an economical solution.
