Jackpot!, originally uploaded by Atomic Village.
I’d love to change my luck and win this giveaway for some fabulous cosmetics! Who wouldn’t want to win a free beauty kit to look your vintage best!
You can enter yourself but if you win I expect you to hand over the lipstick!
http://missdolliedeville.blogspot.com/2010/10/100-follower-giveaway-rockabilly.html
starburst clock, originally uploaded by Atomic Village.
As of late, I have been getting the house ready for our first big “get together” – the Gardner’s baby shower. In doing so I have been shopping for items to fill out the spaces on the cusp of completion ever since renovations were finalized. One such purchase was this beautiful starburst wall clock. I have the perfect spot in the living room all picked out! And what a surprise it was for me that in my search for vintage patio cushions that I found this amazing 2 tiered, hairpin legged outdoor side table!! There were other small purchases that included this vintage furniture tag. Check out those graphics! I am patiently awaiting the mail and my beautiful new items!! Thank goodness for technology today or I may not have these new treasures entering my life.
Sneak Peek, originally uploaded by Atomic Village.
I have been missing in action the past few weeks as we moved back into the house and then followed that up with some out of town visitors. Updates are coming!! For now, here is a peek at the living room finalized!
Formica Skylark Boomerang, originally uploaded by Atomic Village.
Oh, the countertops! I knew months before renovations began what I wanted as far as countertops. The laminate-topped ones that existed in the house were cheap, ugly, and damaged. They were one of the first things I wanted to change about the house. I ordered swatches from Formica of their Classics Collection featuring “throw back” designs of their vintage patterns. It was an easy sell for me and I wasn’t really interested in much more after I saw how fabulous these classic designs are! I was torn between a few of them but basing my decision on my kitchen collectibles and the fact that I knew the walls were going to be yellow, I chose Formica’s Skylark Boomerang.
Red accents, blue countertops, and yellow walls – the Primaries! I couldn’t be happier with my choice. The countertops were installed by Boney’s Woodworking in Biloxi. And I have to say they look better than I could have imagined. I may be more excited about my kitchen than any other room and it wasn’t on our original to-do list for the house! My how things change in a matter of months.
Floors Revealed, originally uploaded by Atomic Village.
Right before our little getaway to Tennessee, the carpets were finally pulled back to reveal what we would be working with in refinishing the hardwoods. Much to our surprise they are in pretty decent shape. The closets, hallway, and front entrance were painted at some point a crème color. There are some dark “pet stains” we will have to contend with in the living room and one of the bedrooms. Then there are the patched areas that will need replacing including the portion of the dining room floor that had been butchered. But all in all we were pleased with what was hiding under the carpets. It’s very exciting to know we will finally have hard woods. Tonight is literally the eve of the day they begin work on them and I can’t believe it is finally here. This is also starting to mark the end of the 6 hard months we have worked. In just a couple of weeks we will be moving back into our house and finally able to enjoy the fruits of our labor.
Blogged AtomicRenovation.com, originally uploaded by Atomic Village.
At a certain point early in the renovations came a surprise. We weren’t originally planning to replace the roof, just a few shingles that were mismatched as the roof appeared to be in decent shape. Then one night I was watching television some droplets starting interrupting my line of sight. Sure enough, the roof was leaking! As the storm continued and the night went on, other parts of the ceiling started to show water damage. Not a good thing at all! As a temporary fix we tarped the roof until we could get it looked at by a professional. Ultimately, it was decided that the roof needed to go.
Staying period is something I wasn’t necessarily concerned with regarding the roof. We went with architectural shingles due to their durability and their wind shear rating. Architectural shingles weren’t even introduced until the 1970s so they certainly fall into not being conventional to my mid-century modest home. Also, traditionally a lot of roofs in the 1950s were very neutral in color however I chose to go with more of a grey tone, with specks of blue. I knew we were considering shutters and I imagined if we did this, I would paint them blue to compliment the yellow brick of the house. So, I took all of this into account when choosing the color of the shingles.
It was neat to watch the roofers work. They were like a well-oiled machine and after only a day and a morning they were done. I am very pleased with the results. You can see in the photo how great the new roof looks with the new windows.
Blog Updated!, originally uploaded by Atomic Village.
Now that all the flooring is up, the nasty carpet is long gone with the roof dumpster, and the hideous tile from the kitchen has been chipped away, I got the express challenge of picking out flooring for the kitchen and bathroom. In the rest of the house we will be refinishing the original wood floors but I needed something extra special for the other rooms. Lately all of the renovations are going so fast that I don’t have time to do as much research as to Mid-Century staples as I did, with say the windows. So, I went with my gut and that “designs eye”.
Originally I wanted hard tile in the kitchen until a little “issue” reared its ugly head. As I mentioned in my last post, when removing the carpet in the dining room we found that half of the floors had been removed and replaced with plain planks. We weren’t sure if we would have to pull the kitchen flooring through the dining room in the case that the floor was irreparable. We are trying to be cost effective with still getting what we envision for the space. So, when looking for flooring I tried to keep in mind what would go with the 1940s mahogany dining room set and still look classy in the room should we not be able to save the hard woods.
We visited the flooring store and I thumbed through modern laminates, woods, and vinyl. Nothing was appealing or close to my vision. It was then that I asked to see the vinyl composite tile. I was interested in something more of a commercial grade. I ended up going with Azrock’s Cortina in Autumn Haze which mimics a traditional 1950s linoleum, especially with it’s tone, streaky design, and when alternating the pattern by rotating the tile. When bringing the samples home I am so pleased with how it matches both the cabinets and the walls!
I have to also mention that after pulling all the carpet we found that we DO NOT have to run the VCT into the dining room after all but there will be a bit of an overlap as to have the vinyl flooring the threshold for the backdoor. This was a bit of a necessity, as we tend to have heavy and at times wet traffic coming in from the pool.
I am so pleased with my choices with the flooring and can’t wait to see it all installed and refinished!
the floors come up!, originally uploaded by Atomic Village.
My blog is in some serious need of updating but life is crazy lately. Between work, finals, design projects and the home renovation I have little time for anything else. We have officially moved out of our home so that it can be completed and are working diligently on moving all of our belongings to the storage bin outside.
So, the plan is to refinish the hardwoods throughout the house. I had pulled back the carpet in our bedroom months ago to reveal the original oak floors in desperate need of a face-lift and some patching.
Fortunately, my grandfather found some scraps of the old oak in our shed out back. However, when pulling back the carpet in the dining room, we discovered that half of the wood was missing and replaced with plain wood planks. We are not sure why someone did this but it causes a big dilemma for us.
Everything is riding on us getting all the furniture out so we can remove all of the carpet in the house to see what we are working with. Best-case scenarios the rest of the floors are fine and we can fix the dining room. However, should other rooms (like our bedroom) need further repairs, we will need an option for the dining room.
In the picture above you can see Tim and Mr. Odray have already removed some of the carpet in the dining room revealing the wood planks and are now removing the tile in the kitchen. You can also see the 70s orange linoleum below. I’m not a 70s kind of girl but I thought some of the retro community might love to see the vintage treasures hidden under the tile!
I made it!, originally uploaded by Atomic Village.
Today Pam over at RetroRenovation.com featured the new wall sconces I picked out for our dining room! It’s quite flattering that I was able to contribute something that other mid-century fanatics out there may be able to use in their renovations! I am truly honored. If you haven’t checked out Pam’s site, you should. She has a wealth of information on Mid-Century design and culture.
My Dream Sink!!, originally uploaded by Atomic Village.
I wanted to get away from windows for a second and talk about the day I met my dream sink. My husband and I took an impromptu trip to Chattanooga. While visiting, we dropped in on my great aunt and uncle who had the most fantastic sink in one of their bathrooms. I instantly fell in love and took a photo of it! I’m sure they thought I was a little goofy. Not even 2 weeks later my dear friend Gaela took me to a Habitat for Humanity store when I was visiting her in a neighboring town. As soon as I walked through the doors, my eyes met the same sink. I knew it was fate! And the price tag? $10!! It was just too good to be true.
And here is the photo I snapped only weeks before!
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