Mid-Century Metal Lawn Chairs -- SWOON!

 

I may not have always been sold on the mid-century look (I lived it baby!) But through my entire antiquing career I never failed to be in love with the old metal lawn chairs.  You know, the kind that used to sit in front of roadside motels.  I have bought and sold DOZENS.  But I have also managed to keep about a dozen.  

And out of those I am only donating one to the newest AirBNB.  The double glider.  It still glides like a breeze.  While I do love the two-tone chippy paint, not everyone is convinced that they want to sit on rust.  So I revved up my palm sander and smoothed down all of the rough spots.  

Here it is after the first coat of orange.

I sprayed all the "bare" or rusty spots with a Rustoleum primer (because I happened to have a can). But I don't think this step was necessary with the quality of spray paint Rustoleum makes.  I decided to do the chairs in the firepit area in citrus colors. The glider is Rustic Orange.  

On the same day I started working on the glider, I found four matching mid-century (folding!) metal lawn chairs on Facebook Marketplace for $150.  They will eventually be gold and white. We have a fantastic area for a firepit, and these chairs will be surrounding the firepit.

How Do You Feel About Wallpapering?

 

What sane person would wake up in the morning and think -- "YIPPEE, wallpapering day!"  I personally am excited about the day AFTER wallpapering, when I can just sit back and admire the finished product.  Both my husband and I dread wallpapering.  But, it had to be done. The four strips of wallpaper we hung on the entry wall about killed us.  (Don't worry, the seams weren't dry yet when I took the photo.)

We prepared the wall carefully, which was a previous post. This particular wallpaper did not have glue on the back.  So we purchased glue, sponge, and a wallpapering supply kit from Home Depot.  The total amount came to $50. We purchased two rolls of wallpaper for $60 from Facebook Marketplace.  Love it, reminds me of Costco footstool we had when I was a kid. 

Not something that I would choose to do again..... but I do love the end result.

(I got the coat rack off of Etsy, I think it was about $75)

Finished Painting The Walls In The Living Room

 

It has taken me exactly a week to finish this step.  

Tearing out baseboard.  Caulking.  Several cut-in coats with a brush. And two coats of rolling.

Get ready for the plantar fasciitis!

I still have to touch up the white trim before I can say that the living room is completely painted.  Then there is wallpapering the entry wall, replacing the ceiling fan with a light fixture, putting up curtains and hanging coat hooks.  But progress is being made!

New Gravel Driveway And A Bonus

 

Our driveway is just below the peak of a hill -- hard to see if cars are coming from that direction.  So we decided we definitely needed a pull-though drive.  My husband called for a gravel quote on Wednesday, and the guy was there on Thursday morning to give us an estimate.  WITH his John Deere tractor.  

Yes, we wanted him to do the driveway.  Then OK, he will just take out a bush that is in the way while he is here.  And what about those two bushes?  Yep, he took those out with his JD too.  And stuck all three of them all in the back of his flatbed and drove them away.  (It was going to take us 1-2 days to get rid of those bushes!)

He said he would be back here at 7:15 Friday morning with the gravel, and finish the job.  

Why aren't all home improvement businesses like that?

Local Nature Photography Wall Art

 

We live within the borders of a conservation area.

Our new AirBNB house is just outside of the conservation area.

Between the two properties we will own over 10 acres,

and we love being in the midst of such a beautiful area.

We both enjoy dabbling in photography.

So it shouldn't be surprising that the majority of art for the new house will be

nature photography from our area.

These are some of the photographs that we have taken that will

end up on the walls of the newest AirBNB.

The black & white filter gives them a stark, modern look

that exactly suits the mid-century vibe we are looking for.

And ordering inexpensive prints of our own photographs is pretty cheap,

which is definitely what we are looking for. 

All will have black frames, to add a sense of continuity.

We bought six 11"x14" frames from Hobby Lobby, for a total of $40.

The photography prints were just $55 for all of them.

Some of the smaller photos will probably land in thrift store frames.

We are adding black frames and local nature photography to

running list of themes.  It may seem strange the wall art was the topic of so many of our posts,

but art is very important to us.  And it sets the tone for the rest of the house design.

Local Junk Store Finds With A Faux Mid-Century Look

We have a junk store that calls itself a "flea market" in our little town.  I visited it once, and one look was enough.  But my husband said that they had crocheted afghans and I should check them out.  I didn't get any afghans but I did find:

Triangular Glass Coffee Table -- $25.  Faux mid-century, but after pricing a few this looked marvelous.

Used in living room, fits great.

Pink Shag Rug -- $13.  Yes, I had actually been looking for a small one. Used in den reading nook. Starburst mirror wall decor -- $14. Decorating bathroom wall.  I am still looking for a vintage sunburst clock (how many of those did I sell in my time?!!)  Furry top stool -- $18. Used in den reading nook.

Green & White Vases -- $19 altogether.  One more green vase and I will have completed my collection of pottery for the MCM house. Didn't end up using green one, donated it to thrift store.

We Discovered A Mid-Century Shop!

 

(This beauty is on our wish list.)

Constantly trolling through Facebook Marketplace has paid off in a variety of ways.  One is discovering a mecca of retro.  Hakaar's Bazaar in Springfield, MO -- purveyors of mid-century wares.  Furniture, artwork, macrame, lighting, kitchenware, decor galore.  A very dangerous place to visit if you are trying to fill an entire house.  On our first visit we came away with:  

A blonde corner desk & chair (chair not shown) -- hard to envision anything cooler than this, but there actually were more max extreme cool stuff in the store -- we just couldn't afford them.  And my husband didn't manage to take pics of them. (I bought the brass table lamp at my thrift store for $5 after my sister reminded me that we had a "table lamp" in the 1970s.)

THEEE most awesome swag light.  I have been looking for a swag light to hang in the entryway.  Something great for the wow factor.  And this was it. Update:  really wanted the light hanging in the front entry.  but it was too long, and the entry was too short.  so the light ended up in the den. Lastly a blonde cabinet, I can think of about three places to put it.  I am not going to tell you how much we paid for these, because the price tag doesn't fit our "Mid-Century On A Budget" mantra.