A Modern Ball Clock for the Bedroom

Hubby and I have been sleeping in the dining room, while we finish up the walnut bed we've been working on.  We just need to sand and oil the wood and once it cures, we can sleep in the bedroom again!  Truth be told, I kind of like camping in the dining room because we wake up to the lake view - and all of the neighbors spying on us with telescopes, surely wondering what the heck we're up to now.  While I had the opportunity, I gave the bedroom a deep clean and tweaked a few things.  I still love the changes we made last year: the green tweed curtains, the new mid-century poster art and mid-century inspired dressers - and those gorgeous sliding closet doors!  

Since then, I've barely made any changes because I just love the look we created so much - but sometimes a little tweak, here or there, helps keep a room feels fresh and interesting.  It seems so insignificant, but I changed up my accessories - which feels like a big deal to me, because I've pretty much kept the vase and bowl situation since we first moved in:  

I'm still on the hunt for a third West Germany Pottery vase (I'm picky about the right scale - and price) but I was sent this George Nelson inspired Ball Clock and I knew the bedroom would be the perfect spot.  If I've been bundled up reading at night, I can check the time without reaching for my phone - and ultimately getting sucked into Pinterest for two hours.  After eschewing watches and clocks for so many years (who needs one when my phone is glued to my hand?), I'm going old school and adding clocks to every room! 

I'm so thrilled with this new addition, it looks like it was made for the room, doesn't it?  It complements my mid-century Hungarian fashion posters so beautifully because the beech wood balls are the perfect colors!  The quality is really gorgeous too. 

The clock was sent to me from Regency Shop, an online retailer that sells gorgeous mid-century modern inspired decor pieces.  They sell other classics like this sleek Barcelona-inspired chair, this gorgeous chesterfield sofa (it needs a home in a gorgeous home library), and this mod Arne Jacobsen Egg chair.  Plus Regency Shop rejects manufacturers that use child labor, which I appreciate as a consumer.

Sometimes I'm slow to change something in my home because I love everything I have, so I need to find a new home for something before I replace it (which is why I was so thrilled to find a new home for my Marimekko pillows in the guesthouse!).  But switching up my accessories a little opened the floodgates and I'm feeling open to more changes...   

If I can find a spot for my DIY embroidered throw pillow, I'd like to swap in this blue Hungarian embroidered pillow I inherited - throw pillows are in my heritage!  This shade of blue only pops up in the bedroom art, so this is the only room it really suits. 

I love a small house because small changes feel like a much grander refresh, but on the other hand sometimes I just run out of room for the things I love.  I love slow design for this reason: I like taking the time to make a room feel perfect.  I won't tease you with any more mini-updates - the next time you see my bedroom, I'll be showing off my brand new bed, which is a pretty major change for us!

This post was sponsored by Regency Shop but all words and opinions are my own.   

A New Mid-Century Modern Inspired Exterior Door

Last year I asked you to weigh in on my door dilemma: paint the existing door (which Hubs and I didn't love), save up for an expensive, mid-century style door that we did love, or buy an affordable replacement that was better, but not perfect.

Here's the door we had:

At the time, I had a voting widget embedded in the post and 75% of you thought I should just paint the existing door, while 20% said keep questing (although some of you cheated and said paint the door and keep questing).  There were some great comments too, with some excellent ideas, and I am so thankful for the sound advice.

In the end, I took your advice and painted our existing door aqua, using Beauti-Tone's Cyan Sky (C13-3-0681-4). 

Paint was a fabulous, budget-friendly way to spruce up the old door.  In a bright and cheery shade of aqua, it already made me smile, but I have to admit that we still didn't love it.  As luck would have it, I recently had the opportunity to partner with a Canadian home improvement store to help our little lake house make a better first impression.

Although we lived with the aqua-painted original door for about a year, these days we're greeted by this beauty:



You'll never guess where it's from...  

Home Hardware!  Canadians, are you a little surprised?  I kept ogling Crestview Doors, thinking that was the only option for an exterior door with mid-century style.  I was so wrong!  The floor models at our local Home Hardware store are very traditional, but once we started to peruse catalogs for special order doors, we found a bevy of modern exterior doors, including the door we ordered - the Linea, by Standard Doors.  (It's from the Sophistica Collection).

The Linea has the mid-century feel we wanted, plus it lets a lot of light into our formerly dark and windowless hallway.  The glass is deceptive because it actually provides a lot of privacy by completely blurring any shapes more that a foot or so away from the door.  It actually rates a 9/10 for privacy in the brochure.  So although you can tell from outside if someone is standing right in front of the door, you can't see what (or who) is inside the house from outside.

It was professionally painted, courtesy of Home Hardware, using Beauti-Tone's Cyan Sky.  I liked the original shade of aqua from Beauti-Tone so much that I wanted to use it again for this door.  It was painted with an alkyd (oil) primer, followed up with a trim and door topcoat, from Home Hardware.

We had already replaced the old door hardware with a nice brushed silver knob and lock set, so we just moved that over to the new door.

The hallway has seen a lot of changes: we've painted the walls and trim white, updated the light fixtures, thermostat and smoke detectors, and also the door hardware.  It's a much brighter, happier space now!  Some more changes might be on the horizon, though, because we've considered replacing the linoleum floor in the entry (and kitchen, laundry room, and powder room).  We originally thought we'd put it off until we renovate those spaces and we invest in something like tile or concrete, but it's been driving me nuts so we've been looking at affordable options for the interim. 



What a difference a door makes!

 
Thanks to Home Hardware for providing the Linea door and the Beauti-Tone paint.  I really shouldn't be surprised that I found something so stylish at Home Hardware because that's also where we purchased the fabulous green glass vessel sink in the townhouse - we were so smitten with it, we drove to a neighboring town to purchase it!  I wasn't paid or prompted to provide a positive review - it's pretty much a given that an aqua door with a mid-century feel will get my approval :)

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A Look at Big Chill Appliances

I often share snippets of my beloved aqua kitchen on Instagram.  I had to laugh because a couple of folks recently left comments there asking, "is there a retro aqua fridge somewhere in this aqua kitchen?".  No, but I wish there was!  I've even pondered painting my ugly old fridge turquoise, but I think it looks less offensive white.  When Hubby and I first bought the lakehouse, I already had the quick kitchen spruce in mind, but a long-term renovation plan was ready in the wings as well.  I hoped to one day copy every inch of the beautiful kitchen below: timeless white cabinets, gleaming grey subway tile and a pale aqua fridge.

Pinecone Camp (for House & Home magazine)

These days, my dream kitchen looks more like this:

Chatelaine

Streamlined white upper cabinets and warm wood lower cabinets - something with mid-century modern flavor - barely even look like they belong in a kitchen.  The back painted glass, in lieu of tile, is stunning and I'd even want to copy the idea of affixing art with suction cups for flexibility.  I'd make one addition to the kitchen above, though: a candy coloured fridge!  A kitchen I pinned a year ago showcases how beautifully a vintage-inspired fridge in a delicious hue pairs with warm wood cabinetry.  Perfection!

No matter how my plan for our dream kitchen changes, the colourful fridge is a constant!  There are a few options on the market right now for fridges with modern conveniences and retro style.  I've casually shopped each website, imagining which one I'd like to purchase in the event that a canvas sack, with a black $ painted on the side, falls into my lap.  I keep finding myself on one website in particular: Big Chill, founded in Boulder Colorado in 2001, is a stand-out in the world of vintage appliances and I'm totally smitten with their Retro Line of fridges, dishwashers and stoves.  Obviously I gravitate toward the turquoise shades, but I can't say I haven't been tempted by the jadeite green and pink lemonade (the Big Chill Retro fridge can actually be ordered in one of 200+ custom colours).  I appreciate that you can order a swatch to see the colour in your own home.  Better still, the list of features, including the stamped metal body, automatic moisture control, temperature management system - even an optional ice maker! - ensures that I wouldn't have to sacrifice function for form.  They're even Energy Star efficient.  Doing a little comparison shopping, the prices seem very reasonable - especially compared to the competition.  Plus they're assembled in Boulder, and I'm always happy to see jobs kept in North America.

Each company in this market puts their own spin on the vintage-inspired fridge, but I really like the styling of the Big Chill appliances; the chrome trim looks very authentic and the classic pivoting handle is such a thoughtful detail.  I always know the styling of something has won my heart when I find myself drawn to a non-turquoise version.  In this case, I even find myself admiring the grey (the grey!!), which is a beautiful and finger-print free alternative to the stainless steel appliances Hubby lusts after.

There's something equally striking about the Big Chill Pro Kitchen Series, which boasts more modern shapes, but is also available in whimsical colour options.

Someday I'll be able to trade in our rickety white fridge for something from Big Chill.  For now, I'll have to settle for ogling these beauties online.

This post was sponsored by Big Chill but all opinions, words, and salivating are my own.  Photos, excluding the first three - the sources are linked to below each - were chosen by me from the Big Chill gallery.  I was not encouraged or prompted to provide a positive assessment of the company or products - a Big Chill Retro fridge is definitely on my personal wishlist and it was a lot of fun to pour over pictures.  I didn't realize until writing this post how many celebrities choose Big Chill!

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A Little Never Before Seen Eye Candy

Did you know Budapest has daylight savings time too?  We didn't.  I'm straining to hear the church bells to figure out just what time it is (our clocks all disagree), but in the meantime, I've decided it's time for a little eye candy!

From time to time (I'm really committed to this theme and feeling silly today), I like to do a round up of glorious inspiration from the web, whether an array of beds I'd like to curl up and cough in, or a designer whose work makes me want to rethink everything, but I'm very aware that sometimes we tend to see the same (great!) images circled about the web and in print.  So, when I can, I like to share something new, like photos of the townhouse (which is getting a facelift in the new year) or recent DIY projects or another blogger's home that needs to be circled around the web.  In Budapest, I have even better access to some nifty new inspiration, soaked up from a few events from Budapest Design Week (see here, here, and here) and now, from two local design/decor shops.

While it isn't the white + bright I normally gravitate toward, the rich hits of colour in this shop definitely had me at "hello".  We were actually en route somewhere else and, like moths to a flame, found ourselves inside, snapping photos. 

I like the idea of black walls paired with white walls, punctuated by rich, graphic artwork and bold accessories (those lamps are huuuge).  Black would just suck the light out of our currently bright and airy house, but in this sizable retail space with gigantic windows, it works beautifully.

Literally, before we could even think about getting back on track to our destination, we stumbled into an art deco and retro shop.  Having just seen the art decor exhibit, we were really curious.  An American couple were in the shop too, but they weren't just ogling, they were visiting different art decor shops and buying and shipping things home! 

Even if we didn't take anything home, I picked up a great idea for display: I think I go wrong buying little decorative items here and there and then trying to make them "work," when a collection of similar pieces just looks so effortlessly good.  My only suggestion: this collection needs more!

With no time to dawdle, we finally got on our way and reached our destination, where we bought a little eye candy of our own.  Details soon!

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