Anne and Gary's
Mid-Century Modern Home

Archive for the 'Remodeling' Category

IKEA vs Painted Plywood

Sunday, January 6th, 2008
Dining Room Table
It is interesting how this house really lets us know if something will work.It’s a contemporary house; but the contemporary is 50 years old. We’ve found with furniture that what was contemporary in the 1950’s and 1960’s immediately settles in and feels right.We’re starting to find the same thing with the kitchen.

Months ago, when we first bought our house, we drooled over modern kitchens in magazines like Dwell and Natural Home as well as in the IKEA catalog.

We considered going that route, but something didn’t feel right.
Dining Room Table
As you can see from the pictures on the left, our hall and bathroom have the original plywood/particleboard painted cabinetry. It’s not a choice everyone would make, but we’ve come to realize the kitchen cabinets need to match.We wondered if it were even possible to have matching cabinets.A trip to Millers Custom Cabinets, a business that has been in La Grande since Anne grew up here in the 1950’s, answered that question.

We are now working with Ben, a cabinet maker at Miller’s, to help us return the kitchen cabinets to their original style.

Stay tuned as we discuss materials, layout, and color!

Posted in Kitchen, Remodeling | 5 Comments »

Thinking about a kitchen remodel.

Saturday, October 20th, 2007
Place Setting
We are starting to give serious thought to remodeling our kitchen.The picture on the left is the kitchen as it is now.

Though the existing cabinets give the kitchen a cozy country cabin look, that isn’t really what the house is all about.

We want to bring the kitchen more into the mid century modern look in which it was originally designed. One thing we will be doing is putting on different cabinet doors that go better with the style of the house.

We are also planning on installing new counter tops. We are still looking around for a material we like but haven’t made a decision yet. It will definitely not be granite.

We are planning on putting an Energy Star refrigerator in the space where the fake bricks currently are and moving the oven under the stove.

The lighting for the room is inadequate but we haven’t figured out what to do with it yet. That is definitely going to be a challenge.

At this point we are still in the “early confused stage” of planning. However, we are to the point where we are ready to have a contractor come out and discuss how realistic our preliminary ideas might be.

Once we’ve talked to the contractor we will regroup and figure out what we want to do next.

Posted in Kitchen, Remodeling | 2 Comments »

Air Conditioning, 1950’s Style

Friday, August 10th, 2007

Anne and Gary at Home
In the mid-1950’s in the La Grande Oregon, where our house is located, people went to the Granada Theater to experience air conditioning.

Although our house thankfully now has a heat pump, there was no air conditioning in the home originally.

The builder did, however, include a large transom on the north side of the living room. When we bought our home, the transom was caulked shut.

This spring, Gary spent a morning prying out the caulking and doing a little sanding. The transom now easily opens and closes.

Fast-forward to this summer. On really hot days, and we have had several this summer, the heat pump is a necessity. On many days, however, breezes provided natural air conditioning in the morning and in the late afternoon and evening.

Anne and Gary at Home On those days, we use the heat pump just to take the edge of the heat in the afternoons.Enjoying the breezes from the Blue Mountains which flow through the living room from the transom is pure pleasure for Anne.

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We start painting.

Sunday, February 25th, 2007

Gary Painting
Although we seem to be spending most of our time getting settled in and planning, we are starting to do some actual work on our home.

We’ve spent a lot of time thinking through the color palette for the living/dining/kitchen areas. Since they are functionally one space, we want the colors to work together.

We’re eager to get rid of the blue which you can see in the panel behind Gary, as well as on the fireplace. We like the drama of the red but want to use the warm Yolo colors.

As you can see we’ve started repainting the back wall of the living room/dining rooms in Clay 4 of Yolo paints. Though the color looks pretty orange in the picture, it has a nice warm tone in real life. We’re conteplating using some of the grain series as well. Stay tuned.

We’re getting set to have some much needed electrical work done and have also made a preliminary call to the local solar/alternative energy guy about what our options are.

Things are moving along slow but sure.

Posted in Remodeling | 1 Comment »