To Serve or Not to Serve?

In the spirit of staging our home for sale, I starting moving around furniture yesterday.  In order to "set the stage", I put a serving table in our formal living room.  Now, I had a credenza in there previously and had toyed with the idea of putting a television in there, but it is such a taboo for me in a formal living room.  If we were staying here, I had envisioned it as a girl cave.  You know,  reading a magazine having a martini and relaxing.

Our living room is more of a lounge and we use it for entertaining.  So I moved the sofa table out of the office to make the office look less cramped, and put it in the living room and took the credenza out of the living room.  I decided on the sofa table verses a credenza because the room is so small and I liked the idea of flow and floor space.  Seriously though, why did I not have one in there before?What a great space to put cocktails and appetizers in the event of a party.  I'd much rather people gather in my living room than around my small kitchen island.

I think everyone should have some serving space in their living room.  I mean I'm all for gathering in the kitchen, but when you have a small kitchen like I do, sometimes it's not the best option. Here are some other sideboards that I think are awesome.

For the luxury look, try this one from Molimo Design.

For the environmentally friendly look, check out this awesome repurposed wine storage/server from daffadowndillys.

For a splash of red, how about a repurposed dresser?   Here's a great one from two carolina nesters.



Think outside the box and get your party on.

xo,

Monica

The McMansion vs the Large 1950's Home

As I've mentioned before, my dream home would be a 1950's ranch. I love the lines of the architecture and the mid-century features. Now that I'm in my 30's and have gotten to know myself better I think I would've made an awesome architect, I'm so drawn (pun intended) to all thing architectural. When we first moved to Cincinnati from California I thought for sure I was going to find my dream home. After looking at around 30 houses in one weekend, it just didn't exist or at least it was not on the market at the time.

So as a last resort, we looked into new construction and settled on the smallest home in a nice neighborhood. At 2400 square feet, not including the basement, it was a mansion, or dare I say, a McMansion.



Don't get me wrong it is nice and new. For us as former Californians, it was huge and about a quarter of the price we would pay for a comparable home in a nice neighborhood in Los Angeles. I was sold on the energy efficiency and the idea of not having to deal with repairs for a while, although ironically we have a leak in our kitchen ceiling as we speak.

After living in the home for a year, I've learned that the home is just too big for me. We have unused rooms and a lot more to keep clean. My idea of simplicity was thrown out the window when we purchased this home. Recently with the economic situation, others are starting to feel the same way I do, and instead of saying that their ideal home is 3200 square feet, they are thinking under 2000 square feet is better. People are just flat-out saying goodbye to the Mc Mansion.

So what has changed in our mentality that tells us we can't live in a 1950's home.  For me an ideal home size is around 1600 square feet.  In California our family lived in closer to 1000 square feet and we were perfectly fine.  When did children start needing their own bedrooms and bathrooms?  When did those luxuries start taking the place of basic needs?



I found this awesome book at a local thrift store recently called, Art and Design in Home Living by Frances Obst from 1963.  There are actually a few different home plans featured and most are a little over 1000 square feet, with larger living space and smaller sleeping quarters (makes sense right?).



One of the largest floor plans is 1660 square feet, and to me would be a dream home today, although I still think it's a little big for our family.



Our family would be perfectly fine in this home. The kitchen has a very efficient layout, and I would use my outdoor space to the fullest.  So with that being said, we have put the McMansion on the market and are hoping to sell it so that we can get back to the simplicity of life and what is important, our family.

xo,

Monica

A Little Art Deco in My Life

When we first purchased this home, one of its most exciting features was a"formal foyer". I struggled for a while with what was going to be my focal point when you walked into my front door. I had several thoughts, a settee, a telephone table, a console table and mirror (just like every one of my neighbors). With only having one coat closet downstairs and our laundry room upstairs, I also struggled with utility space. I thought about putting our downstairs cleaning supplies and brooms and such in the pantry, but I was totally having food/germ issues.

Then I had an ah ha moment, why not put a Waterfall Chifferobe into the foyer? This way I could convert the original coat closet into dedicated utility space.


And since we do not have a mudroom, using the chifferobe is not only a good place to house coats, but the drawers are multi-functional and can house things like purses, briefcases, shoes, umbrellas, hats, gloves, sunglasses (you name it!)


This piece was rescued from someone's basement and had some water damage. I decided to keep the integrity of the front of the piece, but had to use some wood filler and painted the sides and the top (there was a lot of peeling veneer).

Not only is it functional, but it makes a great conversation piece, just about every one who walks into our home comments about how awesome it is. It's a great ice-breaker too!

Mixing in Mid Century Pieces

I absolutely love mid-century modern pieces, but I also don't want to live in a time warp home that looks like I just stepped into the 1950's. Don't get me wrong, I would buy a mid-century house in a heartbeat. In fact if I had my choice of buying a dream home, my first choice would be a large mid-century ranch.


This is one of my proudest craigslist finds. I love it because it has a story. I bought it from the original owner who in the late 1950's purchased it as her and her husbands first piece of furniture after they got married. Isn't that so cute? They were finally selling their house and moving on to retirement and were ready for a new style. I got it for $40 bucks. Now, it is actually a 3 piece wall unit that you can retrofit to suit your needs, but my needs were something to flank the fireplace so I split it up into 2.


I actually think it gives our traditional home a more modern flair then some built-in book shelfs. I'd also love to pick up a drum shade chandelier, but I can't convince my husband to let me block his TV view from the kitchen (as if he is always in there cooking).

modern family room design by san francisco interior designer Cecile Lozano Interiors

I love the built-ins in this room that flank the fireplace as well. I also love the neutral pallet with tones of green and beige and pops of red and orange.

eclectic living room design

This room makes great use of a repurposed mid-century dresser as a TV console. The only thing I'm not a fan of is the ceiling fan (punt intended). Not that I don't like it because I almost bought that exact one for my bedroom (upstairs bedrooms can be quite warm in the summer), but I think a hanging light fixture would've been more well suited for the room. Of course that is just my opinion.

xo
Monica

I Love Panels

Ok so I was recently out on a thrift day when I saw this sliding panel. Cool, but what to do with it since it is made to be vertical and was part of a 3 door panel.  I knew there were 2 matching panels that originally went with it since I was just at the same store last week and passed on them since they were kind of pricey ($35 each).  Kind of regretted it because when I went back 2 had sold.  Well I just couldn't resist getting it for 10 bucks because it has that midcentury thing going on which I love!  so I bought it. It went so perfectly on the wall above my dining table and chairs. It didn't even need to be stain or painted. It is made of wood with a plastic insert that looks like rice paper, really cool! I just added some flush mount hooks on the back, $2 and 10min later, Voila!

Since you have not seen my dining room let me share a little bit about how we even got to the wall art portion of it.  The table I bought from craigslist.   Originally  it was a medium-brown nasty color. My husband just couldn't understand how I could be giving up a cute glass table…constant dusting (obviously something he did not partake in) and colorful chairs but new, for this ugly old thing that come out of the 70's  and someones garage, but once we stripped it and stained and painted it he saw the light!  He now love love loves this table. It has a cool grain pattern on it and is solid as they come -oak . I paid $40 for it!



The chairs also a craigslist find $12 bucks each. They originally were black and were used by the previous owner for some photography shoot. We primed and spray painted them to match the table. We left the velvety baby blue upholstery because it go's well with our decor.  They really are the perfect chairs…lightweight but super sturdy and comfortable. For $12 bucks each a great find!

This chandelier is modern from Osh hardware. I picked it up on sale for $60. I liked it because I has somewhat of mid-century look and the chrome matches my curtain hardware. I am hoping to change out the shades for round drum shades, That would complete the look I am going for.

After finding the great panel for my dining room, I saw this beige panel around two weeks later at another thrift store for $5 dollars and of course i immediately grabbed it! I am not sure yet what i am going to do with it but whatever I do end up using it for I am sure It will look great. I think the possibilities are endless, and for $5…right?

xo
Elaine