I’m feeling bold and colorful today with the relaunch of the blog, and Carlos Miranda is doing nothing but egging me on. How rude.

I know you’ve enjoyed those photos, but did I mention I refreshed the blog? Oh I did? Well come to the site and check it out, I’m loving it! I’ve added categories up top for all my favorite areas and now that I see there aren’t many posts in each topic, maybe I’ll actually post more! :) I designed it myself, so I’d love to know what you think!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

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All photos from Carlo Miranda’s portfolio website.

Found a great little etsy shop today! Jan Skácelík of the Czech Republic runs a great little shop that carries wonderful mid-century modern inspired prints. I’ll let the prints speak for themselves.

Mid Century Modern Modernist Print

Nordic Tea Print

I like to Rock Print

Stig Lindberg Bersa – Swedish Tea Time Print

Some Like it Hot Print

As you can see, Jan is a talented designer and while I haven’t had a chance to totally dive into her blog just yet, it looks promising form the quick scroll I gave it. I’m definitely bookmarking her etsy shop and subscribing to her blog posts. :)

Perfect. It’s modern, it’s eclectic, it’s soothing, it’s bright.

And the silly portrait doesn’t hurt. ;)

via d*s

Graphic black wall. Cowhide under your toes. The Sputnik and George Nelson lamps. That blanket is to die for. The simplicity is amazing. And the butterfly chair is a good place to toss your clothes. The Brick House succeeds again.

First up was the living room. I wanted to go with something that was fun, comfortable and modern. A space that evoked both leisure and style, the living room is the heart of our home. I know, I know — the kitchen is supposed to be the heart of the home, but I imagine we will spend countless hours watching TV, playing Wii, reading, listening to music (both iPod and the boyfriend’s guitar) and hosting a friend or two.

With that in mind, I present the rough moodboard for our space. Nothing has been purchased yet (except that lovely Wayne Pate print) so things may get altered slightly..

What do you think? I decided that since I’m really in love with the mid-century modern style, I wanted to reflect that in our home. Let’s break it down, shall we?

• Room and Board Jasper Couch in Dela Charcoal — This is the big purchase for the room. We have a Room and Board store opening up 2 days after we move in, and are planning to check it out and sit on this sofa to make sure it aces the comfort test. I wanted to go with a darker fabric color that grounded the space, but not black, as I thought that would be too dark. The charcoal grey is perfect. This particular fabric choice will be special order, but should be totally worth it.
• Koldby Rug from Ikea — Originally I had wanted to go with a shag rug, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. While both rugs will probably be hard to keep clean, I’ll feel better about the shorter “hair” length that the cowhide rug will have. Lord knows what would end up in the shag with two sloppies and a kitteh. The plan will be to get one that has some brown in it, some white, and a lot of black to really anchor the room. Plus, if we get it in a shade similar to this one, Kira (the kitteh) will blend right in. :)
• Conical Floor Lamp by CB2 — I have been in love with the Arne Jacobsen floor lamp for some time, but cannot bring myself to spend $800 on a lamp (much like a certain blanket..). So when I came across the Conical Floor Lamp from CB2, I knew it would be a good fit. And even better, there are two light sources, and they tilt to the side and all the way up!
• Accessories to Tie it All Together — These are just as important as the big ticket items! I am still not 100% on a ceiling lamp yet — you see, we don’t have a ceiling socket, so my originally intended George Nelson saucer lamp has been delegated to the dining room. In it’s place, I was thinking something simple and rounded, and I thought this black Ikea Brasa lamp would be perfect. We also have a Spike Clock in colorful hues that will be perfect for a variety of accessories to fit into the scheme and go along with the mid-century feel. And while the color is still debatable (I love it, the boyfriend does not) we have a throw pillow in a bright and bold color as well as one that adds a bit of texture to the couch.
• Color Palette — Our base color for the room, aka the walls, is Valspar’s Oatlands Subtle Taupe which will be a nice, neutral base for the bold and colorful accessories. Accessories will be in a range of grey, (hopefully) chartreuse and salmon/orange/red. We may even toss some turquoise in there to cool it off.

Altogether, I am excited to make this a reality. The last 10 months of living in my current space have been a bit of a disappointment because I knew it wasn’t going to last. Finally seeing a moodboard become reality will be extremely satisfying.

What do you think? Anything you’d change? Anything you love? I’d love to know what you think!

Under the yellow blanket… see it? Yep! That’s right! I repainted the Bertoia chairs! You may remember them looking more like this:

Well, sans the kitteh. But she makes the photo better, because those chairs, as much as I loved the lines, were gross.  See this, gross:

See those legs?!

So a few weeks ago, after thinking about the color I wanted them for quite some time, I decided to paint them a basic, neutral and oh so graphic BLACK. I scrubbed them good and clean, managed to get the 30 year, rusted bolts undone and went to town on them with my favorite tool: spray paint.

From drab to fab in a few hours, I now have two sleek and sexy chairs that resemble art (to me) rather than junk.

Because we’ll be moving into a home with a lack of carpet downstairs (fine by me!), I’ve since put some felt glides on the bottoms of them to protect our upcoming floors from scratches. Next on the list will be to pick up some seat cushions for them in matching black so that they are actually comfortable to sit on, and don’t require a blanket to hide those gorgeous lines!

I’m sure they would have looked wonderful in a repainted white, but after seeing the grime and general grossness of the white, I wanted to go in a whole new direction. Other colors I considered were orange, green and yellow. What color would you have picked? Something to match your decor, or something more timeless like grey, black or white?

Found on DesignMilk this morning. I love the clean lines juxtaposed to the rugged outdoors. You can see more by visiting contemporist.

While the decor is a bit too sparse for my tastes, I love the clean lines of the home. Now if only houses like this didn’t cost millions…

Now we need some pretty coasters to keep the table dry and sweat-ring-free. I happened upon the following lovelies at DwellStudio:

Wood Block Coasters from DwellStudios

Mosaic Sun Coasters from DwellStudios

I love both sets. The black and white are so GRAPHIC, but the yellow tie in with our banana leaf chairs. At only 24$ for a set of four, maybe one day I’ll pick up both sets!

Check out the other great coasters they have, and let me know, what are your favorites?

Panasonic Radness!, originally uploaded by caco-wixtle.

The more and more I get into the mid-century style, the more I start liking the atomic style as well. I’ve been looking for a sweet, retro alarm clock for my nightstand, and this would be perfect. I love the swoop the shape creates, and the contrast between the white, black and yellow face is stunning.

Now if only I can track it down. eBay, Etsy and Google all bring back nothing. :(

That’s when I suggested the George Nelson Saucer Lamp. Modernica, a leading seller in Mid-Century Modern furnishings, has them for prices ranging from about $269 for a small 7.5″ x 17.5″ all the way to $1,395.00 for an extra large one at 20″ x 48″. This morning, I wanted to share some inspirational images of this gorgeous lamp. Please, take in its simple form, clean lines and smooth color. I love it!

What do you think of this classic piece? I find that it could really fit in with any decor. Would you drop the money on this gorgeous piece of art?