Future Project: Modern Fencing

(Photo seen via Plastolux)

As I write this post, poor little Rylee is silently weeping at the fact that his most favorite element of our house -- the busted front fence and gate -- is on the hit list for DIY projects this summer/fall. As a perpetual jail breaker, Rylee has a sixth sense about when the gate hasn't been latched or when it could possibly have blown open. Seriously, if we happen to realize that the gate may be ajar, and we open the back door and shout, "Rylee!" he can tell by the tone of our voice that the gate is open and bolts furiously toward that side of the house. Needless to say, the sad state of our current front fence has led to countless darts down the street while yelling like a terrified parent. Because of this, we've been talking pretty much since we moved in about how we would love to rebuild the fence -- you know, because some lame pre-made panels just won't fit the bill at our residence.

Orb Lights: Coming Full Circle

As mentioned in my previous post about my Craiglist addiction, I have always loved the hanging, white orb light found in my Grandmother's home. When visiting her house, I always found the floating, glowing globe in her hallway to be a welcoming sight. I decided early on in my life that when the time came for me to purchase a house of my own, I would search out my own orb lights to remind me of the time spent with my Grandmother. 

I Love It When You Call Me Big Papa

Well, not really, because that would just be awkward. I will say, however, that L has some mean hip hop skills, with his talents especially excelling in the area of 90s rap. No lies. But in all seriousness -- since this blog is of upstanding intellectual quality -- I thought that I would continue this week's theme of "chairs" by talking a little bit about my absolute favorite of seating options: Hans Wegner's Papa Bear chair.

What Eames May Come.

Despite growing up in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere I've always had great appreciation for all things modern. Of course, I didn't even know what the term mid century modern even meant at the time, but I did know that I liked these things that were so different from my every day surroundings. In case you didn't know, Northwest Oklahoma isn't exactly a mid century modern mecca. Western decor, cowboy hats and trailer homes were plentiful in those parts. You'd have been hard pressed to come across something of the Eames variety very often, so when I did it always left an impression on me. Perhaps that is why I have always had such a fascination with the Eames lounge chair.

Inception: The Chairs that Started It All

While it may come as a surprise to some, and as I hinted at in our first post, L and I don't always share the same opinion when it comes to things like what to have for dinner, who should have to take out the trash, and, oh yeah, what type of house we should buy. As a short background, L and I were able to delay such momentous decisions as buying a house for a year by moving to Edinburgh, Scotland while I worked on my Masters degree (although I will say that flat hunting was equally painful). And when we finally made the move back to Oklahoma, there was a clear divide between our visions for our future home -- I was thinking something along the lines of a cute bungalow, and L, of course, was dying to live someplace like Tulsa's mid-century mecca, Lortondale. And as we began to search for houses, that divide continued to exist. That was, until we found the chairs.

Confessions of an Addict

For those of you who know me it should come as no surprise when I say that I have a little bit of an addiction. And try as I might, I just can't kick it. Hell, I'm not even sure I want to. It feels too good to give up. No, I'm not talking about your run of the mill drug addiction. I'm hooked on the hard stuff. Literally. I'm talking about furniture. More specifically mid century and danish inspired furniture. Eames, Herman Miller, Knoll, Heywood Wakefield, Bertoia, Saarinen and Pearsall all make me weak at the knees. And like most addicts, I'm constantly yearning for my next fix.

Stumped

This weekend was absorbed by a task that actually brings in money -- you know, rather than it just going out -- so house related activities were kept to a minimum. That is, however, except for a fairly exciting occurrence on Saturday. As you can see from the photo above, we were left with the remnants of the overgrown tree that blocked the front of the house after we tackled our big front yard re-do last summer (this photo was taken that day, so it's a little out-dated). While L managed to wield the chainsaw quite successfully to cut down the vast majority of the tree, we weren't able to get any closer due to the fact that the back flow system to our non-functioning sprinkler system was fairly close to the stumps. Adding to the stumpiness of our front yard was the remnants of a massive tree that apparently split and died several years before we moved in. We had contemplated tackling these projects last summer when our neighbor offered to go halvsies on a stump grinder, but we ended up never getting around to it.

Pipe Dreams

As homeowners for almost two years now, we've managed to slowly acquire those essential pieces of furniture that really help define a room -- whether it's our prized walnut dining chairs (more on those soon) picked up at a used furniture store and on Craigslist, or our $2 Burke tulip table found at an auction, we've managed to snag most of these pieces for ridiculously low to reasonable prices. What we haven't been successful at as of yet is shelving. We've planned and pondered, and even considered buying a set of mid century style book cases at Mod 50s one weekend, but we haven't been able to find a set that is both our style and in our price range (i.e. - free to $100). 

Cocktails and Crock Pots

If there's one thing that can be said for us Americans, it's that we love to find ways to make our lives easier. Case in point: the Crock Pot. What's better than a device that allows you to throw anything and everything in it, walk away, and then come back a few hours with a complete meal? Other than a Bloody Mary, not a whole lot. Since it's been approximately 120 degrees for a couple of weeks now, we've been looking for any excuse to pull out the old slow cooker, and the holiday weekend provided the perfect opportunity to try out a recipe for 40 Clove Garlic Chicken that we saw on Pinterest. Pair that with an ice cold cocktail and you can't go wrong.

Celebrate

The first of many photos commemorating the holiday weekend. Stay safe and cool my friends.

Hello, Hello

Welcome to the much pondered, much promised, and much prolonged blog of our only slightly interesting lives. For those of you who know us, the idea of a blog on our fabulously wonderful mid century house, insanely good taste, and general awesomeness has been batted around for quite some time. For those of you who don’t know us, “we” would be me, K, with the “he” in “we” being L.