A little restoration

I have been meaning to try to restore this table for, oh, as long as I can remember. It used to be the telephone table in my parents' house and I inherited it on the promise that I would bring the lustre back to the wood and replace the leather insert.


Apart from an occasional wipe over with Pledge I didn't do anything to this table because I was worried I would do more harm than good. Then I heard about Restore-A-Finish. Instead of stripping the table I could blend out the scratches and water marks while bringing back the color, restoring it without damaging the existing finish.


I lightly sanded the worst blemishes and applied the Restore-A-Finish with a white stain pad. It took no time at all. Then I wiped off the excess. The legs look a lot better. They're not perfect but they've been splashed with floor cleaner many times in the past so I don't know if they would ever be perfect.


The top is amazing. All the rings disappeared along with the scratches. What is left are the ink marks. These were caused by me doing my homework at the desk and filling my fountain pen (yes we had to use fountain pens in European schools, still do, in fact) there, against the express instructions of my mother. I guess that will be a permanent reminder of childhood.
All in all I'm happy with my attempt at preserving the table. It cost less tha $20 and I probably have enough Restore-A-Finish to go over all the wood trim in the house. I have yet to do anything about replacing the leather top, though.

Going Modern

Shiro Kuramata, 49 Drawers (1970), Museum of Modert Art, NYC.
We renewed our subscription to MoMA and as no-one has to work today we popped in to the city to see the Lucian Freud exhibit. Just the two of us and twenty million other people who wanted to see modern art on a warm wet Monday morning. It's really not possible to enjoy looking at anything with these crowds so we cut our losses and joined friends for a long (4 hour) leisurely lunch at The Modern.
The $55 pre-fixe was possibly the best meal we have had in NYC since we ate there back in 2005. Light and velvety lentil broth with foie gras flan, garlicky carpaccio of sea bass, crispy trout and the tart apple and pear dessert were the stand-outs. The service was impeccable and the amuse bouche and complimentary petits fours were greatly appreciated. My only tiny quibble is that MoMA offers a 10% discount to members dining in their other restaurants but apparently not in The Modern. Still, I can't think of a better way to spend President's Day. It sure beats shopping my way to poverty.

Fruitbowls: for rich and poor

Stainless steel fruit bowls to be exact.
I've been hankering for one for a while now but I'm not sure it would look right in my kitchen.


The NY Times featured this beauty from Ligne Roset. The Eplaff, in lacquered stainless steel, measures 23"in diameter and sells for a whopping $265.


For a whole lot less money, $29.99 to be exact, Ikea has Stockholm, a stainless steel bowl with a less gimmicky flower pattern. It's slightly smaller at 16.5 ", but that may fit better on the average person's sideboard. Not to mention their wallet.

Guest Blogging

I'm being unfaithful to the Cool House today. I'll be over here at Create my Event and here at 2 Modern Design Talk. Come visit me and check out these wonderful sites. And find out what this photo has to do with it.

Insporn: It inspires shameless longing.

Inspiration for master bath remodel, The sleek white look.


Inspiration for master bathroom shower. The sophisticated version. Via mtiwhirlpool


Tokyo hotel inspiration: everything just where you need it.

Taking Out the Trash: Finally

The last brick from the old barbecue we dismantled back in the summer. We saved the good ones in case we need another patio or path somewhere on the property. But we still had three large trash bags full of bits of bricks to get rid of. We reckoned if we put three half bricks into every sack of garbage we should have them gone by Labor Day. Hmm, that would require us to actually remember the plan, and act upon it.
Today, only five months behind schedule, Steven ceremoniously put out the last piece of brick and I recorded the moment for posterity.

My newest guilty obsession

Just to tide me over the ebay boycott next week I have been wasting many hours researching the wonderful decorative items for sale on Etsy.
I found this really cute glass dish from deSignSSglaSS. I'm going to use as a soap-dish in the girls' bath. The size is just right and it has a nice modern feel, plus it's unique. The weird thing is that the stripes are more sage green than pewter in real life.
Funny how the camera lies isn't it?

Valentine's Day: The modernemama Edition

Those who know me are aware that I came without the Romantic Gene. It was just a programming error, it really doesn't affect my life for 364 days a year. But on Valentine's Day I'm supposed to make an effort to be all cutesy hearts and flowers. It's tough, it's not me at all.
Then I found the perfect card for my Valentine.
Enjoy.

Valentine's Day: The British Edition

For all those homesick Brits, here's one more thing to crave on Valentine's Day.


Champagne with the black stuff? Mmmm.
Last year it was Guinness for St. Patrick's Day. I wonder what they have in store for 2009?
via Trendhunter.

An environmental dilemma

Redwood trees versus solar panels: Which is the more environmentally-friendly?
I caught this cautionary tale and moral dilemma about a neighbor dispute and a supposedly "green" law in California on story on NPR's Morning Edition. Listen to the podcast here.


I have a gut reaction to this. I'm on the side of the trees. Perhaps I'm biased, after all my house has redwood siding, a redwood ceiling and landing and this wood is now protected. I really appreciate the beauty and strength of the sequoia, all the more so because it's really difficult to get any if we have a siding disaster at any time.
Trees are inherently more eco-friendly than solar panels. They are, after all, living things not "public nuisance hazards". Imagine the global warming effect if every person with solar panels on their roof decided to use this law to force their neighbor to remove their trees. If we chop down all the trees to allow more sun to reach the solar panels we choke and die on the smog they absorb for us. Then there's the useful shade they provide, the habitat for birds and animals and the seeds...
Dr Seuss said it best
I'm the Lorax who speaks for the trees
which you seem to be chopping as fast as you please.
But I'm also in charge of the Brown Bar-ba-loots
who played in the shade in their Bar-ba-loot suits
and happily lived, eating Truffula Fruits.
NOW...thanks to your hacking my trees to the ground,
there's not enough Truffula Fruit to go 'round.

The Kitchen as Art

I a big fan of Leicht kitchens. I've had their catalogues for years. When we lived in Europe I lusted after one and I'd order one today if it were raining money. They're sleek, warm and generally not as expensive as other German and Italian kitchen manufactures.
But this Largo-FG Highline? What travesty of form over function is this?
Beautiful cabinetry, don't get me wrong, and I love the idea of a floating appliance wall but you see that box thing on the floor? Now imagine the scene: modernemama is carrying a large tray of dirty plates back to the kitchen after a fabulous meal. The guests are at the dining table waiting for their espressos and digestifs, when a crash resounds through the house. Guests rush into the kitchen to find modernemama out cold, surrounded by shards of broken glass and china (some of which have caused massive bleeding, possibly severed an artery) and the remains of the Pork Stroganoff with Three Mustards dripping from the walls and ceiling. All because she fell over that stupid piece of walnut "furniture art" in the foreground of the photo.
Beautiful? Yes. Practical? Not so much.

40th House Anniversary

It didn't hit me until I opened the New York magazine this morning but our house will be 40 in June. At least the blueprints that Andrew Geller drew up are dated June 1968. This is so exciting. We have to celebrate!
Any cool, swinging-sixties ideas how?

A Welcome Intervention

Just as I was thinking I needed an intervention to control my ebay addiction I find out we have to boycott ebay for a week starting Monday February 18. It's just the break I need to kick the habit. Unfortunately it still means there are six more bidding days to go and at this rate I'm going to be in serious trouble by then.

Orange Slice Chair update

Update to the post on the Pierre Paulin Orange Slice chair. The auction was Sunday and the chair and ottoman fetched $3000. It went to a floor bidder so I guess no one bid on it as a gift for me. Sob.

I'm A Star

At last official recognition of my Star Status.
I'm touched and humbled by this honour. I'd like to thank first the eBay sellers who put up for auction the mid-century furniture and art I cannot live without. And eBay itself for making it so easy for me to bid. But most of all I'd like to thank my husband, Steven for supporting me in my quest to shop so much on eBay that I received this award. The months of penury will now all be worthwhile, darling.
Thank you, thank you all.

Valentine's Day: The "weekender" edition

I would like to thank our neighbors for a fun-filled Saturday evening of great food and wine but especially for the Valentine's related topics of conversation ranging from serial engagements to love handles (both on the body and the handles in the shape of hearts on the Valentine's mugs, which I named "love handles") and from fig leaves to E.D. and what to do if you are afflicted by a four-hour erection resulting from an overdose of Cialis. Would a dip in a neighbor's icy-cold pool take the ahem edge off, so to speak? I haven't laughed so much since 2007.
I was suffering from verbal diarrhoea, the result, I think, of not being able to speak for the last couple of weeks and a couple of glasses of red wine, which always loosens my tongue. It was so bad that even when we went to bed I kept waking up every couple of hours and I WAS STILL TALKING. I seemed to have got it out of my system now, though.
So once again, thanks both for the wonderful hospitality and for the opportunity to mention erectile dysfunction on my blog.

Dressing made easy

Ever since we moved in I've had difficulty getting dressed. No, not with the buttons or zippers, it's colours that have been the problem. I can't tell you the number of times I've left the house thinking I was dressed head to toe in basic Soho black and found out I had on a brown shirt, black trousers and navy boots. While Stacey and Clinton may tell you navy and brown are neutrals and you can wear any neutral with anything else, this is a BIG FAT LIE. You just look like you have no sense of style, or you got dressed in the dark. Which is pretty much what I've been doing since June 2004.
I'm feeling much better after the recent bout of sickness. And a little restless (nothing done on our 2008 House Resolution List) so I went to Ikea to get a $5 lampshade to go on the recent ebay purchase. $5 I figured wouldn't break the bank and it would only take me 5 minutes as I knew exactly what wanted. Ha, I was cursed by the Ikea fairy as I walked in the door. Actually not fairies but two "greeters" a la Walmart. Normally this would scare me but they weren't too cheery, and were quite young and fit and while I was wondering when Ikea Long Island started to employ people to smile at you as you entered, in fact when they started to have enough employees they could afford to station two at the entrance, and whether they were expecting a riot? Or someone taking up residence in the store without permission, that I was unexpectedly pulled deeper into the lighting department by some really bright halogen ceiling lights.
Really bright lights that would fit in our master closet. So that I could see what I was pulling on in the morning. So I wouldn't leave the house looking like I didn't care what I looked like. And they were only $35 each. I bought two.


It took Steven 30 seconds to take down the old lights and put one of the new ones up. They've changed the fittings on the Ikea ceiling lights and they are a joy to fix. Could have done it myself it was so easy. No fiddling twisting wires together - it's a push/pull system. All lights should be this easy. Then it took an hour to fix the second one because the electrical box is buried in the ceiling and we had to devise a system of spacers and screws to get it to the correct depth (thank you original electrician, I wish only good things for you) but I wasn't about to give up on this.


Eventually though we made it work and turned the lights on. Oh my god! So this is what my clothes look like. I had no idea.


I was so impressed that I will be going back to Ikea next week to get another fixture to go in the laundry room. So I can see if the clothes coming out of the washing room really are clean.


Oh, yes, the lampshade I went to Ikea to get. That fitted, too.

Chair Lust

I love Pierre Paulin's designs. There was a pink Pierre Paulin Ribbon chair in the great room when we viewed this house and I fell in love. Even though they cost over $5000 and the pink color is no longer available I lusted after that chair. I still hope one day when we are rich I'll be able to own one, maybe in a cranberry colour.
Yesterday I found this chair and ottoman on the live auction part of eBay. It's an Orange Slice chair by Paulin and I am lusting so badly after it. Wouldn't it go beautifully in the master bedroom? It's starting at $1000, cheaper than the $5000 for the Ribbon chair but still way out of my prce range. Unless someone wants to bid on it for me (don't forget the 22.5% buyer's premium and shipping charges if you do) it's destined to go to another admirer.
If you are into mid-century chairs LA Modern Auctions has another 140 beautiful original designs for sale. They're all in the $500-$3000 starting price range. But hey, looking is free!

Leisurama Wine Event

Mid-century architecture and wine. Two of my favorite things. And they've thrown in cheese. Another fave. Then there's a personal house connection - the architect of the Leisurama homes was Andrew Geller, who designed our house. Plus I've been desperate to see the film since I first heard about it. It sounds like pretty much everything I want from an evening's entertainment. And of course I can't go.
I could go if I was sure I wouldn't cough all the way through it but I've attended enough concerts, plays and speeches to know how super freakin' annoying it is when someone starts hacking and how much I've longed to pelt them with Halls Mentholated Cough Drops when they JUST WON"T STOP.
So this is payback for my years of intolerance. Karma caught up with me. I guess I'll have to catch it when it airs on PBS, just like everyone else. Sob, cough, snivel.

Lovely Lulworth

We changed the fitting on the lamp I got on ebay so it could take the spider fitting on the Mibo Lulworth shade but I think it's not quite right. While I love the drum shape and the pattern, the shade really needs to be an inch or two lower at the bottom to cover the fitting. Rats. There's nothing I can do about it until I feel strong enough to tackle the shade shops out in the real world.


On the plus side, though, the 75 watt CFC light bulb provides enough light to illuminate the whole of that side of the kitchen so we no longer have to switch on the five floodlights in the ceiling. Think of the money we must be saving. Each of those spots is between 60 and 100 watts. Ka-ching. And one measly little energy-saving bulb lights it better (light shines out the top and bottom of the shade) and doesn't scorch the top of your head either. Who knows, maybe we'll save enough to be able to buy a Mibo lamp base for the Lulworth shade?