Fabulous acrylic Modern Christmas Trees

Matt Bliss, has been selling acrylic Modern Christmas Trees based on his grandfather Bud’s mid-1960s design since 2011.   The trees feature a sleek design and fabulous reflective decorative elements.  They are a great holiday decorative element for people who live in modern homes or sleek apartments or who simply want something different and with a […]

Retro Roadtrip: The Historic Route 66 Motel, Tucumcari, NM

The Historic Route 66 motel was built in the International Style that was enormously popular in the mid 20th Century.  In typical Palm Springs fashion, each room except the suites feature curtain wall, floor to ceiling windows. You can just see Don and Megan Draper pull up out front for a 60’s weekend away! The […]

Pasadena Heritage presents Pasadena 1940 Forward

This spring, Pasadena Heritage will offer unique programs in a Getty-initiated celebration of the city’s modern architectural heritage through exhibitions and programs at cultural institutions in and around L.A. A leading historic preservation organization founded in 1977, Pasadena Heritage will host a three-part lecture and panel discussion on May 16 and an architectural tour of […]

MidCentury Style on a budget

We’ve seen a resurgence of mid-century style in the past few years, thanks to era-specific shows like AMC’s Mad Men. Since its airing, viewers have had a chance to see how appealing mid-century design really was. Nowadays, you’re hard pressed to find a bar cart for under $300. You can thank Don Draper for that. […]

How to build a color scheme

Taken from the “Better Homes and Gardens Decorating Book” Copyright 1956, we thought we’d turn Mid-Century Photo Friday into a learning experience. This week we tackle color – which if you’ve seen full color photos in the 50′s, they had a different interpretation of. I wonder how many interior decorators still follow the following rules?

GM Heritage Center Images – a retro feast!

Watching the Facebook posts, we came across this treasure trove of fabulous images – the GM Heritage Center has some astounding images for you to look at (seriously, get a cup of coffee and have a long sit). They feature a lot of their old brochures and information on cars! Some fun peaks in to […]

Mid century toy box

These are totally sold out and it’s too late for Christmas, but if all those new Christmas toys are taking over the house, this might be a good New Years gift! 🙂 Update: For some reason the link to the toybox is gone, but Kiersten (see comments) is at Etsy and always has these and […]

Pam's 1st annual Useless but Wonderful Contest

Well, the holidays are kicking in here….and I’ve been a little slack about my houseblog. I realized today that I’d been missing a ton when I found out about this: Pam at Retro Renovation’s 1st Annual Useless but Wonderful contest!  So, here’s my submission…and yes, I’ve had this sitting around in the house for 7 […]

Mid Century Art – gotta love Shag!

Not sure if you all know about Shag, but the art is fantastic and VERY 50’s. I own the big book (one of my very favorite Christmas presents), but there are prints available now (oooo, ooo, mee, mee!) – and I have got to have one…now to the budget! Thanks for the tip from Retro […]