More Fabulous Tile!

Check out these colors! Our friends just ordered custom blend mosaic tiles from Hakatai. I love these colors and they will look great with their pink/peach fixtures. Must be the season for bathroom projects!

UPDATE: Kids Bathroom & Laundry Room

Well, it's almost finished. And it's only been 18 months!!!

As regular readers may remember, way back in November of 2007 I made the stomach-turning, ever-so deflating discovery that the toilet in the kids bathroom had been installed incorrectly.
If you'd like to see pics and read the long version, click HERE.

Memory Refresher: During a previous owner's misguided '80s "update" (complete with particle board, fall apart vanity), the old vinyl sheet flooring had been covered with super-thick ceramic tiles. Fine, except they didn't raise the toilet flange or even double up with another wax ring. There was no watertight seal... there was a gap. A gap big enough for me to see water seeping out between the toilet and the floor when I flushed. This discovery made me very unhappy. I could only imagine what damage many years of unsealed toilet flushing had had on the subfloor. Suddenly the kids bathroom jumped to the top of the list of things to remodel.

Since the bathroom is attached to the laundry room (As seen here in the floorplan), it just made sense to redo the needful laundry room at the same time. After a long period of researching flooring, tiles, vanities, mirrors, light fixtures, trying to accommodate contractor's hours, budgetary considerations and a ba-zillion other things, I was beginning to wonder if we would ever get it functioning again.


Floor: EcoNights Rubber Floor (color: Monster's Ink)
Plus: Looks great. Feels great under bare feet. Is 100% waterproof (see toilet installation below). We like it!
Minus: One seam, but is almost invisible. $$$
Satisfaction Level: 10



Laundry Cabinets: Custom built to fit space and match the vintage vanity.
Plus: Matches the bathroom vanity very very well. Provides much needed storage. Looks great from the front door.
Minus: A few dings. There's some kind of scratch or de-lamination happening at the bottom of one of the tall doors. I think there's too much of a gap over the stacked washer/dryer. $$$!
Satisfaction Level: 7


Laundry Light Fixture:
Plus: Low profile & simple. From IKEA and only cost about $10.
Minus: Because of the new cabinets, there wasn't clearance for another hanging globe light to match the hallway, but this seemed like a good solution.
Satisfaction Level: 8


Laundry & Bathroom Paint: American Signature Colors (SR904 Shallow Pool)
Plus: Looks good with tile & floor without trying to be too matchy-matchy.
Minus: Nothing... it's paint.
Satisfaction Level: 9


Bathroom Tile: Custom blend from Hakatai
Plus: Opaque glass tile from Hakatai. Much more affordable than other, more trendy sources. Located in Oregon. Able to handle a custom blend for our mosaic. Looks great.
Minus: First-timer "Do-It-Yourselfer" installation is evident in spots.
Satisfaction Level: 9



Bathroom Vanity: Vintage find! (Thanks Heather!!!)
Plus: 1950s craftsmanship. Free! Saved by a friend from the scrap heap (Thanks again Heather!). Love the curved shelves and the very unique sink. New Formica countertop pattern looks great.
Minus: Our contractor charged us $$$ to take 6" off one end and install the countertop. There are a few "age-spots" in the finish (might not even be a minus as they add character).
Satisfaction Level: 9

Toilet: Kohler Cimmaron round bowl
Plus: New. Reliable. Properly installed by me.* Looks just fine.
Minus: New.
Satisfaction Level: 8
*I had a bit of an adventure when I thought I had the water turned all the way off and cut the copper pipe to install a compression fitting. In the time it took me to run screaming back out to the street and turn the water ALL the way off there was time to spray almost 1/4-inch of water onto the new floor. Both the rubber floor and myself are indeed waterproof and cleaned up nicely.


Bathtub:
Plus: Original to the house. Free!
Minus: There are a few chips, but I've fixed them with a that enamel touch up paint stuff and they're very hard to see.
Satisfaction Level: 8


Bathroom Light Fixture: (See earlier post on bathroom lighting)
Plus: Great, classic design... George Kovacs!
Minus: Was weird to install and it only uses these strange skinny light bulbs.
Satisfaction Level: 9

Still To-Do List:
Mirror - We're looking for a simple, classic Nu-Tone mirror that's the right size.
Sink backsplash - The new countertop wasn't scribed to fit the space and we had to wait for a newer layer of Formica to be installed over the new sheet in order to cover the 1/2 inch gap. It's on now, looks fine and we'll get getting on with operation backsplash soon .
Shower Curtain - Haley had a GREAT idea for this inspired by those ceiling mounted privacy curtains hospitals use.
Frosted window film - No mini-blinds needed.
Finish Trim - Window trim, door trim, baseboards & corner trim.

Lessons Learned
1- Shop around for a cabinet maker. We didn't and got over-charged.
2- Make sure the water is really turned off before you start wielding a pipe cutter.
3- Set deadlines for yourself. For us anyway, things are much more likely to get done when there's a hard deadline involved. If it's one of those "Let's get that finished sometime soon," things it becomes very easy to put off.

4-I'm sure there's more. I'll post more in the before 'n after write up once it's all done!

I know we were all hot for tea-green fixtures, but the expense of replacing (or refinishing) a perfectly good white bathtub just seemed extravagent, especially after the cool sink in our rescued vanity was also white. In the end, I'm quite satisfied and I think green or blue appliances would have been too much for the space.

Atomic Ranch—Fall 2008 Now Out!

The new issue of Atomic Ranch has finally hit the newsstands. We held our MCM League yard sale this weekend, and the sneak preview issue of the magazine was the biggest hit.

Kelly from Vintage Roadside relaxes with Atomic Ranch in one of the yard sale chairs!

Our magazine arrived in the mail today! The article Working Class Heroes (page 18) features the home and collections of our good friends, Marci and Austin. (Pages 20-23) Their place is amazing... and their "lowbrow lanai" is fantastic. Check it out... it wasn't done when the magazine did the photo shoot, but you can see it on the MCM League forums!

This issue also has the very first ad for the Mid-Century Modern League! (Page 58) Very cool!

Steve's in Phoenix on business and just ate dinner at Trader Vics... I spent my evening blogging. Hmmmm, I'm logging out now to go read my issue of Atomic Ranch from cover to cover.

I'm sensing a color scheme!

Just got the tile for the kid's bathroom delivered. We stacked the boxes in the atrium and cracked them open to inspect the custom blend. Huh... it matches almost perfectly with the bamboo furniture in the atrium! Didn't plan that... er, I mean... I meant to do that!
Now, we've got to get busy and get the walls in and floor ready. It will be so nice to have another functioning bathroom again. Sharing with the kids has been... well, cozy!

House Numbers...

Voila! We finally have numbers on the house... maybe we'll get mail now!
The new address numbers arrived quicker than expected! Luckily, we've finished painting that section of the house so we wasted no time getting them installed.

Each number is individually cast so installation could be tricky. The manufacturer included a (dummy proof) paper pattern template to simplify the installation. This helped a great deal... with the pattern tacked in place (and level) Steve pre-drilled the holes.

The first attempt to dry fit the numbers was more than successful... the "nine" was in for good. The rest of the numbers were set in with epoxy.

The 1/4" spacers are just enough to cast a good shadow under the numbers. It's a very clean look and such an improvement to the front of the house.

Tropical Inspiration

Tiki Oasis 8 in San Diego was the perfect field trip to get inspired about our backyard tropical paradise. Tiki lovers from around the world packed into the Crowne Plaza... historically known as the Hanalei Hotel. We had a quiet room on the atrium side of the hotel. (Next year we'll try to get a pool/stage view and a block of rooms so we can throw a really good MCM League party!)

That gigantic tiki with the smoking, glowing blue eyes is actually a tiki bar. Crazy, huh? -Steve

INSPIRATION #1: THE ATRIUM(S) at the Hanalei Hotel
I'm easily distracted (must be some kind of creative ADD), but the atrium held my attention. It was an amazing display of tikis, tropical plants, lava rock and water features. It's shocking at how closely the hard scape design resembles our backyard. Lava rock everywhere with ponds and waterfalls. It's very inspiring to see it all pulled together with the plants and tikis.

This was a quiet Hawaiian style dude... and he's about 6-feet tall. Would be perfect next to our pump house, but he wouldn't quite fit in my carry-on. (but seriously... some lame Oasis attendees actually STOLE a few tiki posts from the atrium area. Idiots! Luckily peer pressure prevailed and they have been returned to the hotel. sheesh!) -Steve

What a nice, peaceful meandering path with water features contained in lava rock walls, little bridges with painted tiki posts for the railings (there were unpainted posts in the restaurant, and I think they looked better), and tons and tons of tropical foliage including 7-story tall palm trees. It's looked amazing at night with lighting accents. -Steve

This cool little hut proved to be a nice peaceful place for Haley and I to have lunch on our last day... that is until we were surrounded by ukulele wielding ruffians! Apparently this is where they have their "Ukulele Jam." (?!!) We left before things got out of control. -Steve

Here's a nice little outrigger close to one of the waterfalls and on the right is the glass walled elevator. One of the bands actually played inside the elevator... with an upright bass. Now THAT'S elevator music! -Steve

The other glass walled elevator at the top of this pic. I like how they have stuff growing in the ponds... maybe I'll try that in our yard. hmmmmm.
We met Sven Kirsten (author of Book of Tiki and Tiki Modern) at the book signing and we both commented on how it was surprising that the atrium area was empty most of the time. It was a tiki oasis away from Tiki Oasis. -Steve

INSPIRATION #2: HANALEI COURTYARD AND POOL

We ate here a few times and it was okay. Good decor and since you could see the stage from most of the tables... pretty dang convenient. -Steve

This was indoors. Notice the unpainted tiki posts holding up the rails. Much nicer than the painted ones out in the atrium, I think. -Steve

How 'bout this for our pump house? I'm hoping for a cross between this and Gilligan's supply hut. -Steve

INSPIRATION #3: BALI HAI AND SHELTER ISLAND

Did you know the Mai Tai's at The Bali Hai have NO mixers?!!! 100% rum... three different kinds. I didn't have one, but Justin had 5!!!! -Steve

This is the infamous Goof! Consult the Book of Tiki for background on this dentally challenged chap. Sort of reminds me of the totem pole where Gilligan's head was the top. No, we won't be adding a Goof of our own to our house. Even I have limits on my Polynesian pop obsession. -Steve

Justin and Greg are seriously the two dappiest dressers EVER! The jaunty gent in the middle is the headhunter at the front door of the Bali Hai. -Steve

One of the hotels on Shelter Island. I don't remember which, but they're all over the place! -SteveSee!! Here's another one!

This is Humpheries... or Half Moon Inn or something like that. It looks even better at night with propane torches, a huge lit up trap/light fixture at the peak and ambiance o-plenty!

San Diego is a great town and we owe Austin & Marci a dinner or two for playing tour guide for us. You San Diegoans are lucky folks! -Steve

Mid-Century Modern League!

(Formerly known as AAAPDX)

Our local 501c3 non-profit organization dedicated to the education, preservation, and celebration of mid-century design and architecture has updated their name, logo, and url. We love it! The mid-century effort in Portland rocks!

Interesting Fact: MCML is 1950 in roman numerals. How cool is that? Check out their site in our newly updated "links" section.

Dear members and friends,
We are pleased to announce that our non-profit corporation will now be known as the Mid-Century Modern League. You will find our new site at mcmleague.org and see some great changes coming in the near future.

Thanks for your support!
The "MCML" Board of Directors


It's a great group of really nice folks from all walks of life: designers, shop keepers, mechanics, computer types (Mac and IBM!!!), real estate agents, tiki junkies, musicians, advertising people, accountants, engineers, trust-fund babies... blue collar, white collar, you name it! Just a bunch of people who dig Mid-Century modern stuff.
If you live in the Portland area, check out the website and come to a meeting! If you don't live near Portland, check out the website and move closer! :)
-Steve