Mixing antiques with mid-century furnishings
we are restoring a mid-century modern. we have a number of pieces that we will keep including 18th and 19th century ball and claw leather topped desk, Scottish buffet, gilded mirror, Windsor and other side chairs. we will aquire some stand-out mid-century pieces for the main rooms. looking for ideas on how best to mix furnishings of different periods for the most effective, eclectic blend. attached photos of exterior and interior main room with previous owner furnishings. we will be keeping and restoring the original terrazzo through the main rooms. wood veneers and black granite will be used for cabinetry, bar, etc with period lighting.
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This is a picture which might help some.
This house is a great architectural statement on its own. I suggest that you revisit your choices of veneers and solid surfaces once the previous owners have moved out and the terrazzo has been restored. You may find that the black granite looks too severe and dated already, and that solid quartz surfaces may give you more options. If you want to find out what's dated, take a look at a design magazine from 5 or 7 years ago in your local library. What was very fashionable then is dated now. If you also look into magazine ads from the 1950's and early 1960's (lots online), you'll see that rooms were shown as much less crowded than they are now.
Lyvonne
www.essentialsinside.com
http://www.houzz.com/mix-traditional-antiques-with-%2B%22mid_century-modern%22
Some other advice from a trusted source: http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/eclectic-decor-134813
Gorgeous home! Enjoy!
When choosing wall colors, accent pieces, arrangements, envision mid century greats inhabiting a French château for the month. How would one of the Rat Pack look in a corner reading? Is Audrey Hepburn doing a beatnik dance in the living room? Or is she just posing by the fire in a Davey Crockett hat for Russian Vogue? How would the scene look? Since mid-century is so popular, I think it would be easy to find inspiration in any solid fashion mag or you could dig up old copies of jazz mags like DownBeat.
the house is completely empty, i can add pics, and also add pics of the prize pieces we need to accommodate. for right now, I attached 2 additional images that are influencing our thinking.
the kitchen is u-shaped and open to the bar and den and so woods, colors, finishes need to blend well. adjoining DR also is fully open to the den. we plan to convert the wall across from kitchen/bar to a half-wall with counter material and possibly pendant ligting to match. (behind that wall is the BR wing with a very dark, dreary hallway.) there are existing pocket doors that close off the kitchen, very convenient in such an open house plan. we plan to replace these with track doors like the photo i added. yes, black granite may be passe (our builder/designer keep saying that). but it is so convenient for this residence and renovation. the mcm kitchen example I attached is a very attractive model for our situation.
we are in an area known for mcm (and the architects) and some of the best examples have reveal paneling in the interiors. so that is where we are heading - our architect has drawn up the main room with reveal paneling on walls and columns, and we are considerig that style for the ceiling as well. this house has a bit of a formal feel to it, and so can support that treatment whereas some of the smaller, more casual mcm homes in the area could not. for an example of ceiling treatment, take a look at the gorgeous Lake/Flato Austin home in AD Feb. http://www.architecturaldigest.com/decor/2013-02/lake-flato-terry-hunziker-minimalist-home-austin-texas-article.
we are also considering tongue-groove on the ceiling which almost certainly would probably impact choice on wall treatment. the front and back porches are t-g and like many mcm houses (1958 Bass in case study book, for instance), we would use color to unite interior and exterior, beams and t-g ceilings. this would be a less formal treatment, but very interesting.
if we stick with the reveal paneling, we would also consider flat sheet rock on ceiling. we will stick with sheet rock for kitchen, DR and front room adjoining DR (that we are converting to a library with built ins - we would use the same reveal paneling) and Ortal FP. for DR and master, we are considering bumping up the ceiling 6in for height (house has an 8ft plate) and using the veneer paneling with spots in the bump up.
long description of what we are thinking, but if anyone has reactions would love to hear them. i should add for completeness that we are looking into standing seam metal roof - several mcm houses around here have that, it is stunning (but expensive here).
The track door style is not very soundproof. The shoji style can look great in MCM houses, especially on large windows where there's enough room to slide them fully open. Pocket doors are much more soundproof if they are solid, not hollow core.
on the FP brick - we hated it to. we've thought about re-clading (we have to pick stone for a rear addition and some other stuff, including replacing front wood columns, and could bring it inside) or painting. but, lots of people have been through the house and the majority vote to keep it. it is unusual and i think these pics may not do it justice. but we'll see.
on the shojii-style doors, we are searching for sources now (so if anyone has ideas, will take them). they are only intended to close off the kitchen for appearance (after dinner party mess), not noise. BRs are far away.