MrMartha was addicted to Dear Abby as a child -- back in the (shudder) sixties.
Dear, Dear Abby, such a profound influence at the time when every home got the evening newspaper, had three television channels, and simple practical advice still had some weight.
Abby used to have a phrase she used a lot -- anytime someone was willfully, or passively, neglectful of another. "Fifty Lashes With a Wet Noodle", she would say....
Well, MrMartha has been somewhat sadly neglectful of this blog the past few weeks, so MrMartha hereby submits to fifty lashes with a homemade, hand rolled, perfectly al dente cooked, Fettuccini Noodle, and hereby promises to do better.
It has been a real whirlwind the past couple months settling into the new home (aka CASA MIDCENTURIA), after a decisive (meaning quick, oh so very quick) decision to depart a previous residence of sixteen years.....but MrMartha has been carefully documenting the process and progress, as well as canning projects, and amassing lots of other great stuff, design solutions, and downright super ideas.....now it is time to get it all put together, and share it with those brave souls who follow MrMartha's journey....
Now that MrMartha is back, don't be a stranger.
Ominous fact for the day: The holidays are just around the corner ......(wait, who said that?)
Let MrMartha help you through them.
Showing posts with label Mid Century MrMartha. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mid Century MrMartha. Show all posts
Monday, October 12, 2009
Fifty Lashes with a homemade, hand rolled, perfectly al dente cooked, Fettuccini Noodle
Monday, July 20, 2009
The Paint Store Follies
MrMartha has been suffering from Paint Paralysis the past ten days or so. It's a common but little studied malady that affects even the most ardent and color sure deadeyes among us.
It's that horrible chasm stretching in between "pretty much deciding on a paint chip" ------- and committing to having gallons of it mixed.
The more timid among us will opt to have some sample quarts mixed up and paint a bunch of test swatches -- drawing comfort (and perhaps insight) from this interim step. Not, however, those of us who take pride in knowing we can differentiate puce from cerise or heliotrope. With our eyes closed. In the middle of a bad dream.
MrMartha seems to have no trouble with puce vs cerise, especially since neither of those colors are in the palette for MidCentury Manor. The subtleties of turquoise, it would seem, are another matter. And, browns are absolutely deadly.
Luckily, MrMartha has an incredible local paint store, all they do is sell paint....no uber-chain--mega-mart-- home-improvement-supercenter--paint department for MrMartha. No way -- no how. The local option is always desirable, so long as it is quality and has competitive prices.
Today, MrMartha discovered that even with his proven history of dead reckoning skills, and a very sure eye -- one can never, never ever, trust a paint color to not be a complete surprise when it morphs from 4 square inches of chip, to a large expanse of surface.
Actually, it is not that bad. MrMartha was, in fact, right on the money with two of the colors, and got the third color right, just at the wrong intensity.
The fourth color, however, was so far out of the ballpark, that it's really making MrMartha's brain hurt a little bit just to have to write about it.
The other significant problem -- was an error by the paint store, though it took a bit of time and furrowed brow to figure out it was indeed NOT MrMartha's error, (and it is totally fixable).
Thus, our score, at the bottom of the 9th, with brushes loaded:
MrMartha: One home run, a second home run (when the paint store mistake is fixed), a strong triple, and the most heinous foul EVER.
Paint Store: One unforced error -- to be corrected.
Read More if you would like to know what MrMartha is going to do with all this paint!
As a child, MrMartha always wanted to grow up to name paint chips...it seemed way too much fun to have a job where you did nothing but look at colors and decide what to call them.
(Ambiguous Mushroom? White Hot Sand? Aubergine Over Easy?)
So, it has become a little personal quirk (among so many little personal quirks) for MrMartha to re-christen paint colors selected for projects with new titles.
At this point, the main living areas will be in a wonderful color that MrMartha is calling 'Carnation Leaf' ...a subtle grayed green that should behave like a cool tone in the summer, but still have a lot of warmth to it in the winter. It's a modernized variation on the classic slate green that was so common in mid century decorating.
The main Kitchen is still a bit of a gamble...when working with three strong distinct colors of vintage ceramic tile, the only thing that makes sense is to add three additional colors of paint. Well, it makes sense in MrMartha's world anyway.
At present, the plan is to paint the upper cabinets and ceiling a wonderful shade of cream that MrMartha is calling 'Latte Froth' (it's Ok to be cliche with paint names).
The walls will be a turquoise that is a slight departure from 'ToM (The other Martha) Signature Blue'. Unfortunately, while MrMartha picked a great color, it is too vibrant, so toning it down at 50% with white base should make it exactly right.
The lower cabinets were supposed to be a darkish gingerbread tone...but this is where we run into the big foul. The paint, as ordered, turned out to be sort of electric yellow ochre (filthy lying paint chip).
MrMartha didn't realize that there could be acid color earth tones...
but there you are.
With a little luck, the paint store can work their alchemy with a re-tint, and relax the panicky ochre hue into the rich 'Sticky Molasses' color MrMartha has a clear mental image of.
So, a few days and a lot of masking tape, and we will see how it all comes out....MrMartha will keep you posted. Cross your fingers.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
MrMartha Welcomes you to MidCentury Manor
Greetings after a bit of a hiatus during the move....
MrMartha has not actually fallen off the face of the earth, it has just felt like it.
Rocky the dog is getting used to his new home -- he is probably adapting a bit better than MrMartha at this point -- but things will continue to come together.....and none too soon, as this is starting to feel like an unsettling dream that one cannot quite awaken from.
The furniture and box moving portion of this adventure is complete, and MrMartha is surrounded by stacks of belongings yet to be unpacked, and furniture pushed helter skelter into the center of the rooms. But, this too shall pass!
A fresh coat of paint in the main rooms will be happening over the weekend and next week, and then the actual settling in can start.
The bones of the new house are great, the vintage details, and even the quirky aspects being discovered, are all going to make this a fantastic place to live -- MrMartha will be sharing the process and transformation with you as it unfolds.
MrMartha also brought many plants and starts from the old garden, and those will get transplanted into the landscape here this weekend as well.
It will probably be a couple weeks before MrMartha's kitchen's are back up and functioning...but lots of great posts with recipes, food, and entertaining ideas will return to the blog soon....
MrMartha thanks you for your patience!
Thursday, June 25, 2009
One of MrMartha's New Kitchen's
It's certainly a case of Back To The Future for MrMartha.
Here are a few BEFORE photos of one of the two kitchens in MrMartha's new MidCentury digs....
Basically good bones, appliances run a bit of the gamut, some have been updated fairly recently, some not so recently. The 'Space Age' (circa 1967) push button cooktop is going to require a rather interesting learning curve, no question there....but MrMartha reserves judgment for the time being. 
Funny thing, the wall oven is exactly the same one in MrMartha's Mother's kitchen...so that is certainly familiar.
There is also an in-counter Nutone Kitchen system from the 50's which is presently not working....if any readers have any information about repairing or replacing this bit of formerly futuristic time capsule, MrMartha would love to hear about it.
Like any new kitchen, there will be adjustments, and readjustments....especially after cooking in the same kitchen for sixteen years and knowing the way around it blindfolded! But, hey, life is about change -- right? and it's not just a kitchen, it's an adventure.
MrMartha is anxious to get some new paint on the walls, cupboards, and trim; to change the cabinet pulls, and a few other minor things that will give the space a fresh and totally new look!
The next week is going to continue to be crazy with the relocation, but MrMartha will keep updating progress on the blog as time allows.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Laura Petrie would LOVE both of them.....
MrMartha just survived a whirlwind several days of preparing for, and hosting, a Moving Sale last weekend... YIKES!! More about that little 'Comedy of Errors' to follow soon.
MrMartha does want to share with you -- two of the bathrooms in the new house... "new" -- as the photos will confirm -- being a relative term.
MrMartha is going to have a lot of fun transforming these spaces -- with just the most basic paint and ingenuity... as they say: a lot of paint and a little ingenuity will take you far (or is it the other way around?).
What the baths lack in the most current level of modern convenience -- like deep multiple sinks, and a large separate shower stall with multiple showerheads (Shower in the current house: MrMartha will miss you most of all !!) -- they more than make up for in functional charm.
How will this end up? Keep checking back.....MrMartha isn's quite sure, and Laura Petrie, if she knows, is keeping quiet for the time being....she just doesn't want anyone getting their big toe stuck in the bath faucet.
Read More for a pic of the second bath, and more of MrMartha's thoughts....
MrMartha will be following his own advice from the "Million Dollar Bathroom" post a few weeks ago....and will of course be sharing the completed results here......this is just a little BEFORE preview.....who says things were dull in the 50's?
Laura Petrie would feel right at home in either of these Mid Century Spas -- the epitomy in their era, of both ease (the abundance of tile), and elegance (the fashion forward -- for the time -- colors). But, the question is, how to keep the integrity of the period, and still drag them carefully forward towards the present day --
MrMartha has a rotating color wheel of paint chips clicking through his brain right now, for both baths.....deepest burgundy? the exact same blue of the fixtures? (probably not -- reinforcing the pink and baby blue theme would make that bath seem like a very sterile nursery!), taupey gray? the same Tiffany-ish blue as the bath in the current house? (MrMartha does love that color, and the pink/oxblood tile combination is exactly the same as the current house) .....or, as they would say in Monty Python --"and now, for something completely different".
If readers have ideas or suggestions, send them by email!
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