No Pattern Required

By RetroRuth

Okay, so Tom and I have a deal when it comes to movie rentals.  We see something he likes, and then we see something I like.  It works out pretty well this way, both for seeing good movies and for the good of our marriage.  We both tend to pick out a couple stinkers, and once in a while get a really good one we both like.

The Right Stuff met all of our criteria. A good story, science-y, a good cast, good dialogue and AND it had 1950′s and 1960′s sets and clothing. Sc-ore.

(Okay, I am going to show you some awesome scenes now, which belong to the movie The Right Stuff and not to me or this website. DO NOT reproduce these, but feel free to link back.)

Pretty sweet, huh?  It was a good movie, too.  It is based on a book of the same name by Tom Wolfe, which follows the 7 original astronauts in the United States. A good pick if you like history, science, space and, most importantly, mid-century clothing and furniture. Fun times!

Part of the Cocoa Beach scenes.

A little men’s fashion.

The scenes inside of the wives’ homes were especially fun.  And the dresses!

Apron alert!

Love this shot.

Inside NASA, with all the required science-y stuff; big buttons, levers and TV screens in the console.

Kitchen and vintage mixmaster!

An emotional scene.  A cool shelf.

I adore this lavender dress!

So, I hope these shots have peaked your interest in the movie. If you have seen the movie before, let us know what you thought of it. If you haven’t, add it to your Netflix right now!

By Sara In AZ

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OK, are y’all ready for Part 2 in the block series? Here goes!

Here are 2 different variations on a ‘Diamond’ type block pattern.

Here is a fancy “H” type design. These are actually at my In-Laws house!

When I first saw this one I thought “Diamond” pattern, then I thought no, “Circles”.  No “Diamond”. No “Circles”. Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

It’s whatever you want it to be!

Don’t y’all just love this fancy “Circle/Diamond” type pattern!

These “Flower” type blocks are actually on a Church right by my house.

These geometric type blocks are the cats meow! *Meow Meow*

Here are some lovely “Starburst’ blocks! Soooo awesome!

I have to say that these next decorative blocks are my favorite pattern yet!  So kitschy, yet so MCM. I have never seen them on another house around here besides this one, so I wonder if they were custom? Me really loves!

And, lastly, I had to show you this city building in Mesa that is COVERED in decorative block! And when I say covered, I really do mean covered. The block is all over the front and back of the building! So totally cool! You can kind of see some windows behind the block.

Here is a close up of the block.

I know there are a zillion more block patterns out there. When Mike and I go on another block recon mission I will be sure to snap more pics!

Please remember to vote for Eartha Kitsch in the Kozy Shack Contest! Please spread the word if you can, we need to get Eartha’s votes up! Click HERE for the link. Thanks y’all!

By Sara In AZ

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OK, let’s get the bad part out of the way first. I hate to tell y’all about misfortune in the MCM world, and I know there might be a few tears shed by what I am about to tell ya – esp. by Annie B. who has a special fondness for concrete screen block. But just know that I feel as badly as y’all do about this. There is a house in my neighborhood with this AWESOME full wall of decorative concrete screen block surrounding the front door and porch area in the front. Mike and I would always pass by and admire the block because it really added something special to the house, it made it stand out from the others. Recently we saw the house go up for sale and unfortunately a flipper bought it. We fretted that they may knock down the wall because, well because it is different. I watched the house and when the flippers put the house back up for sale the block was still there. Whew…… And then I passed by about 2 weeks later and half the wall had been taken down. I about threw myself on the ground and almost had a tantrum right there! I quick looked in the alley hoping they had dumped them there and then I could haul them all back to my house, but nothing was there. Bummer. They must have taken them all down and brought them to the dump immediately. Double bummer. In my own little dream world I hope the screen block that was taken away is in a much happier place now!

Decorative Screen Block Heaven perhaps???

Here is a before picture of the house.

And here is the dreaded after.

Here is the block from the inside of the half wall. You can see the cool plus sign type design.

Are y’all throwing a tantrum like I did? I know, I know. Sara is here for y’all – now, now it is gonna be OK. Poor little screen block.

OK, glad that is out of the way!  I thought it would be fun to go around Phoenix and try to find as many different types of decorative concrete screen block as we could. We have concrete screen block out the wazoo here, especially in the older areas built in the 1950s, 1960s and into the 1970s! We do LOVE our concrete fencing around here!

Check out this kind of ‘Reverse Plus Sign’ type of block.

And who does not love the wagon wheel? I do!

And here is the double wagon wheel, so it actually looks like a wagon wheel. Weeeeeeeeee!

I like to think of this one as a type of hourglass design with a diamond in the middle.

Here is a cool fancy X type design.

I totally love the circle block!

And do y’all remember this house that was for sale a while back here in AZ? It has the same awesome circle block, as pictured above, fencing in the whole courtyard! Be still my heart!

Here are some more circle blocks  just on a smaller scale. Me loves!

And lastly, this ultra cool block in sort of a  lightning bolt pattern. I love how the design of all the blocks together makes either an X or O pattern depending on how you look at it. Really awesome block!

Stay tuned y’all! More Decorative Concrete Screen Block on Thursday!

Please remember to vote for Eartha Kitsch in the Kozy Shack Contest! Please spread the word if you can, we need to get Eartha’s votes up! Click HERE for the link. Thanks y’all!

By RetroRuth

Happy Monday!  I thought I would cheer everyone up on this most-dreaded day with a cheerful picture of a fun door escutcheon that I lust after to an insane degree.

Tom and I saw this home the other weekend while we were trying to find a garage sale.  From the street, it just looks like a regular, awesome mid-century house with a peachy-pink door.  But upon closer inspection…

Oh yes.  A starburst escutcheon.  I started pointed and squealing when I saw it.  This picture was taken after Tom had me bundled back into the car so no one who he works with could see us.  This neighborhood also had another great house with a boomarang escutcheon which I tried to take pictures of.  For some reason, Tom was driving really fast and they didn’t turn out. Dang!  Oh well, you guys will see it when I sneak into that neighborhood tomorrow night and steal it for our house.

Kidding, kidding!  I would never steal. Stealing is bad. Remember that, Kids At Home, stealing=bad.

Now, if you will excuse me, I need dig my black shirt and vintage black headscarf out of the closet.

By Sara In AZ

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So I am sure y’all have just been on the edge of your seats wondering, “Which fabric did Sara choose?”

Was it the wool boucle? No.

Was it the ice blue one? No.

Was it this Chartreuse one? No.

It WAS this chartreuse fabric that I picked for the one armed couch and the little bandido! The last one on the list. I know a lot of y’all liked the above chartreuse better, but the scanned picture below does not really convey the texture of my fabric very well.  So read on and see why I picked this fabric – and you can also see better pictures of the texture below too!

I really could not find anything in a teal color that had the texture I was looking for. So, I went for the chartreuse green color. I really liked the wool boucle fabric, but the color was all wrong for me. I guess I wanted a color that was a bit more out there – if you know what I mean. I was going back and forth between the 2 chartreuse fabrics, but I finally settled on the last one because it actually had a bit more texture and it was a much heavier weight upholstery fabric, so I thought it would hold up a lot better over time.

I tried in vain to find my fabric listed somewhere on the web so I could give y’all a link, but no such luck. It is made by a company called Marcovaldo. The pattern is ‘Madrid’ and the color is ‘Fig’. The fabric is a Viscose/Poly/Cotton blend. The fabric was $16.50 a yard from Mesa Sales, so I was happy with that price. It was A LOT better than $60 a yard anyway.

I was kind of worried that I would not like my fabric after I ordered it. I mean, I only saw a little  square of it in the sample book. I was worried the big bolt of fabric would look different somehow, or the color would be off. But not to worry, when the fabric arrived I liked even more! Whew!!!

So I rang up Austen, the wonder upholsterer, and he said “Bring them on over!” A few weeks later here is what I had.

Wait a minute! Do y’all know I have not had one victim, err, client for my lovely turquoise hair dryer yet!

Y’all aren’t scared, are you? Look at the lovely couch you could be sitting on while getting your hair done!

How will Sara’s Hair*A*Rama ever stay in business?

Here is the little Bandido!

Here are some pictures with the flash off so you can get a better idea of the detail. Though the true color is more like the pictures above with the flash on – more chartreuse, not light green at all.

I told Austen I wanted these couches done EXACTLY the same way as they were before – all the cording, all the buttons, all the channels of the back – everything. I think he did a really great job! He even added some cording on the back, that was not there before, just to make it look a bit more polished! Thanks Austen!

Here are some close up pictures of the texture.

These were also with the flash off.

One other thing I did was sand down all the little legs to the natural color and spray them with a wood lacquer. For some weird reason all of the legs were different colors. Some were natural maple, some were reddish stained, and some were brown stained. Hmmmmm???  I thought leaving them the natural color was the easiest thing.

So, that is it! What do y’all think?

Oh no, George has already found the couches! At least she doesn’t have claws – whew!

She is winking at y’all. *Wink*Wink*

Please remember to vote for Eartha Kitsch in the Kozy Shack Contest! Please spread the word if you can, we need to get Eartha’s votes up! Click HERE for the link. Thanks y’all!

By Sara In AZ

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OK, so I finally have my one armed couch and his little friend.

Maybe I should call the little loveseat ‘Bandido’ or something?

But now I am on the quest for upholstery fabric, specifically vintage upholstery fabric. Remember when I told y’all about finding the vintage pink upholstery fabric for my swivel chair, well the couches were really what I was looking for fabric for.

I REALLLLLLY wanted Frieze fabric in the worst way. So bad, I could feel it in the pit of my stomach – like little gremlins gnawing away at me ‘Get Frieze, get Frieze’. I searched high. I searched low. I searched in the middle. This stuff is nowhere to be found! I e-mailed fabric stores that have been in business foreverrrr and they did not have it. I contacted fabric people around here – Frieze, What? I contacted  SMS Auto Fabrics in Oregon and they actually did have some teal Frieze, but only 9 yards and at $60 a yard! EEPS! I needed 20 yards, so that would not work. But, hey, if anyone out there needs 9 yards you know where to go!

If anyone out there has bolts of old Frieze – hold onto it for dear life, that stuff is worth more than gold!

I also had very stern warnings from all the upholsterers I was getting quotes from about using old fabric. They said almost all the old Frieze is rubber backed, which could turn very brittle over time. So picture that you have just gotten your couches reupholstered in this lovely old Frieze and you go to sit down on it for the very first time and *********RRRRRRIIIIIIIIIPPPPPPP********!!!! No thanks! I am not saying you could not find vintage fabric to use for your project, I did for my pink swivel chair – but that fabric was not rubber backed. You may want to inquire, before buying old Frieze fabric, how it has been stored. Especially if you are paying a high price for it. So, I gave up my dream of having the old Frieze and sought out something new with a retro twist.

We wound up at Mesa Sales where they not only sell upholstery fabric, but flooring and a bunch of other things too! This place was a wonderland of fabrics! We cruised up and down aisle upon aisle of bolts of fabric that you could buy right then and there. But we did not really see anything on the bolts that would work for our little couches. So we wound up with all the fabric sample books. They only had about 800,000 sample books to go through. No problem right!  I hoped the books  had something that would work for us! So Mike and I hunkered down and went through as many books as we could to try to find our special fabric. We did not emerge for days……they had to send in food and water to us…….but we came out victorious!

My only requirements for the new fabric was that I really wanted some kind of texture to it and I wanted a color that looked 50s! I really wanted to stay with the teal/aqua color, but I also like chartreuse. I knew I was not going to find anything like the old Frieze, so I just had to keep an open mind. 

Here are some of the fabric swatches that we brought home so we could see what the samples looked like against the couches.

This was a sample that SMS sent to me because they thought I would like the pattern, and because it was teal/aqua. But, no that is not gonna work darlins’!

Here is another teal/aqua sample SMS sent to me but this was was more like carpet. So, no again.

Here is the teal Frieze they have 9 yards of. I liked it, but there was not enough fabric for me. Bummer.

Here is a chartreuse fabric, but not quite the right one for me.

I liked the teal/aqua color of this fabric, but the texture was off for me.

This fabric had a pattern, but this just was not right. Not the right color, not the right pattern. 

I kind of liked this ice blue fabric, maybe this one???????

I thought this one could be a possibility???????

This wool boucle had a really nice feel to it! Hmmmmmmm?

Chartreuse again. Me likes Chartreuse!

So, which one did I pick??? Can you stand to wait a whole week to find out???

Stay tuned for the last installment of my couch mini-series on Thursday, August 19th to find out y’all!

And, please remember to vote for Eartha Kitsch in the Kozy Shack Contest! Please spread the word if you can, we need to get Eartha’s votes up! Click HERE for the link. Thanks y’all!

By Sara In AZ

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Better known as: The saga of my search for the one armed couch! This is going to be a 3 part mini-series y’all, so make sure your seats are in the upright and locked position and hang on for the ride!

A long time ago in a land far, far away a fair young maiden dreamed of – no, not a prince – she dreamed of a one armed couch. She had faint visions and blurry dreams of what this couch may look like, but the couch never came to her rescue – to make her living room complete. There was once an armless couch that was a distinct possibility, but that one was snatched up by another maiden in the land of E-Bay. Finally, one day the maiden was trolling in the land of Craigslist and what should appear before her very eyes but a one armed couch and it’s little friend the armless loveseat. She rushed to see if this was the match she was always hoping for. And it was! The maiden and the couches lived together happily ever after. The End!

Well not quite y’all! Here goes.

I have been on the hunt for a really wild 1950s couch for about the past 10 years. Something that just screams 50s! You know the ones with the great Frieze fabric and the crazy 50s retro lines. I particularly wanted a couch with only one arm. Don’t ask me why, I really do not have a clue. The only thing I can think of is I totally love the “I Love Lucy” show, and for a while, when they were still in New York, they had this really great one armed couch. Kind of tweedy/Frieze looking – the whole she-bang! I think there was a subliminal message sent out during those Lucy shows just to me,” Must buy one armed couch Sara,  must buy one armed couch Sara, must buy one armed couch Sara”.  Maybe, maybe not – I guess we will never know!

Anyway, anytime someone would ask about my furniture or what I liked I would always try to explain that I loved retro kitschy type things from the 1950s and 1960s. Then I would proceed to tell anyone who would listen that I was on the hunt for a one armed couch. Now, I have to preface this with the fact that almost all the people I told this ‘one armed couch’ idea to were not into retro at all. And then they would all give me this big eyed blank stare, blinking a few times at me, “Did you just say you wanted a couch with only one arm, and NOT two?” The concept was absolutely insane to most people. “Oh, that’s real nice sounding Sara” then muttering to anyone who would listen ” I think we need to get this girl some help here.” Oh, but I had a plan, and I would not let the dream die! So I looked, and I looked, and I looked. I looked at antique stores, I looked at flea markets, I looked at thrift stores, E-bay, Craigslist, you name it – but nothing was really what I had in mind for my little one armed couch.

One day while looking on E-Bay I *almost* got a newer couch (made in the 90s)  with a retro 50s feel.  It was boomerang shaped and had retro barkcloth – but it was armless. I was really on the fence about buying it and then someone snatched it up on a ‘Buy It Now’  for $250.  Buying this couch would have also meant a trip to California to get it, so that played a part in my waffly decision too. Here is the only picture I have of that couch. Sorry, it’s a scan from a picture on paper. It is a pretty cool couch, but not the one armed beauty I had in mind.

Oh, how I still pined away for my vintage one armed couch, I just knew it was out there somewhere.

And then *Boom* out of nowhere these 2 retro couches are listed on Craigslist! And one of them had ONE arm!!! I was not even in “couch mode” that day. I was not even looking for retro couches, I was looking for something else entirely and these just popped up! I was beside myself!

Could this Finally be it? Could these  finally be the couches I have been waiting all this time for? I think so. Hooray!

Here is the couch.

Here is the loveseat.

Mike and I hooked up the trailer and high-tailed it right on over to these babies and snatched them right up!

I searched these couches up one side and down another side looking for piles of money or some antique  treasures stashed away in the cushions, but I only found 3 torn doilies! I was also looking for any kind of manufacturing mark I could find. I found nothing. The only thing I could find was hand written on an inner piece of wood: 5804 W Rd Bumper. So, now I know that my couch is model # 5804 with a round bumper!

But, my pictures above are deceiving. The original teal Frieze fabric was in horrible, horrible condition. Here are some pictures taken with the flash off to give you a better idea of what I am talking about.

I think people had A LOT of fun with cigarettes on these couches!

It’s party time y’all!!!

If couches could talk, well I’m sure these would have a million stories!

I don’t know how well you can tell from the pictures but the fabric was very fuzzy and worn on the seat bottom. I heard how cats REALLY love the old Frieze fabric, their claws can’t get enough of it!

George?????

So, I wasn’t going to let a silly little thing like worn fabric get in the way of me having these couches!

I was on the hunt for fabric now y’all. Stay tuned…………..In part 2 on Thursday  - fabric mayhem.

Please remember to vote for Eartha Kitsch in the Kozy Shack Contest! Please spread the word if you can, we need to get Eartha’s votes up! Click HERE for the link. Thanks y’all!

By Sara In AZ

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Sooooo, one of my huge obsessions is vintage clothing. I love it. I have loved vintage clothing ever since I was in High School. I remember I would watch all the black & white shows back then and want to dress exactly like the women on them. I really loved Laura Petrie from the Dick Van Dyke Show. And Donna Reed too!  I was always particularly obsessed with the super full skirts with the petticoats – I just am soooo in love with that look. My only problem is finding vintage that fits me! It seems like all the women back then were sooooo tiny! But, I still love it all anyway.

I was out thrifting last week and came across a few interesting items I wanted to share with y’all.

First up is a cute little aqua blue shirt dress/day dress.

I soooo wish I had a mannequin to put this on so I could show you how pretty the full skirt is.

Here is a close up picture of the pleats at the waist.

The dress has a nice detail down the front where the buttons are, and also some cool button closures.

Here is the tag. Looks like it is ‘Avalon Classics’ – I think!

Next up, and gorgeous taffeta flocked glitter skirt. I love this skirt sooooooooo much but it is teeny-tiny. I had to buy it anyway!

I almost hate touching this skirt for fear the glitter will all fall off.

Here is a close up of the flocked glitter areas.

There was no tag in this skirt. It is possible it was homemade, but I did not really think so. Maybe the tag fell off?

Lastly, this super cute maternity top. I am not pregnant, but I just thought this was the most darling top. I cannot remember ever, in all my years of shopping vintage, coming across any maternity  clothes. I wonder if they are hard to find?

The shirt has all these little pleats down the front and back. Here are the pleats down the front.

And here are the pleats down the back. Just darling!

The buttons are so cute, they each have a rhinestone in the middle.

The tag is the best! Stork – A – Lure Maternities! Love it!

So that’ it y’all! What do y’all think? Did I find some treasures?

Please remember to vote for Eartha Kitsch in the Kozy Shack Contest! Please spread the word if you can, we need to get Eartha’s votes up! Click HERE for the link. Thanks y’all!

By Sara In AZ

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Probably by now most of you are aware that Mike and I are searching all over the Phoenix area for our very own 1950s time capsule house. I’m not saying it has to be anywhere near perfect, I’m really not expecting to find perfection at all. Just something that is kinda original, maybe has been maintained a bit, and in our price range. Well, there are slim pickins’ here in Phoenix for a 4 bedroom with an enclosed garage that is kind of time-capsuley. Reader Shen (who has a Phoenix time capsule of her own) has been helping me on my mission, sending me links for time capsule homes when she finds them. But there has been no luck so far. It has probably been about 2 years since we have really, actively been looking – but nothing has jived yet. It is either a wrong location, wrong layout, crappy neighborhood, no garage, to small, flippers have already gotten to it so no time capsule left, etc., etc., etc. I am not giving up hope that something is out there for us. I may have found a *possibility* house, but the price is over $300,000. And, there is no possible way we could afford that. So, if y’all found it in your hearts, could you put a special prayer out into the “retro house” universe that they will lower the price of the *possibility*house! I don’t want to blog about that house yet. But I will let y’all know what happens. So anyway, I came across this house in my never ending search for our time capsule house and it was funny because Shen did too. She sent me the link, but I e-mailed her that I had already seen the house and the pictures look a whole lot better than the actual house. Flippers had gotten to it, you see. I was really excited when I first saw this house come up because I thought this could be the perfect house for us. We made an appointment with my agent to see it they very next day. Just to back-track a bit here is a pic of the house from 2000, before the flippers got to it.

So charming. I would have begged Mike to buy it even though it did not have an enclosed garage!

And here it is now.

I honestly did not think it was the same house at first, but it is. I thought it still could have potential even though it had been changed  — A LOT. Well, the flip was done in a really horrible way that does not convey that well in pictures so I will try to explain as best as I can. 

As you can see from the pictures the carport was obviously enclosed. They actually made 2 bedrooms out of the carport area and bought the 3 car garage out towards the street more. They were using metal exterior doors for interior doors in that area – like for the bedroom doors and stuff. Weird.

The house did still have the original windows and the some of the rooms had floor to ceiling windows, which were awesome, but where you used to be able to open them - they were now painted and screwed shut. Screwed though the aluminum frame – from the inside to the outside. EEPS! So, no window in the house would open.

The house had a lot of slate tile. But this slate was laid by someone who had no clue as to what they were doing. Since slate itself is very un-even you have to be careful when you lay it to keep the floor surface even. This floor had really high and low points, it was really bad. There were huge gaps in the baseboards because the floor was so un-even.

This house had a really nice fireplace – minus the beige/brown paint. I guess someone thought it would be really fun to slather on a coat of really thick beige/brown paint over the original stone. Bummer. Pictures do not convey how really bad this fireplace looked. The paint was really thick and gloppy looking.

The kitchen had all IKEA cabinets. I really like IKEA and think most of the stuff they have is really great, but this kitchen was done in a really poor way. See the upper cabinets, well you had to hold those up with one hand while putting something in with the other hand. They would not stay open on their own. Those were the ONLY upper cabinets. I would probably want to rip those doors right off after one day of trying to unload the dishwasher!

This is the laundry room. I *think* the white cabinets were probably what was in the kitchen originally. The pulls look vintage. See that mess of plugs and wires and power strips off to the left on the counter. They actually had lighting from the kitchen plugged into that. The laundry is on the backside of the kitchen and there was a hole in the wall that a bunch of wires were fed though. You actually had to turn on some of the kitchen lights from the laundry room. Mike was TOTALLY freaking out!!!!! He thought the place was going to burn down right then and there. Mike went running to see if he could arm himself with a Fire Extinguisher!

Since the wiring in the kitchen area was so hodge-podgy we were wondering what there was that we could not see lurking beneath the drywall.

I actually really felt bad for the house itself. I wish I had found this little gem before it was ever touched. This looked like such a great house before, it is really too bad what happened. I hope some MCM lover will buy it up and put it all back together, but I guess it can’t be us!

Please remember to vote for Eartha Kitsch in the Kozy Shack Contest! Click HERE for the link. Thanks y’all!

By RetroRuth

Wow!  My friend Kathryn and I recently stumbled on the most amazing estate sale.  Unfortunately, everything was priced a little too rich for us, but we sure did have a great time digging through boxes of stuff and taking pictures. A lot of pictures!  Check out the slideshow below of over 40 pictures of the house.  It had some great, colorful combos, and lots of really interesting pieces to drool over!