happy christmas

thanksgiving

snow week

studio redux

The studio redux project was finally completed last week with the addition of our new iMac. We actually started last Thanksgiving with the shelving and white paint in January. Three different accent colors later, we landed on the final shade which I fondly refer to as, "less cheeseburger, more orange peel."

Of note: The chair is one of my Eames rescues. It had one of the old vinyl covers epoxied to it. I peeled it back to discover flawless orange fiberglass underneath. It took some work (and brain cells) but I was able to remove the adhesive and restore it back to its full glory.

Lastly, his + hers artwork: 

color shift

Love. Love. Love. Totally digging the new paint job. We took some inspiration from the classic Eichler palette and ended up with a few good selects from Benjamin Moore.  Apparently the red we picked out was the same color used on the door in American Beauty. We worked with Built Square on the job. 

halloween

shades of gray

Scraping, sanding, tejano on a boom box….that’s the sound of home beautification. Painting kicked off this week, but not before extensive color tests and multiple trips to see our friends Sherwin and Benjamin. We have settled on “Gunmetal” and find it a fitting color and paint name for the Thiel household.

surprise inside

I have a rocky relationship with our dishwasher. I feel like all I do is empty the damn thing. Repeat. The other night while bitterly unloading it, I was admiring the fun color that used to be the exterior. Its 70s aura provides a smart little punch of color when you open them.

yard demo

We took out the prehistoric juniper bushes in the front yard. We coined the phrase "the Magnolia mangroves." It was a big job but we were thankfully able to do it all ourselves with sheer muscle power. I had envisioned the stone wall coming down and needing to rent a backhoe. We are letting the soil repair itself while we figure out what we want to do from a landscape design perspective.   

back from the top of the world

We've been in Iceland! Post and photos here. We just have to get over this cold from the dark ages we brought back as a souvenir.

beam it up

I've been meaning to get this post up for some time now. This was actually the first quick fix we did when we moved in last August. At some point the previous owner of 36thirty decided it was a great idea to paint over the beams in the house. The best part is that they were painted with a semi-gloss, institutional green. Classy.

With a single test quart, I was able to visually restore them to "wood." I don't think we could have effectively stripped them due to all the layers of paint. A fab (and cost effective) way to pull it back to the mcm post and beam l+f!

shoot

Traci Griffin came over Friday for a late night shoot at 36thirty. 4x5 is sexy.

look north

A great article on Northwest Modernism from the University of Washington alumni magazine. This article precedes the release of “Modern Views” a film by the UW Dept of Architecture and Studio/216. 

The documentary takes a look at the NW School’s roots in the 40s-60s with particular emphasis on our unique Pacific NW environment and UW influences. 

Featured in the film are some of our favorites including Paul Kirk (Magnolia Library, Meany Hall) and Paul Thiry (’62 World's Fair, The Frye, the endangered Normandy Park House). The film is set to premier May 20th at MOHAI Seattle.  

spring sprung

Surprise! There were bulbs planted in the yard before we moved in.

eichlers in the midst

The winter issue of Atomic Ranch arrived just in time for our holiday flight down to LA. Much to our surprise there was a feature about an Eichler house in Thousand Oaks- my hometown. I knew LA had pockets of these “California Modern” mid-centuries, but little did I know they were right in my backyard this whole time.

Joseph Eichler (1900–1974) was one of the only post-war developers to build modern homes aimed at the masses. Between 1949 and 1974, he partnered with some of the most progressive architects (including Anshen + Allen, A. Quincy Jones, Claude Oakland and Raphael Soriano) to build more than 11,000 modernist homes. Key Eichler characteristics include open floor plans and floor-to-ceiling glass which help blur the line between indoor and outdoor living. The resurgence of mid-century architecture and the Eichler cult following has pushed average prices into the 800s. They frequently appear in advertising and film.

We quickly pieced together the location and headed down for our architecture fieldtrip. Most of the homes are in great shape. You can certainly tell which owners know they have an Eichler on their hands. Here are some of our favorites and the full gallery. Supposedly there are about 100 of these homes in the Thousand Oaks area. I hope to find the rest on our next visit.

real simple weddings feature

A year and change later we are still basking in the awesomeness of our wedding day. Hot off press- Real Simple Weddings 2010. We are honored to have been selected for the annual wedding publication and even more amazed that Real Simple is on the masthead. A million thank you's to Belathée for their beautiful work and the once in a lifetime opportunity.
 

 
 

reusable bulleits

We love Bulleit Bourbon. It's not only a tasty whiskey, but the bottle + label meet our lofty design standards. Rather than recycle each bottle once the tasty contents have been vanquished, we try to find other household uses for the glass. So far we're using them as water carafes and mouthwash bottles (it is alcohol after all).

*Cork included.