Retro Daze Blog » affordable modern http://www.retrodaze.com/Mid-Century-Modern-Furniture-Blog Just another WordPress weblog Sat, 14 Feb 2009 10:00:02 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 48 – DIY lighting http://www.retrodaze.com/Mid-Century-Modern-Furniture-Blog/Mid-Century-Modern/48-diy-lighting/ http://www.retrodaze.com/Mid-Century-Modern-Furniture-Blog/Mid-Century-Modern/48-diy-lighting/#comments Mon, 07 Jan 2008 14:33:18 +0000 creede http://www.grassrootsmodern.com/2008/01/07/48-diy-lighting/ Image 48 005
I came across this post over at Tree Hugger a couple of days ago, and have been thinking about it since. From the three person design group 101 comes this great looking lamp made from old wire cloths hangers and a compact florescent bulb. Of course it’s not really presented as a DIY project so there are no instructions, but with a little trial and error I’m sure you could figure it out. Upon closer inspection of the picture, it looks like it is all held together by two acrylic discs. I would love to see some pics of someone trying to recreate this. Any takers?
Check out 101 Design Studio for more pics.

]]> http://www.retrodaze.com/Mid-Century-Modern-Furniture-Blog/Mid-Century-Modern/48-diy-lighting/feed/ 0 Boon Squirt http://www.retrodaze.com/Mid-Century-Modern-Furniture-Blog/Mid-Century-Modern/boon-squirt/ http://www.retrodaze.com/Mid-Century-Modern-Furniture-Blog/Mid-Century-Modern/boon-squirt/#comments Fri, 04 Jan 2008 14:10:05 +0000 creede http://www.grassrootsmodern.com/2008/01/04/boon-squirt/ Dsc 0061-8I mentioned a while ago that Boon had come out with several new products. We have been testing out the Squirt for the past month or so, and we love it. The Squirt, or Boon spoon as we call it, is a baby food dispensing spoon. The orange part screws off, and you can fill it full of non chunky baby food. It can hold up to 3 ounces of baby food, and all you have to do is give it a little squeeze to fill the spoon up. Arrington was enjoying some pears in this picture.
The only thing we have found is that you have to give it a little tilt down while you squeeze or you will spray your kid in the face. Cleanup is easy as it is dishwasher safe.
The Squirt is available directly from Boon for $8.

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]]> http://www.retrodaze.com/Mid-Century-Modern-Furniture-Blog/Mid-Century-Modern/boon-squirt/feed/ 0 Storage Resolution: Part 2 http://www.retrodaze.com/Mid-Century-Modern-Furniture-Blog/Mid-Century-Modern/storage-resolution-part-2/ http://www.retrodaze.com/Mid-Century-Modern-Furniture-Blog/Mid-Century-Modern/storage-resolution-part-2/#comments Thu, 03 Jan 2008 14:37:54 +0000 creede http://www.grassrootsmodern.com/2008/01/03/storage-resolution-part-2/ Dsc 0053-4
When we built our addition, we knew that the secret to making a small house feel big is lots of storage. Thats why we planned over 40 linear feet of floor to ceiling storage. Unfortunately when we decided to finish our kitchen with this project we used up all our budget and were left with no storage. Over the weekend we splurged and bought about 12 feet of Ikea wardrobe for outside of our bedroom. We went with the Pax Nexus Birch wardrobes. All the cabinets are 23″ deep and 93″ tall. With all the cabinets and some interior parts we spent about $1,300. It was a big splurge, but it makes such a huge difference to have so much good storage. I can only imagine how great it will be when we get the other 30′ installed!
Pax Nexus Wardrobes from Ikea.
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]]> http://www.retrodaze.com/Mid-Century-Modern-Furniture-Blog/Mid-Century-Modern/storage-resolution-part-2/feed/ 0 Storage Resolution: Part 1 http://www.retrodaze.com/Mid-Century-Modern-Furniture-Blog/Mid-Century-Modern/storage-resolution-part-1/ http://www.retrodaze.com/Mid-Century-Modern-Furniture-Blog/Mid-Century-Modern/storage-resolution-part-1/#comments Wed, 02 Jan 2008 14:05:11 +0000 creede http://www.grassrootsmodern.com/2008/01/02/storage-resolution-part-1/ Dsc 0065-2It’s 2008 and new years resolutions abound. Ours is to finally get some decent storage built into our 1,300 square foot house, and we’re well on our way. We spent the weekend assembling this Ikea GORM shelving and filling it up with tools and other random stuff that had been hanging out in our hallway upstairs. We managed to fit an amazing amount of stuff in our small 6′ x 10′ mechanical room. We installed about 8 linear feet of shelving for just over $120. Best of all, we were able to get our hallway cleaned out so that we could start installing the cabinetry that we had planned for it….
8 Linear feet of GORM shelving from Ikea for $120.

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]]> http://www.retrodaze.com/Mid-Century-Modern-Furniture-Blog/Mid-Century-Modern/storage-resolution-part-1/feed/ 0 Making a Concrete Ofuro http://www.retrodaze.com/Mid-Century-Modern-Furniture-Blog/Mid-Century-Modern/making-a-concrete-ofuro/ http://www.retrodaze.com/Mid-Century-Modern-Furniture-Blog/Mid-Century-Modern/making-a-concrete-ofuro/#comments Fri, 28 Dec 2007 14:24:34 +0000 creede http://www.grassrootsmodern.com/2007/12/28/making-a-concrete-ofuro/ 200712280722
When we were first looking into making an ofuro, one of the things we considered was pouring one out of concrete. The good thing about concrete is that the material is cheap, and with a little hard work it lends itself well to the DIY approach. We quickly bagged the idea because there is no possible way our floor could support the weight. This morning I stumbled across an old post on Apartment Therapy with a gorgeous DIY bathroom built for under 3k which includes a concrete ofuro. The soaking tub only cost about $200 according to the owner splat girl. She did mention that it was a lot of work though.
Check out her flicker photo set and the Apartment Therapy post.

]]> http://www.retrodaze.com/Mid-Century-Modern-Furniture-Blog/Mid-Century-Modern/making-a-concrete-ofuro/feed/ 0 CB2 Sale http://www.retrodaze.com/Mid-Century-Modern-Furniture-Blog/Mid-Century-Modern/cb2-sale/ http://www.retrodaze.com/Mid-Century-Modern-Furniture-Blog/Mid-Century-Modern/cb2-sale/#comments Thu, 27 Dec 2007 14:26:07 +0000 creede http://www.grassrootsmodern.com/2007/12/27/cb2-sale/ 200712270709
With all the post holiday sales starting up it’s a great time to get online and do some shopping. CB2 currently has things up to 50% off. I noticed all of their Christmas ornaments are about half off, so if there is something you wish you would have gotten for your tree, here is your chance.
200712270712
They also have quite a bit of furniture on sale like this Track Sofa for only $799. Thats a pretty great looking sofa for a reasonable price. The Peekaboo Spark Bunching Table is another great deal at 50% off. The thick molded acrylic side table has black graphic bursts underprinted on the sides to add a nice touch to the simple design.
More sales at CB2.

]]> http://www.retrodaze.com/Mid-Century-Modern-Furniture-Blog/Mid-Century-Modern/cb2-sale/feed/ 0 Holiday Reading http://www.retrodaze.com/Mid-Century-Modern-Furniture-Blog/Mid-Century-Modern/holiday-reading/ http://www.retrodaze.com/Mid-Century-Modern-Furniture-Blog/Mid-Century-Modern/holiday-reading/#comments Sat, 22 Dec 2007 14:30:45 +0000 creede http://www.grassrootsmodern.com/2007/12/22/holiday-reading/ 200712210734
Since I won’t be posting on Monday or Tuesday of next week I though I would post a link for anyone looking to kill some time during the Holidays. Grace over at Designsponge has been doing a great job compiling all sorts of different guides that are very complete. Product guides include pictures prices and a brief description. I could spend a lot of time sorting through all the great info she has put together.
Check out the Designsponge Guides.

]]> http://www.retrodaze.com/Mid-Century-Modern-Furniture-Blog/Mid-Century-Modern/holiday-reading/feed/ 0 Merry Christmas! http://www.retrodaze.com/Mid-Century-Modern-Furniture-Blog/Mid-Century-Modern/merry-christmas/ http://www.retrodaze.com/Mid-Century-Modern-Furniture-Blog/Mid-Century-Modern/merry-christmas/#comments Fri, 21 Dec 2007 14:30:42 +0000 creede http://www.grassrootsmodern.com/2007/12/21/merry-christmas/ Dsc 0013-21I just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas from Grassrootsmodern!

Pictured to the left is our tall scraggly crooked Christmas tree that we love. It stands almost 12 feet tall and was hand picked and cut by my little family. We got all the red decorations from Ikea in the “as is” section for $3. There were actually a lot more in the bag that we just didn’t use.
Last year we had a big dilemma trying to figure out if we were going to buy a real tree or a fake one, and which was actually better for the environment. We ended up buying one from a local tree farm, and felt good about supporting a local business. This year a friend reminded me that for only $10 you can buy a tag to go into the national forest and cut your own. I checked out the info page on cache national forest, and it turns out that by cutting your own tree you are actually encouraging good tree management in the forest. Who knew that we could save money, have a great time, and help out the forest all at the same time. Continue reading for some pics of our adventure.

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]]> http://www.retrodaze.com/Mid-Century-Modern-Furniture-Blog/Mid-Century-Modern/merry-christmas/feed/ 0 KNAPPA Pendant http://www.retrodaze.com/Mid-Century-Modern-Furniture-Blog/Mid-Century-Modern/knappa-pendant/ http://www.retrodaze.com/Mid-Century-Modern-Furniture-Blog/Mid-Century-Modern/knappa-pendant/#comments Thu, 20 Dec 2007 14:12:49 +0000 creede http://www.grassrootsmodern.com/2007/12/20/knappa-pendant/ Dsc 0012-13We have been doing a lot of shopping at Ikea lately thanks to our 20% cash back sofa credit. We bought two KNAPPA pendant lights for our front room, and last night I put one together and hung it. It comes with a plug end, but I cut the cord and hard wired it into the ceiling. I have to say that at $25 the KNAPPA looks 10 times more expensive than it really is. It totally transformed the look of the room, although admittedly the bare bulb hanging from the ceiling wasn’t doing much for the ambiance. Not only does it look great, but it was fun to put together too. I think it actually gives you a little bit more appreciation for the light having put it together yourself.

Available from Ikea for $25.

]]> http://www.retrodaze.com/Mid-Century-Modern-Furniture-Blog/Mid-Century-Modern/knappa-pendant/feed/ 0 100k House http://www.retrodaze.com/Mid-Century-Modern-Furniture-Blog/Mid-Century-Modern/100k-house/ http://www.retrodaze.com/Mid-Century-Modern-Furniture-Blog/Mid-Century-Modern/100k-house/#comments Wed, 19 Dec 2007 14:19:32 +0000 creede http://www.grassrootsmodern.com/2007/12/19/100k-house/ 200712190712With our construction updates settling down some of you may be feeling a absence of affordable modern construction conversation. Luckily Grassrootsmodern isn’t the only site out there determined to build an affordable modern home. The folks over at 100khouse.com are determined to build a house in Philly for under 100k. Sounds ambitious, but if you consider a thousand square foot home at 100 square foot it starts to sound pretty doable. They are currently in the design phase, but it looks like they are well on their way to meeting their goal.

Check out 100khouse.com

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