Manolo for the HomeRetro | Manolo for the Home - Part 3



Archive for the 'Retro' Category


A Family Tradition? That’s One Crazy Family!

Wednesday, July 15th, 2009
By Christa Terry

I usually go in for nice hotels, unless I’m traveling by myself in a foreign country, in which case I usually like to check out the cheapest option. Usually that’s a hostel calling itself a hotel, and sometimes there’s a pool. Here in the States, my preference is for accommodations in which I don’t have to worry about touching the bedspread for fear of catching a venereal disease. (Seriously, don’t touch hotel bedspreads any more than you have to.)

Now the Madonna Inn on the Central Coast of California… does it fit my criteria? Well the thing is that I can’t figure out if it’s a nice hotel trying to look like a cheesy hotel from the 60s or an actual cheesy hotel from the 60s trying to market itself as a retro kitschy nice hotel!

Madonna Inn

JUST HEAVEN: “This celestial room is embraced by golden cherubs and kissed in shades of blue to create a little heaven here on earth. An enchanting staircase winds upward into a private viewing tower above the king bed…where gentle rays of sunlight filter through multi-colored glass during the day and soft touches of moonlight linger at night. Graceful French-style furnishings fashion an affectionate ambiance in this heavenly creation for two.”

(more…)


But Did I Really Dream of the Butterfly?

Friday, June 5th, 2009
By Christa Terry

Yellow is a vibrant, energetic color, but it can also be as relaxing as it is invigorating. When combined with scads of languid butterflies in this
hand-painted Chinese storage cabinet and situated in a bedroom or den, this hue becomes very relaxing.

34-Inch Antique Style Yellow Wood Storage Cabinet Vintage Butterfly Design

The butterflies themselves are rendered in springtime pastel paints mixed with “tongfen,” or bronze powder, to guarantee a fadeless gleam. Two large doors swing open on “menzhou,” an ancient hinge-less mechanism which allows them to be easily and completely removed, revealing ample interior storage space. The doors are kept securely closed with custom bronze butterfly hardware from which flowerpot handles hang beneath a peach key latch.

In Chinese thought, butterflies represent change, rebirth, and duality. Zhuangzi, a Taoist poet and philosopher, wrote “I once dreamed I was a butterfly fluttering here and there. But did I really dream of the butterfly? Or is the butterfly now dreaming of me?” A thought-provoking question, indeed.


The Wartime Home

Monday, May 25th, 2009
By Christa Terry

It seems that today, being Memorial Day, is an appropriate day to post about how wartime homes can positively influence the evolution of small and/or affordable housing, at least in terms of interior space utilization. You see, once upon a time in the post-WWII era, the family home tended to be smaller, forcing the people who lived therein to make the most of all available space.

“In the same way that the proud new householders of wartime homes made numerous accommodations and undertook several modifications as a means of coping with the small size of their residences, so too can designers of contemporary affordable housing devise methods of living comfortably in a space no larger than 1,000 square feet,” state [Avi Friedman and Maria Pantalopoulos’s in “The Wartime Home as a Paradigm for Today’s Affordable Housing Design” (1996)]

I have a personal interest in this sort of thing, because my own home (which measures in at 1,100 square foot) was built just after WWII. While it’s not quite affordable housing, it is on the smallish side, so The Beard and I do what we can to keep our little cottage tidy and clutter free. We do a good job, too, though I can’t say we are quite so thorough as the homeowner in this wartime home case study:

wartime homes

One Affordable Housing Research Project drew the following conclusions from Friedman and Pantelopoulos’ article:

SPACE
There are numerous ways a space can be designed so that it feels more comfortable and inviting. The relationship of rooms whether they are adjacent or removed can interrupt or guide the circulation patterns in a home. The amount of natural light that enters a room is also important. Usually, a space will feel larger when there is a plentiful source of natural light entering the room. Floor space is extremely valuable in today’s compact houses. Built in furniture is an excellent way to maintain maximum floor space, especially in bedrooms where built in furniture eliminates the need for dressers and desks.

STORAGE
Abundant storage is necessary in the design of today’s compact houses. Storage is a key selling point, because families accumulate more and more belongings the longer they live in one home. Therefore, the designer must be receptive to the demands for ample storage when designing a small, compact house (Friedman and Pantelopoulos, 1996, 191). There are many ways unused spaces should be used for storage, such as in the corners of rooms, and areas near the ceiling. Attics and basements are also ideal areas for adequate storage space.

Yes, yes, and yes. Then again, is it just me, or does this all seem like common sense?


Curves That Light Up Your Life

Thursday, March 19th, 2009
By Christa Terry

le klint pendant lamp

The world famous Le Klint pendant lamp that made a splash in the 60s is back, sort of. A reproduction of the original pendant designed by architect Poul Christiansen is available for $266 at Sexy Furnishings and elsewhere. The new Le Klint lamp, like the original, features a beautifully curvaceous polypropylene shade, a portable luminaire format, and a 6′ white cord ready for hanging.









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