Retro Delights: Restoration

Denis's Studio Reno - Part 2

Before and After June 12, 2013

If you haven't already, why not check out Part 1 of this blog post...

Home made infinity wall!

Besides our kitchen renovation, our garage conversion would have to be one of the biggest transformations we have seen at our place. It took a couple of months, working on weekends with a few late nights thrown in here and there, and now I am happy to say Denis's new photo studio is fully functional!

I am so amazed with Denis's stamina, fitting this in and around his photography work, as well as general life stuff. But this is his reward, an amazing new space to share with his customers.

The white wall you can see in the corner of the photo above is a special seamless wall. Denis cleverly constructed this area - the perfect backdrop for portrait and product photography.

All decked out with his fave collection of retro camera gear!

In the end we decided to line the garage for a clean fresh look, but also incorporated a lovely marine plywood feature wall. This adds a bit of warmth to the room, and I love love love the sweeping wood grain. Yes, I had Denis going through the whole stack of ply at Bunnings to pick out the best sheets!

I am happy with the results... The design and layout for this space has worked out well, and it has me thinking about my own studio and what I am going to do to it!

We already owned the furniture, apart from the white industrial 'Tolix' stools. A great solution for a space that must be flexible - we can stack the stools and also fold down the trestle table if we need a bigger area to work in.

Some retro delights around the studio...

The original Instagram?

Wooden shelving, an amazing score off Gumtree for $40!

Every guy needs a colour coordinated fan!

The original windows are super cute! Shelves made from recycled floorboards.

Vintage camera cases - could double as a stylie man bag!

A giant slide rule for very complex calculations.

I covered our chairs in this vintage inspired Mini Moderns fabric.

Are there any more photos of this reno? Sure are, you can suss them out here >

Ok, now a quick run down of the nuts and bolts...

Wall painted in Dulux Pale Tendril (Half)
Plywood from Bunnings
White stackable (Replica) Tolix stools - eBay
Wooden shelving unit - Gumtree
Vintage green trestle table - eBay
Retro cameras from various op shops, garage sales and vintage shops.
Airest Teak armchairs - TradeMe (New Zealand)
Linen fabric on chairs - Mini Moderns UK
Sisal floor rugs, brushed silver light pendants, lamps, white cabinet & file drawers - Ikea

Toodle-pip!

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Denis's Studio Reno - Part 1

Before and After April 19, 2013

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Keeping it Original

Before and After March 30, 2013

We kept the original light fitting. The walls look so much cleaner with the wallpaper removed.

When we bought our 1950s home, I was so pleased to find that the original bathroom was still intact. I love 1950s pastel bathrooms, and even though I would have preferred 'mint green', yellow was much better than pink! (I am simply not a pink girl!)

So considering the original tiles, pedestal basin, big bath and terrazzo floor were still in great condition, it was an obvious decision to retain all of these features. The classic thing, all the elements that needed replacing were the 1970's updates... toilet, taps (yuk), shower screen and the tired old 70s wallpaper.

Love love love the original floor!

Even though I liked the original yellow bath and basin, this combined with the floor and wall tiles really was a bit much for me. So to break up the sea of yellow, I decided to lighten the room by having the bath and basin re-enameled in white. This also helped to make our new white toilet blend in better!

Ahhhhh, a nice new toilet that doesn't leak!

Where the original 1950s toilet was positioned there was an area of concrete exposed at the base of the toilet. I hunted around for a toilet that had the deepest base and this was the best I could come up with. A bit of the concrete can still be seen, but hey, it all helps to add character!

The original shower configuration simply did not work for us.

Removing the 70s shower screen made the world of difference to this space. The original shower configuration was quite odd, with the shower head up one end of the bath and facing outwards there wasn't a lot of room to wash. The other end of the bath was kind of a void, so we decided to have the shower head shifted around to the other end making much better use of the space! A simple glass screen mounted to the wall above the bath finished it all off.

Cute original feature window etching, seagulls and waves.

Bathroom Cabinet from My Modern Nest

We had quite a few hand rails to remove that left holes in the tiles (they were put up for the previous owner - an elderly gentleman). I was hoping I would find some matching tiles from a salvage yard to replace them, but no joy. So in the end we bought some off white/ yellow grout and filled the holes where all the rails were. I think even if we did find tiles to replace the ones with drill holes, it would have been a very tricky job removing only a couple here and there without damaging the surrounding tiles!

We also had two tiles missing that needed to be replaced, but like I said, I just couldn't find these tiles anywhere. Then I had a light bulb moment... I discovered this cute vintage bathroom cupboard at a local retro store (My Modern Nest) which became the solution to our problem.

We bought some light yellow vintage tiles from a salvage yard, removed two original tiles where this cupboard was going to go, replaced them with the yellow tiles, and then used the original tiles to fill the spots that were missing tiles. (Make sense? A big mouthful I know, but hopefully you get what I am trying to say!) The cool thing is, you would never know that we have tiles that don't exactly match under this cupboard.

Denis and I learnt a lot during this renovation. It would have been far easier to just gut the room and start again... matching tiles, finding a toilet to cover the floor, delicately fitting taps to the old threads in the wall, moving the shower head, working around the original fittings were all challenges along the way. But it really is a wonderful feeling to know that we have successfully made this old bathroom like new again, bringing it back to it's former 1950's glory.

To see the renovation in progress and more photos click here >

Toodle-pip!

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I'm doing the retro twist...

Home Decor March 13, 2013

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Palm Springs in the Barossa! [Part 2]

Architecture November 16, 2012

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Palm Springs in the Barossa! [Part 1]

Architecture October 10, 2012

Before

When Denis and I moved to South Australia three years ago we were based in the Barossa Valley. Soon after arriving I quickly spotted this adorable 1950s home on the hill in Angaston. I said to Denis, if ever that house is on the market WE MUST BUY IT!

Then one day when doing a drive by the home I noticed a bit of renovation activity going on. I thought to myself, I didn't see that advertised!! What's going on...Sad face! Having said that, I was pleased to see that the new owner was embracing this 1950s home and had obviously put alot of thought into its make over. Finally, it was being treated to the retro love it deserved!

After!

Adelaide being a small city, it wasn't long before Fiona the owner and I crossed paths, and since then we have discovered we are kindred spirits sharing our love or all things retro. I was so thrilled when Fiona invited me to visit her to have a V.I.P. tour of what she refers to "her own little version of Palm Springs in the Barossa!"

So I am ecstatic to share with you this amazing makeover, but first to fully appreciate the heart and soul Fiona has put into it you must see some before photos!

Front elevation

Original entrance / lounge

Kitchen

Small dining room

I never saw the house for sale, tell us a bit about the purchasing process.
I'm from Sydney and had very little history with the Barossa, but fell in love with this vanilla brick nugget on the hill. The house was never for sale, it was a door knock/handshake deal.

Structurally my engineer-mate gave it the thumbs-up. But knowing I am a style Nazi thought I was certifiably mad! There was a lot of work to do!

What was your vision for the home when you bought it?
I have always loved Palm Springs architecture, and this is unapologetically my amateur attempt at it. The plan was to ensure every room has a view, and there is light everywhere. Which it does. It was all designed around the existing house bones and its very unique relationship with the landscape around it.

I designed the floor-plan and recruited a draftsman and overall it has been a hell of a journey. Most people suggested I knock it down, and all the tradesmen thought I was mad. It was so pokey, which it doesn't look like at all from the outside.

I didn't live in it while it was being renovated and extended – it was at least 18 months. That wasn't the original plan, but the Barossa and this house kept me going back for more! I had one builder and it all evolved very organically. We have worked together on it - the two of us on a crazy journey over two and a half years.

The landscaping was always important to me too. Lots of propagating succulents in the dark of night (with plenty of scars to show for it.) I have a dear friend who has always inspired me with desert landscapes - Will Dangar – he's brilliant.

Original back garden, basically a hill. A lot of dirt (and rock) to move to make room for the extension and pool!

Have you retained any of the original features?
Simple answer: walls, roof and land. With that, most walls were removed, the roof was replaced and 213 truckloads of earth was excavated and removed. Heaps of fun! Why I didn't realise that buying a house down the road from a rock quarry meant the block was actually "rock" is something I simply put down to being blonde.

So sorry to say no original features, other than the most precious skillion roof (which I was also advised to lose).