Before and after pictures of kitchen and breakfast nook.

Project Drive-In: Help Honda Save an American Icon

Atomic juice glasses and pitcher

         I love to collect MCM glassware. I have owned a juice pitcher for a few years but didn't have the juice glasses to go with it. Recently on a blog that I read every day he featured four atomic looking glasses that he had recently purchased at an Antique Mall. Will wonders never cease, they were the matching glasses to my pitcher. Short story, we emailed back and forth and he agreed to sell them to me and ship to Ma. Since he is also a seller of MCM wares but doesn't normally ship I was glad he made an exception in this case.  I'd like to think they were a set in the 50's and got separated along the way and now they have been reunited.Here is a couple pictures of the reunited pitcher and four juice glasses. 

My 1959 Three Bedroom Atomic Ranch

When I bought my home October 30,2007, it was in dire need of cosmetic work. It had been empty for nine months and suffered years of neglect. Luckily the utilities had all been upgraded and the bones were rock solid. My home had been one of the show homes when the development was being built so it was well constructed and had extra features like a fireplace, built in bookcases around the living room picture window, a small den next to kitchen which elongated the house and made all the other rooms bigger than average compared to the other homes on the street.

Kitchen Cabinets Being Refurbished

Luckily when I bought my home the kitchen cabinets were still original and hadn't been painted. They were built on site so they are solid wood with plywood/veneered doors. Very sturdy with no sagging shelves after 53 years!!! They don't make them like this anymore.
When I was shown the house the realtor said everyone before me complained that they would have to gut the kitchen since the cabinets were so old!!! I was ecstatic to see original cabinets.
Back in 1959 the cabinets were shellacked with Amber shellack so I wanted to restore the worn shellack and clean off 50 years of grime and grease. I used Citrus Solvent and 0000 steel wool to clean the wood, 3 coats of amber shellack with light steel wool sanding in between coats then left the last coat unsanded for a glossy shin. My feeling is after a few months the shin will diminish.

Brasilia Room Divider

While I'm new here and learning how blogger works I figured I could show off some of my prized pieces of furniture I have acquired over the years of collecting. This piece was bought at a tag sale for very little. I wasn't familiar With Broyhill Brasilia line of furniture at the time but I fell in love with the lines and architectural detail On the pieces. The top is separate from the bottom which makes it easy to move and transport when needed. It was A miracle that I saw it at all. I had been driving around to tag sales all morning with a friend and we were heading home for the day. I drove right by a tag sale not feeling like stopping BUT I spyed the top half leaning up against a tree and immediately turned around for a quick look. WOW, was I ever glad I stopped!!!! It's my favorite piece in my collection.

Kitchen Floor Marmoleum Tiles