 For us, the Activity Room is kind of like a 1950’s game room or den. We’re breaking some rules here. Architecturally speaking, the room is a formal living room. Before the remodel, it was the master bedroom. But with three children and one on the way, it is the true heart of the house. Well, okay, it is the heart of the house AFTER the kitchen.
This is the room where all of the real activity happens (especially in the hot Texas summer when it is too uncomfortable to go outside and we are bored with the pool). We need this space partly because the children have small bedrooms. We kept them true to the original home — a modest 9-ft by 11-ft each — and they share with a sibling, so there isn’t a lot of room for play or toys in their rooms.
I’ve struggled with decorating this room. It needs to be wreckable. I mean, four kids, they are going to trash it daily! But it is also one of the first rooms you see when you come into the house, so it needs to be presentable to a certain extent.
The decor has gone through a natural evolution. The 50’s diner table has been the centerpiece from the start. It is an indestructible butcher block with a solid iron base. My father found it for me at a garage sale almost 20 years ago. It had been in the guy’s garage, was covered in oil, he bargained and got it for $25, and brought it home and refinished the top, spray painted the base a gloss black.
The chairs are from IKEA as are the wall shelves. The cabinet behind the table is an old purchase from Target, back when they first started carrying furniture and when it was still fairly well made and not just pin nails and particle board. I would love to replace it with a vintage sideboard, but I know the kids will destroy it, so the cabinet does the job for now.
The blinds are 2-in faux wood. I’ve searched for the “perfect” vintage curtains for years. A friend reminded me of ReproDepot.com where I might be able to find something that could easily be made into tab tops. I will take more pictures later, but for now suffice to say that we have a closet to the right out of view that we will be hanging new doors in soon… and of course with this will launch a new line of interior doors and millwork over at Crestview Doors!
The amazing thing is that the vintage Moe lamp really ties the whole room together. In fact, I felt like I never knew what I was doing with this room until I found that lamp. It never ceases to amaze me how one item can make a room.
David picked up these groovy Sherwin Williams paint color palettes a while ago and I have been meaning to scan and post them.
 
   
Of course, scanning means the colors are off a bit. They are greyer for sure, the yellows not so yellow-y, in real life.
The line is called the “Suburban Modern Preservation Palette” and here is what they have to say about it:
Your future is bright. With clear, cheerful colors the 1950’s exhibited a new American outlook. The exuberance showed up on the walls as striking shades like Chartreuse and organic shapes like boomerangs. Whether you just feel nostalgia for those optimistic days, or you want to recreate the period in exciting detail, our Suburban palette provides the hues you desire.
They really hit the nail on the head with these things. Couldn’t we all use some exuberance and optimism right about now? I’m wishing I had gone for a pink/green/aqua theme for the ModWalls kitchen backsplash! Ah, well, save it for the next remodel.
A while ago, I spotted this pic on Retro Renovation:
As luck would have it, I found a similar retractable Moe hanging light fixture down at my fave resale shop, Room Service:
Sadly, the retractable portion was busted. The Light Fixture Shoppe on Burnet (now closed, wah!) put it on a swank brass chain for me, but I’m actively keeping an eye open for the retractable parts to eventually do it up right.
As I search out compatible curtains for the “Activity Room” as we call it, I will make the room more camera-ready, I promise!
Ideas, anyone? I tried denatured alcohol and steel wool as a friend suggested, and then a mesh scrubber. Some of the old varnish came right off, but much didn’t, and I don’t want to scratch the veneer. I hate to take it in to someone… or use intensely nasty chemicals while preggers…. I’m open 
Thinking about buying, renovating, and somehow keeping it green at the same time? You might want to check out this article on Bankrate:
Green mortgages save on energy, loan costs
Excerpt:
“Most energy-efficient mortgage, or EEM, programs let you qualify for bigger loans than you would otherwise by folding in the additional cost of making improvements for energy efficiency or of purchasing an already energy-efficient home. Another version of the green mortgage provides discounts on loan fees or interest rates for homes that are certified as energy-efficient.
Because mortgage interest payments are tax-deductible, an energy-efficient mortgage can be a more cost-effective way to finance home-energy improvements than using a credit card, bank loan or cash, which usually offer no tax benefits.”
Can we afford the solar panels? Yes, we can!
Thank you, Doug and Rochelle Kramer, for providing me with a ray of sunshine on an overcast day.
 Photo Gallery of Cliff May Homes on RanchoStyle.com People, if you have not yet visited this website (or if you have had an overcast or otherwise bleak and dreary afternoon), I suggest that you high tail it on over to RanchoStyle.com post haste and have a gander at their photo gallery. Don’t forget to take a tissue to wipe the drool from your chin, my friend, you don’t want to look too craven.
When we went on our first AIA tour a few years ago, we went to every home looking for ideas and inspiration before we embarked on our own design/build journey. We visited each home with a sense of naive excitement. Going on the AIA tour now is a slightly painful reminder of the things we wish had gone differently during our build.
We sacrificed quality in order to meet an aggressive deadline (see Baby Erwin, et al) and while it might not be immediately obvious to those that first visit our house, it is to me! The devil is in the details, right? The sloppy masonry and imperfectly mitered corners drive us nuts! But, then, we were out and back in the home in record time, and it jumpstarted our business, so I can’t complain too much  
Our first stop on this year’s tour was the Avenue G home designed by alterstudio. This home was perfection. The flow and efficiency of design supported a positive energy that emanated throughout the home. No awkward turns, no bulky corners, no rooms that masked as hallways that masked as rooms. I found myself constantly turning to David and grabbing his elbow and saying, “Look!” and “Cool!” and “We should do this!”
I loved that the character of the original home had been preserved; it was in every room, every detail. It reminded me of our remodel:
- Original (masonry) siding contrasted with new (wood) siding
- Original casement windows remained intact
- Modest-sized rooms enhanced by an open floor plan
- New wood flooring that evoked the old
- Retro-inspired tilework in the bathrooms
- Complimentary interior/exterior elements (in their case, exterior wood siding to compliment the veneered paneling and built-in bookshelves on the interior)
Even though the home retained elements of mid-century design, they were obviously unafraid to boldly represent contemporary designs including a japanese-spa-like master shower enclosure, translucent 3-form table-tops (in a very un-50’s but nonetheless cool dining booth), and sleek new kitchen cabinetry, granite countertops and European hardware.
For me, at least, the other homes we viewed paled in comparison to this one which got so many things right on so many levels. Kudos to alterstudio! You can see more photos of the home on their website.
During the first round of designs, every door David sketched had a complimentary screen door on it. He again referred to the ones in our neighborhood, mostly aluminum scrolls or carved wood saloon doors. This “Langston” with the duck and scrolls was truly inspiring:
I’ve been trying to figure out since how we could put a screen door on our own house without ruining the aesthetic appeal of our fabulous “Pasadena.”
We had found a number of companies which make awesome reproductions of the oldies and goodies:
 Moonshine Shades offers the standard scrolls with the ever popular heron and palm tree silhouettes.
 La-Ti-Da Retro has herons with cattails as well as other old Florida retro ditties like the sailboat and ducks.
 Hansen Aluminum has a large variety of old school inserts including the heron, flamingo and manatee, but also carries more geometric designs, and they do a limited amount of custom work, too.
 But none of these compares to Austin’s own Susan Wallace. Check out the “Grover” with the “Red Ganesh!” Her custom pieces are amazingly affordable, and we’re working with her to do some Crestview Doors-inspired designs for some of our clients too. Very exciting!
All of this just confirms what we already knew: a fabulous modern front door deserves a spiffy retro screen door! A match made in heaven, just in time for Valentine’s Day.
So, if you had to pick a screen door for Erwin House… what would you suggest?
Whatever you pick, I’m thinking it needs to go with these kick-ass wall sconces! No offense to the ones that David made, but these things are the boss.
We were very honored to have been written up in the Wall Street Journal today, mentioned as one of the many housebloggers that converge on the Houseblogs.net site.
Many blog about their work in order to share progress with family and friends. Reading others’ blogs, meanwhile, helps renovators share ideas, find inspiration and support — and sometimes just be entertained.
Our story wasn’t in the print version of the WSJ, but was mentioned in a sidebar to this story. I had never thought of having a home renovation party, thought it was a great idea on first review, and then started to read in horror:
One reveler near Chicago hung a sheet of drywall backwards, while a partygoer in Seattle messed up the host’s bathroom floor by installing the tiles crooked. During her recent “Martini Bash” renovation event in Toronto, Debora Beam wandered upstairs to find one of her friends halfway through sledgehammering out the wrong wall. . . . Contractors say these parties have become a marketing opportunity. Orange County, Calif., handyman Paul Maceyka says a couple in their 30s recently paid his company almost $4,000 to undo a mess their inexperienced friends had made with a paint sprayer.
If I had thought of having a masonry party to finish our concrete screening wall, I am now of the mindset that the broken toes aren’t worth it. It sure does make for entertaining blog posts, though
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