Visiting Canberra

We made a quick trip to Canberra, Australia's capital city, over the Christmas and New Year period. If you like your fix of mid-century modern then Canberra should certainly be on your list of destinations to visit.

Our short holiday mainly centred around the major tourist attractions for the children. This included a visit to Parliament House, The Royal Mint, Black Mountain, the Australian War Memorial and Questacon. We did manage to squeeze in a mid-century house sticky-beak in the suburb of Forrest with the assistance of a self-guided tour thanks to the Canberra House website.

Looking up through the glass ceiling at Parliament House

Looking towards Parliament House from the Australian War Memorial

Telstra Tower on Black Mountain. The view from here was amazing

Pillars of gold in Civic Square

ACT Legislative Assembly Building in Civic Square

It was a nice gentle family destination and we really enjoyed all the sites. Canberra has an interesting genesis as it is a planned city. It was designed by American Walter Burley Griffin after he won an international competition in 1912 to plan Australia's capital. It is surprisingly easy to get about with a rental car...we only got lost twice which is actually great since I am a dreadful navigator!

Canberra House is a fantastic resource and if we had more time we definitely would have done a more comprehensive tour of Canberra's residential architecture. There is a plethora of fabulous homes to drool over.

Sadly, one of the homes we could visit inside was closed. The Robin Boyd designed Manning Clark House, which is now a museum/community centre of sorts, is where the late historian Manning Clark penned his famous A History of Australia. We contented ourselves with an exterior stick-beak only.

Manning Clark House 1952 in Forrest

Here are a few notable mid-century modern  homes we saw on our brief tour of Forrest.

Sir Roy Grounds designed Forrest Townhouses 1959

Malcolm Moir designed home 1935

Robin Boyd designed home 1952/53

Hopefully our next stay in Canberra will be a little longer and we will be able to spend more time exploring this gem of a city.

McIntosh sideboard

Over the past few months we have acquired a few new (actually old) furniture pieces to reside in our mid-century home. You know how it is when you move house...you have to tweak your furniture to suit the space...Ha! That's the excuse I'm running with!

McIntosh sideboard

We added a beautiful teak McIntosh sideboard to our collection of mid-century furniture. It is Scottish-made and clearly well-travelled as it eventually found its way to Australia, firstly via country Pittsworth and finally to Brisbane with us. We're using it to store our photographs, DVDs and CDs and our TV currently resides on top of it. Our poor old telly was previously on a very low coffee table...

McIntosh sideboard in our living room

I've been trying to find out a bit about the manufacturer which was AH McIntosh & Co Ltd. The business began making furniture in Kirkcaldy, Scotland in 1869 and it was renowned for making quality furniture.

It went through a time of change during the post-WW2 period catering to the demand for modern yet stylish utility pieces.  AH McIntosh began reproducing and reinterpreting Scandinavian designs in teak and their furniture was hugely popular with the aspirational middle class in Britain.

McIntosh Furniture label

Today, AH McIntosh is still in operation as ESAMcIntosh, providing furniture and equipment for the education sector. From what I have read, vintage AH McIntosh furniture is becoming increasingly collectible because it is extremely well made and has the mid-century look that is so hot right now.

McIntosh sideboard

The blue room - painting the mid-century master bedroom

Painting, painting and painting. It's all we ever really do around here...actually, I lie. We've had a few jobs completed, so I will get you all up to speed with our goings-on over the next few blog posts. But firstly, today is all about our blue master bedroom.

A few weeks ago we painted our bedroom a lovely shade of 1960s light blue. Again, we are trying to match the original colours of the house. Jason has been the chief colour matcher and he seems to be nailing the choice each time he goes to buy the paint. Go Jason!

Our bedroom was a mix of the original light blue colour and white - it seemed to be incomplete, like someone gave up when they were doing the job (and for a change it wasn't me!). We were planning on painting the room white however as with our laundry and kitchen we decided to embrace colour.

Blue suits the space and exudes a nice calming ambiance. We're loving it.

The following is a pictorial of our new lagoona teal coloured bedroom.

This is an after photograph of the painting. This shot is of our built-in dressing table.

Jason also re-painted the door which opens out to our backyard.

A corner of our bedroom with the blue coloured walls

In progress shot of Jason painting the walls

Painting white walls blue

 We still have a few things to do in this bedroom, such as changing the window coverings, and painting above the window frames (it just needs to be freshened up with white paint)...all in good time though.

The spare Danish dining chair

It didn't take long for me to find that DQF (Danish Quality Furniture) dining chair  I was so desperately after... An Instagram acquaintance kindly put me on to someone who had a spare blackbean DQF dining chair for sale. Again, the power of social media is strong!

The very sad looking DQF chair after I bought it a few weeks ago

The chair was in a pretty average state and needed re-upholstering...It was a bit beyond us really so we outsourced it to Collette at Rewind Mid-century who looked after it for us.

The only problem we encountered was sourcing the black vinyl to match the existing 1960s black vinyl on the other chairs. Not all vinyl is equal. Sadly, shiny smooth vinyl is not made anymore. Most upholstery vinyl has a grain or texture through it.

I went to a few car upholstery places to see if I could find something to match but had no luck at all.

Luckily, my architect friend Robyn Booth was able to source a commercial vinyl (used in hospitals etc) for us that had the smooth texture to match the other chairs. It is not as shiny compared to the other chairs but it really is as perfect as we could get to the original. You wouldn't really notice the difference unless you were looking for fault.

The chair at the front is the newly reupholstered chair

The chair on the right is the new chair

I picked up the chair a few days ago from Rewind Mid-Century who repaired the chair base and had it reupholstered in the smooth black vinyl. We are really happy with it!

It's great to finally have the sixth chair for the dining room setting. Who's coming over for dinner?

Marché Moderne vintage and homewares store

I've started a little online store called Marché Moderne which will sell a little bit of mid-century vintage and some personally selected fair trade homewares and accessories.

I'm just dipping my toes into the water of this whole endeavour...so it is just a very conservative beginning of my empire building. Mahahaha!

Tsaikka glasses by Timo Sarpaneva

The prices are not bad either compared to other online sources - Marché Moderne is about bringing affordable design pieces to people like you and me...

If you want to see what is on offer, check it out here. The shop link will also be on my blog sidebar. More stock will be loaded on to the shop over the next little while...Gosh, I hope someone buys something...

Finel Coffee Pot

The op-shop gods have been kind...I've been on a bit of an op-shop roll at the moment. It's a dreadful affliction - this need to scour charity shops for bits of pretty mid-century glass or homewares...

Finel coffee pot

However, never did I think I would find a Finel coffee pot sitting forlornly on a shelf next to the many donated pyrex coffee plungers. I did a double-take, snatched it with both hands, clutched it tightly to my chest and whispered to it, "My precious."

Image from here

The enamel coffee pot was designed in 1957 by Finnish designer Antti Nurmesniemi and has become a sort of design icon among mid-century modern enthusiasts and collectors. It is like the Finnish equivalent to the Norwegian Cathrineholm lotus coffee pots which are also a very highly sought-after item.

Etsy image from here

Looks like it's the Sow's Ear for stove-top coffee, people!

Featherston holiday and Australian Modern Design

The last few days have been kind of fun. Yesterday I was given a Featherston chair...!! But only as a temporary loan. Ha! I didn't knock it back though.

My mates Chris and Susan who are publishers of the new book Australian Modern Design have an excess of chairs and not enough space to store them...typical dilemma for chair collectors. There were a few Featherstons, a Saarinen and some other great pieces that were just sitting in storage. Chris thought one of the Featherstons should have a holiday at the Sow's Ear...until it is wanted again. Classic!

How often can you get the 'designer look' without actually paying the 'designer bucks'?

The Featherston is now residing in our Queenslander bedroom until it is recalled for active duty at the modernist front.

How cool is that? And what's even cooler is that I got my hands on a copy of Australian Modern Design which will be out soon at selected locations nationally.

Stay tuned to hear more about this fabulous new limited edition book about mid-20th century Australian architecture and design...

Planet lamp

The Studio K Planet lamp is a highly desirable piece of Australian industrial design. Its simplistic shape and bold colours captured the imagination of post-war Australia and it is still being produced (although in limited quantities) today by Planet Lighting.

Designed in 1962 by Bill Iggulden, the Studio K lamp was the 'it' item among the general public and  many architects and designers. Strong and durable with an industrial edge, the lamp won many awards such as the Australian Design Award and the Prince Philip Design Prize: not bad for a task lamp produced by an Australian family business.

Orange Studio K Planet lamp

Last month an original Studio K Planet lamp took up residence at the Sow's Ear in Son #1's room. The new orange lamp replaces an old ikea one which lacked personality.

It makes a fabulous desk and reading light as it can be adjusted and angled to suit the task you are completing. It also has a decent length cord that reaches the only powerepoint in the room. Son #1 likes the new lamp too, thankfully!

Planet lamp

We feel cool owning one of these iconic lamps. 

QAGOMA California Design exhibition

A very cool new design exhibition has hit Brisbane - California Design Living in a Modern Way 1930 to 1965.

I attended the launch (thanks to the lovely Elizabeth from Walk Among the Homes who moves and shakes with all the right people) last week and had a sneak preview of what the exhibition entails at the Queensland Art Gallery.

The exhibition features many of the design icons that you would  normally associate with California during the mid 20th century and introduces us to some other new designs/designers from that period. Curated by Wendy Kaplan and Bobbye Tigerman from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LCMA), the exhibition is a tasteful selection of the work of pre- and post-war American designers.

Qunicy Jones and Frederick E Emmons sofa and side table from Spencer House 1961-64, with Milo Baughman cocktail table 1950

From the sleek industrial design of an airstream Clipper trailer and an Avanti Studebaker to the enormously popular furniture designs of Charles and Ray Eames, there's a little bit of something for everyone in this star-studded tribute to California design.

Airstream Clipper 1936

California furniture, fashion, textiles and jewellery have their moment under the spotlight in this wonderful exhibition.

Dan Johnson desk  1947 and Dan Johnson Gazelle lounge chair 1959

Levi Strauss & Co pants and top 1955

There is also an excellent book called California Design which goes into more detail about what is in the exhibition, as well as an accompanying book called A Handbook of California Design with biographies of the craftspeople, designers and manufacturers.

I received a copy of California Design for my birthday earlier this year and bought the handbook at the launch.
A lovely addition to my bookshelves at the Sow's Ear

Both are available at the QAGOMA gift shop 

Two very astute design junkies reading Australian Modern

It really is a fun exhibition and if you are into design, it is a must-see show. It closes on 9 February 2014. 

Beachcomber Homes

You gotta love a modest mid-century project home. I know I do, especially after visiting one of the most famous of project homes - Beachcomber House -  in the idyllic locale of Avalon in Sydney.

The Beachcomber houses were designed in the 1960s by Croatian born architect Nino Sydney when he was the chief architect for Lend Lease. He really ought to be a very well known figure in Australia given how popular his homes were.

The homes were cutting edge for the times - the use of floor-to-ceiling glass and the simple suspended box-like structure meant the average person could buy a stylish architect-designed home for an affordable price. Bauhaus on a budget!

Beachcomber Mark 2 in Avalon

About 200 Beachcombers were built during the 60s and 70s in and around Sydney and you are still able to pick out the distinctive Beachcomber shape as you travel around certain areas.

Sadly, not all the remaining Beachcombers are intact with many owners not realising what they have and 'renovating' these homes beyond recognition...some have been given Roman columns...while others have been given gables...Ha!

Luckily, there are some Beachcomber owners who know exactly what they have in their possession and are respectfully restoring their homes, embracing the original design with gusto!

It seems like there is a secret Beachcomber society developing amongst the more savvy owners. You can read more about these fabulous mid-century homes from the blog called Beachcomber . Such a fabulous resource with historical photographs of these homes!

This Beachcomber's garden was recently landscaped

Many thanks to Helen and David for their hospitality last weekend!

Jack House

I had the absolute privilege of visiting Jack House nestled in the leafy suburb of Wahroonga in Sydney during my trip down south. Jack house is the 1957 Sulman Award winning home designed by Russell and Pamela Jack and now in the loving custodianship of designer and educator Annalisa Capurro.

Front entry to Jack House 

The L-shaped home is the epitome of understated restraint, but exudes an overwhelming warmth that is hard to ignore as you first enter its doors. Built over a natural creek bed, the home is a study of how architecture sits in harmony with its environs rather than rudely intruding into a peaceful setting.

During rainy weather a cascade of water flows through the masonry arch as a natural stream runs through the property

The hallway to the living areas

Annalisa kindly opened her home to a group of about 30 design enthusiasts on the weekend, giving us a tour of the place that she now calls home and explaining many of the intricacies and quirks of the iconic Australian home. The home is very much intact and was recently given a State Heritage listing in New South Wales.

Annalisa (wearing black ) is giving her guests a tour of the office.
Nino Sydney, architect of the Beachcomber homes, paid a special visit  and is the white-haired gentleman to the left of Annalisa

Here are some of my photographs on the day. They barely do justice to this beautiful home...

The living area. Some of the furniture pieces came with the home when Russell Jack sold  it to Annalisa.

Small sitting room behind the fireplace

Annalisa has collected mid-century furniture for nearly 20 years.
She said that many of her pieces have slotted into the home perfectly.

The office/study with original wallpaper and built-in cabinetry

The silvered timber deck with two Hardoy chairs

The dining room 

This home was yet another highlight of a rather excellent trip to Sydney. A trip made in heaven for someone like me!   

Rose Seidler House

My whirlwind tour of Sydney was a blast! Or should I say, blast from the past given the amount of mid-century house tours we squeezed into the weekend.

I've sneakily composed this photograph to edit out the scaffolding that was on the front of the building. The  home is continually maintained.

One of the many, many highlights of my trip was visiting the Rose Seidler House for the first time. It is well-worth the trip to Wahroonga to see one of Australia's best preserved forms of mid-century architecture.

State of the art kitchen for 1950 which cost more to fit out than the rest of the house. 

Designed by Vienna-born architect Harry Seidler for his mother Rose, the Bauhaus-inspired house was ahead of its time in post-war Australia; built between 1948-50 in a time of austerity and building restrictions. It was considered such an oddity that uninvited visitors lined the driveway to marvel at this futuristic house.

Hardoy chairs against the modernist mural backdrop 

The modernist home is now a museum managed by the Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales and is open to the public (admission is a small fee) on Sunday between 11am to 4pm.

I'd be reinventing the wheel by writing about this home in too much detail, so instead I'll just refer you to the far more comprehensive guide book to the home here if you want to know more.

Saarinen and  Eames furniture were brought out from New York where Harry Seidler had been working 

Rose Seidler house is a timeless piece of architecture. For the uninitiated, the house exterior could be mistaken for a contemporary home rather than a house of the 1940s. With the interior, the use of large glass windows, the open-plan living and the selection of materials and furnishings...squint (and ignore the kitchen) and you could be in 2013.