Eames Galaxy Ceiling Light Fixture

I'm glad I'm not the only one who writes slightly awkward letters/emails inquiring about impossible to find items.

Architect and designer Marcel Breuer (the Wassily chair) wrote Charles Eames about a light fixture he saw at An Exhibition for Modern Living. The light was the Eames Galaxy ceiling light.

Eames wrote Breuer back and let him know the Eames Galaxy light fixture (credited to Eames employee Don Albinson) never went into production. But he was kind enough to give him crude directions for building his own Galaxy light.

Even the greats will go to great lengths to find their white whales.

Kroehler Mid-Century Ranch Paint Colors

This Kroehler Color Harmony Guide for Your Living Room comes from Cul-De-Sac Shack. I love the idea that one little cheat sheet could help you coordinate your entire living room: furniture, wall paint, rug color, drapery and all. And 50 years later it's a great little cheat sheet for those of us looking coordinate our mid-century modern living rooms or just looking for shades of authentic mid-century paint colors.

The Future Retro Look of Daft Punk

I'm a huge fan of Daft Punk. They're the one band that's still on my "must see live" list. And if/when they do tour again, I hope the stage has the same retro feel as their Grammy set.

I was nerding out a bit and found the set maker's blog, which had some great close ups of Daft Punks booth. The interior looks like a '70s living room with wood paneling and large rocks on the walls, electronics set in the wall and gigantic speakers hung from the wall.

With something that dropped out of a spaceship to make music.

The gold mirror look is very '70s though.

And the future of retro almost always has some neon.

Mid-Century Art: Gary Taxali

I always thought that the work of Gary Taxali had the feeling of old signs and books, and according to this interview, there's good reason for that.

Taxali's art has the perfect look for a mid-century home. It looks aged, it has a mid-century illustration / cartoon look and the colors are perfect for the mid-century era.

Not only does Taxali's work look like a book, he has a book This Is Silly! As the title promises, it's fun and silly and something any kid would love.

Taxali also traffics in mid-century style wood toys. They have the same look as his art and the packaging is amazing. They're like little are boxes.

And, let's be honest, who doesn't want a monkey yo-yo?

Paint Your Home Like a Wes Anderson Film

I'm a big Wes Anderson fan. Rushmore is my favorite movie and I like every single one of his other films. Part of that love comes from the visual style of and colors within his films. Someone was nice enough to break down each Wes Anderson film into a simple color palette. So now, if you wanted to paint your house like, and essentially live in, The Royal Tenebaums you can.

Green Modern Front Doors

Green was definitely a popular color for Eichler mid-century modern front doors, but it seems just as popular among truly modern front doors. Personally, I think it's a wonderful look, especially if it's matched with gray exterior paint on the house.

Source

Cheap Modern Planters: A Simple DIY

We wanted to add some plants to our mid-century ranch so I went on a hunt for some cheap modern planters. That's when I found out that cheap modern planters don't really exist. There are modern planters and there are cheap planters, but there aren't many good-looking, inexpensive planters. Sure, Target has the Room Essential planters, but we wanted something that wasn't plastic. 

That's when we decided to get crafty. First, we found some terracotta pots that had a shape we liked. We went with these simple circle pots from West Elm.

We didn't like the marbleized look, so we grabbed a can of white spray paint.

And we ended up with something that looks a lot like a case study ceramic cylinder planter (without the wood stand).

It's high class at a low cost (less than $20 per planter). Here's what our collection of inexpensive modern planters looks like.

And you could do make the same modern-looking planters with any terracotta pot. Just pick one with a simple, modern shape like a square

Or this wavy look

Or a straight long tom planter

And grab a can of white spray paint. The end result is a cheap modern planter that looks like you paid a pretty penny for it.

Mid-Century Art: Gary Baseman

There's a decent chance you have some Gary Baseman art sitting in your closet. He was the artistic designer for Cranium and you can see his style all over the packaging and character design.

Or if you've even been in my kitchen you might have seen this Creamy print, which I think is a perfect piece for any kitchen.

Baseman's style is pretty eclectic, but unmistakeable. And he definitely has themes that run throughout his work.

And those themes even carry over into his modern art toys.

Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Porch Light

We decided that it's time to replace the front porch light. It's the last thing we were planning on changing on the porch, so we're going to knock it out and be done.

My first thought was to change it back to something like the original light.

And I found this Trans Globe Lighting modern flush mount globe light, which is a pretty good match.

But it would look a little small, like the original light did. Plus, if you're going to do it, do to it right and put in something that adds to the space.

My mind instantly went to a white globe pendant light, like this Progress Lighting one.

But my wife pointed out that a pendant light would cover up the Crestview Door that's really the centerpiece of the porch.

So I turned to Rejuvenation and the Nimbus was a contender, but outside of our price range.

This Maxim Lighting

and this Progress Lighting modern porch light came very close to hanging over our door.

But the one you'll see when you walk up to is this Forecast Lighting silver porch light.

It's has the perfect mid-century modern look for our porch, and it's been ordered. Now we just have to get it hung.