It's a Holiday Wrap

It is eight pm on New Year's Day which to me means the holidays are officially over. Here is as rundown of the some of the highlights of our second Christmas in Cary:

• The most Cary-centric activity we did was the North Carolina Chinese Lantern Festival at the Koka Booth Amphitheater. It was pretty amazing. They build all of these displays out of lighted lanterns. The dragon was 186 feet long and sprayed water out of its nostrils to mimic steam. We lucked out to go on one of the few rain-free nights this December.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

•  My birthday is right before Christmas and Hubby gave me this sweet Mid Century Modern clock! 
  

• Comedian Son came from California and stayed a little over a week. I cannot really say he came home because as much as I love living in Cary, it will never be his home - it is just the place his parents and sister live. Georgia will always be home to him. 

• This is a photo of our beautiful Christmas tree. Please enjoy it because it is the last real tree we will ever have. We always had a fake tree until about four years ago when College Girl finally talked me into getting a real one. It was fine when we lived in the other house, but it was terrible in this house. The difference being hardwood floors. A reasonable person would think the hardwood/real tree combo would be better than having pine needles stuck in carpet, and that certainly is a benefit. The problem we had was ornaments falling to their deaths. I figure with a fake tree I can secure the ornaments better. Plus there is the lack of sneezing and hives too.

    

• Generally we spend our New Years Eves sitting at home, but this year we ventured out to see The Book of Mormon at the Durham Performing Arts Center. This was our first play since moving to the Triangle. It was very different than going to the Fox Theater in Atlanta. The Fox is an old movie theater and it is stunningly beautiful with an Arabian Nights theme including stars painted on the ceiling, but that old beauty comes a steep price or rather very steep steps with a serious lack of handrails. The seats are sized for 1920's sized butts, so a little tight for today's theater patrons. The DPAC is shiny and new, with comfy seats and safe stairs. As for the play, I enjoyed it but would not recommend it to anyone who is easily offended by ANYTHING AT ALL, because it is super offensive.  

So it was a great holiday, but I am ready to get on to the day to day living of 2016. I hope you had a great holiday too, and I wish you a very happy new year.

A Mid Century Modern Dilemma

My interest in mid century modern design really started when I began looking for a our new house. I was drawn to low roofed ranches with avocado green kitchens, and if I had an unlimited supply of money to sink into one,  I am sure that I would the proud owner of a 1969 North Hills ranch. Instead I am the proud owner of a five year old West Cary faux craftsman track home.

One of the great things about our newish house is the complete lack of decoration. There are no built-ins, no crown moldings, no chair railings. The most decorative thing is the mantel, and Yankee has promised to rip that thing out for me (a story for another day, I'm sure). Most people would find this a negative, but for me it just makes it easier to get that MCM feel I'm looking for.

Another way to achieve the look I want has been to load up on some nice pieces of furniture. One thing I have been searching for is a make up vanity for my bathroom.  I found a really fabulous piece at Gremlina Vintage in Fuquay-Varina, but while I debated buying it, someone else snatched that baby up. So I was again on the search until I found a desk on Craigslist that I thought might do, and the best part was the price - $30.

Yankee and I drove to North Raleigh to pick it up. The seller was absolutely the most hipsterish dude I have ever had the good fortune to meet. He lived in a tiny little hundred year old cottage that he had been renovating for several years. In true hipster fashion, he did not appear to be making much headway, but I digress.  We paid the guy $30 bucks and drove off with this:

In the  Craigslist photo I could not see what made this piece the true treasure it is. What I saw in the photo was a desk with nice MCM lines and drawers on the right side like I wanted but which were surprisingly difficult to find. I figured I'd bring it home, paint it and have a great little vanity.  When I saw it in person though, this is what I saw:

It has charcoal and rose Boomerang Formica! This was a really popular pattern in the 1950's. It is really cool and in pretty good condition too. The yellow top and edging are not it great shape though.

My dilemma is - do I paint it? On the one had I absolutely hate when people Pinterst-up MCM furniture. I see it all the time on Etsy and Craigslist. They will have a beautiful Lane Acclaim piece painted with gray chalkboard paint advertised as "Shabby Chic." It is really painful to think that beautiful piece of furniture painted and called shabby. On the other hand, the piece is the perfect size and style for my bathroom, but not the perfect color.

My bathroom is painted a light blueish gray and there is a lot of white in it. There is absolutely no pink. The pink in the laminate is very pale though, so not too noticeable. The yellow part is pretty rough with some holes in the top and gouges in the trim.

Last night I decided I was definitely painting it, so I took the whole thing apart to prep it, but I did not do any painting. It just feels wrong. I am considering just painting the yellow parts and leaving the boomerang. Any thoughts and/or advice from my readers?

On the inside, they used left over laminate. Now this color would be perfect in my bathroom.

This leftover piece is exactly like the counter top in my parents bathroom when I was growing up. 

Could the shape of this support get more 50's? I think not!

The two legs on the right side are wood painted black with metal caps.