By Jessica Pack
A mid-century chair walks into a bar. Bartender says, ‘Come on over and have a seat!’ Chair says, ‘I can’t – I’m all tapered out.” There seems to be very few jokes about furniture online. Trust me… I looked. Even less when it comes to style specific design. In this case, Mid Century Modern (henceforth to be abbreviated as MCM) which was the style of our latest stage in Worthington, OH.
Most of Columbus and its surrounding suburbs are developed. The further out one goes, the flatter it is. There are varying degrees to which areas are grown but by and large, the ‘burbs closest to downtown have been around the longest. Most of which have the same formula of charming houses close together with little to no yard.
As I was driving to our house on Granby, the roads were winding streets. The homes were super cute cottages. The area was so peaceful that even the squirrels were abundant. I turned off the neighborhood street onto Granby and was wondering if I was in the right place. Our home was actually down a hill, barely visible from the street, and was tucked into a fully wooded half-acre lot. My curiosity was piqued about what we would find inside (as long as I escaped the automatic deer repellant system… aka: a motion sensitive sprinkler system that was hidden amongst the delicious-to-deer hostas it was protecting. Yes, I tripped the “alarm” but was only minimally soaked).
I cracked out my (hard copy) dictionary to try to find the right word for it. Best I can come up with for the house is that it is an enigma. (Puzzling… inexplicable). I use that term because in the middle of a ‘city’ one typically does not find a home such as Granby… yet, it exists and it is glorious! Full walls of windows on both levels that look out to a treed ravine with a babbling brook. We needed to highlight these views along with the home’s features. It was far out!
The decor we selected to marry with the style of the home was very MCM. The house boasted open exposed beams and orange accent walls that screamed 1960… groovy, baby. (I’d attempt to write like Austin Powers talks, but that might get old in a hurry. So, every now and then, imagine you hear him in my words.)
My boss got inspired prior to the stage and went shopping for some funkadelic retro items befitting the period and the style. It was interesting using the items she found and how they brought that 1960’s vibe to 2021. The record player… and albums… I chuckled. **My boss is younger than me and I actually OWNED a few record players in my lifetime. She found special record frames and hung albums inside the front door for an “Oh behave!” moment the minute you walked in.
Once inside, we ran with it. We made sense of the interior orange accent wall mainly through use of more colors from the same era. There’s a color palette associated with the 60’s and it encompasses golds, navy, olive green, red and sages. In our version of this groovy room, we threw a nod back in time with colors that complimented and used furniture with shapes that were on-point for both now AND then. All with open sight lines out the back to the gorgeous property.
We employed those same techniques in our throw back master with rust, mustard, and olive pillows on the bed. We opted for vases of retro colors and shapes on the dresser to carry that MCM idea though the space with colorful art from that same period color pallet… and a shagadelic rug, of course.
If there is such a thing as a 60s themed modern kitchen…that looked phenomenal, we delivered. The home was immaculate. I’m not sure if it was just updated with amenities that looked vintage OR if things like the kitchen cabinets were well-maintained original elements. Whatever was the case, they were in mint condition. No, not mint the color… we saved that for the lower level family room. In the kitchen, we went all out with our old-school finds like a fondue set! We like to live dangerously. Our table setting used actual antique green glass plates and a 60s inspired floral patterned linen. No risk… no fun. It must worked, because when the seller saw our work and their re-envisioned home, they didn’t want to leave.
We carried the same ideas throughout the office and lower level bedrooms. There was no mini me when it came to the way the whole house was one cohesive “look” that must’ve also spoken to buyers because the house only lasted on the market for one day. Go for the gold, baby! ***Cue “Soul Bossa Nova” and Watusi on outta here. Yeah, baby!!!
