Knoll Handkerchief Stacking Chair

I hope you're all enjoying some great summer days. We're enjoying the benefits of summer in the Willamette Valley, mostly good wine and veggies galore from our garden, other people's gardens, and farmer's markets. This spring we also benefitted from Craigslist! We picked up these Knoll stacking handkerchief chairs in the tiny Oregon town of Azalea! They were red and faded because they had been used as outdoor chairs. But with a little spray paint these puppies cleaned right up and I couldn't be happier with them. They're super comfortable and easy to clean. The Danish table we got from Hawthorne Vintage up in Portland. The other 2 chairs were from St. Vincent's and with some spray paint and new fabric for the seats they cleaned up nicely as well (before pictures below). You can see the Flor tiles that we got from Modern about 3 years ago (past blog posts about Modern and Flor). Before the remodel the Flor tiles were the runner in the hallway but now they help to define our dining area. In the background you can also see how great the floor and door trim turned out thanks to David Schmitz, AIA (Engage Architecture) and Jonathan Plummer (Bunchberry Woodworking)! Having an actual dining room table has me actually looking forward to winter dinners and card games - but I don't want to wish away this sunshine and warmth.  I'm gonna go eat some sun-warmed blackberries that are creeping through from our neighbor's yard now. . .

Dispatches from a Construction Zone: Part 2

 It's Saturday and Mr. Monkey and I were supposed to be up at a mountain cabin soaking in some hot springs but instead we're home babysitting the flooring process. The above picture is the floor with no treatment. The below pictures show part of the process ending with how the floors looked this morning. Not exactly what we're going for. The major problem is that Mr. Monkey and architect extraordinaire, David Schmitz, AIA of Engage Architecture, met with the contractor and explicitly stated the floors should be smooth in texture, uniform in finish, and level. So far we've only kinda reached the level part. To the credit of the work crew they did return this morning on a Saturday to make it work. I got to sit in on the color mixing process so I could approve the color - a much darker blue grey than what is in the pictures below. We're going for smooth texture, shiny finish, dark blue under layer with dark charcoal gray top layer. Mr. Monkey is at the house now while the crew places another layer on top of this one. They sanded this morning and they'll add a new layer today - hoping for the smoother, darker finish. Fingers crossed that this it the final layer and that Monday they'll be able to stain with the charcoal water-based stain and then add the shiny sealer - two layers of it. At the beginning of last week I was saying, "At the end of this week the floors will be done - yee haw!" Now that time has come and gone and now I'm saying, "By the end of THIS week the floors will be done and maybe even Bunchberry Woodworking will be able to start installation at the end of this week.  Keep your fingers crossed for us!  

After the floors were sanded they placed a self-leveler and another material to evenly cover the concrete pad.

This is what we woke up to this morning. Uneven finish, uneven color, level was okay, wrong color.

Here's a close up of some of the texture issues. Imagine walking on this with bare feet. Ickers!

The dining room.

North-facing view.

Modern Shopping in Eugene

Photos provided from owner on Google.

Eugene Modern Newsflash!

Modern is the name of the store. Located over on 5th and Pearl across the street from the 5th Street Public Market this little shop has always left me wanting more. Over the years it has been limited by space. I love that they sell Gus*Modern but with limited floor space they can usually only display a couch or two. So it's not really the Go To place for modern furnishings. They often have great accent pillows, but again the space does not allow them to have a variety. They at times carry Angela Adams rugs (and purses/wallets) - gorgeous - but the space is often a barrier. In January, Denise Sprengelmeyer, the owner, sent out a request for feedback from her clients and patrons. According to the newsletter she sent out this week the survey was helpful and sales have been great. Which leads to this newsflash - Modern will be expanding! What wonderful news during these crappy economic times. I'm super happy for Denise and her staff and I'm super happy for me and those of you who enjoy spending time and purchasing many of their modern items. You can read about our Flor searching and Flor buying experience by clicking on the links. I found the two pictures above from google maps and you can see the angela adams rugs hanging from the second level railing, you can also see 2 really cute christmas stockings on the table - I purchased those both, one for mom (Mother Monkey) and one for brother (Lucky Monkey). In the bottom picture you can also see examples of great lighting, Modern always has the most original lighting options in town plus a Marimekko pillow in the background. We ll I'm very excited for them and for Eugene. I think their re-newed vision will be profitable for the store and beneficial for patrons. Thanks, Modern!

"Our goal is to be the interior design resource customers can count on in Eugene rather than having to drive to Portland to find what they want." Modern Newsletter.

I can't wait! I'll be sure to report back in March once they've opened the new space. Yippee!

End of Summer Updates: Part 1

Friends! Life has been busy with a capital "B". I think that for the rest of the fall I will be lucky to be posting once a month. For those friends and family members who check our blog on a regular basis you might find it best to click that little subscribe button to the right so you know exactly when I've gotten around to posting. 

Now for some updates I did purchase the FLOR rug and it has worked out quite nice as a runner in the hallway. I probably purchased a few too many squares because I was encouraged at the store (Modern) to buy an extra tile or two for mistakes or stains down the line. We'll see how it goes. The squares do vacuum easily which is nice with our cat loafing around on them leaving bits of himself - only the hair variety of bits. 

Our dahlias are still going strong. I love the white ones the best but the maroon dahlias are more spiky and their color is so rich. The dahlia bushes have grown over my head and could even be confused for a small tree. Truly they recently fooled a young deer - possibly a buck that has been seen munching from backyard gardens. This young buck rubbed himself all over the dahlia bush and our fig tree in the back and demolished both! Deer and raccoons these days are becoming quite pesky. There was a gang of 5 raccoons traveling through our backyard recently who left a large pile of scat (aka shit) in the backyard! I guess that's the price we pay for living in a town of only about 150,000 when the country life is really just a short drive away.

Decision Time: Flor Tiles as Runner

Okay peeps - I've had it with our runners - that's right we have 2 to be annoyed with. We've had them for 3 years now. We got them a target when we just had moved back to Oregon after life in Phoenix. We didn't have a bunch of money but Mr. Monkey moved us into this little dump of a place that hard horrendous carpet - complete with stains even after 2 stints of professional carpet "cleaning" - oh yeah they were gross. The best we could do was cover them up. I proceeded to buy a rug and these two runners. They've done their job. It's time to move on. 

I've been admiring Flor for awhile now - through the catalog, online, and in Modern, a nice home furnishings store here in Eugene. The cool thing about going to Modern and not online is that I can actually touch and feel the tiles and check them out from the store. So I went on Saturday to check out a few of the tiles and here they are. We narrowed it down to 4 first. Pictured to the right. And then narrowed it down even more.

 It's funny though the one I'm leaning towards the most is the very first one I picked in the store - I guess I just knew. At first though when I showed them Mr. Monkey - the one I first thought was right he first thought was wrong. Uh oh. Once he saw them laid down on the floor he was fine with the final two. So that's them at the top of the post - the final two. Feel free to express an opinion. Even if you're opinion is "paint those ugly walls." Here's a link to a picture of the living room and the office to get an idea of the color scheme of the house and how it will all fit together. Cheers!