The Mid-Century Modern Deck House

It's funny, when we first looked at our house with our realtor, Ernesto was totally underwhelmed. What is going on with this place?  Little windows on the front, traditional kitchen remodel, original bathrooms with "upgraded" granite and horrible light fixtures.  All those things stuck out to me as well, but my mind started racing immediately to all of the things we could do to improve the mix matched style.

We decided to go for it though because it was UNIQUE and although not exactly what we THOUGHT we wanted, it was a good size house, in the location we were after AND fit the "mid century modern" criteria we had been hunting for. (built in 1963)

It wasn't until MONTHS after we moved into the house that we discovered what style it was.  We knew it was a POST AND BEAM...because, that was obvious from the ...wait for it...post and beams.

BUT! I literally stumbled upon a house that looked like ours while searching Google images and found out it is called a DECK HOUSE which was designed and built by a company called....wait for it again...Deck House, Inc.

A ‘Deck House’ is a pre-fabricated Mid-Century house developed in 1959 by two architects who studied under Walter Gropius (founder of the Bauhaus) at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. They formed the Deck House Company in Acton, Massachusetts, where it still operates, now called the Acorn Deck House Company.

Deck Houses were/are widely popular, but more so in the northeast, not Georgia.   The architectural basis for a Deck House is post and beam construction, which uses large and solid timbers to hold up the roof. These eliminate the need for supporting walls and allows for an almost unlimited amount of glass.  How cool is that?  Renovations should be easy then right?

Ceilings are exposed Douglas fir beams and tongue-and-groove vaulted ceilings.  (Sadly ours were painted) 
The exterior could've been stained at one point as well....which I LOVE! 

Many of the deck houses I have seen have a front carport or a side deck off the kitchen/dining area.

Like most mid-century modern homes,  the goal of the deck house is essentially combining form and function.  With all the glass, deck houses are almost always used in a natural setting.

It feels very exciting to now know what our house could (and SHOULD) look like.   I even found a FB page called "Deck House Owners" and they have let me in even though it's quite possible that our house was not actually BUILT by Deck House Inc.  (I called the company, and they could not verify by our address but said "that doesn't mean we didn't build it because there were many houses built in the 60's that we don't have records for.")

 A "deck house" has become an all encompassing name for this style of house (like kleenex for tissues) Our house is definitely in this style, though, and honestly I don't care WHO built it, I am just happy to have been enlightened about our homes' history.

My mind is in overdrive after looking at other Deck Houses (inside and out).  But that is the case with me and houses.  Inspiration and ideas are always flowing.

More importantly, Ernesto's inspiration has been sparked and he is excited to make changes and possibly sit back and enjoy this house for longer than he initially thought.  ("2 years and we sell" is what he was saying when we moved in)

As you can see with the other houses pictured here, the windows are not aluminum single pane. (notice the dark ones above)  And hopefully sometime this Summer, ours will not be either.  I love how many of the houses have different sized windows on one side of the front door than the other (I have always loved asymmetrical design.)

Also note they all have transom windows above the doors.  Yep. We are going to follow suit with that too.  I can't wait.  How awesome is this entry??

So much to share with you in the upcoming months/years.

New exterior paint color choices are being mulled over.  We were considering these two colors and I posted on Insta for opinions.  It was about half for Tricorn Black and half for Urbane Bronze.

We have pulled some other samples since this photo and are leaning towards SW Sealskin which looks like black/the darkest brown.

Also, a front patio is in the beginning stages...I'll have a separate post with our "plan" soon.

One of the front landscaping beds is ALMOST complete.

All this (and more!) coming to you right here on VivaCindy.....right after we spend a month in San Diego this June!!!! Woot woot! 

See you back here soon!!

Our House: FINALLY- Paint Goes On!!

Ok, well we have been in our house for a total of SEVEN months now and I have not posted anything house related here on the ol' bloggy blog..  You might think you have a lot to catch up on, but noooooo....oh no.  Since we moved in a just a few weeks before the Christmas lights started up last year, we didn't get anything done.  

I lied.  One thing.

Ernesto whipped up these bunk beds for the boys.  I showed him a picture for inspiration and he ran with it. God I love having a handy husband.  

Obviously not finished here.  There is a bottom bunk, and the ladder is on the short end of the bed.  Of course now they sit unpainted (or stained?) in an unpainted room.  Turning this space into a fun and functional place for the boys is on "the list" of things to tackle this Summer.

Ok, maybe one more thing happened before lighting season.  Painting the ceiling and beams.  This was a job we actually hired out, something not too common for us.  It was going to be a tedious job though with caulking all the boards; it sounded overwhelming.  They are tongue and groove, but over the years, cracks have emerged and I feared it would look "Shabby Chic" with cracks.   

Put a ladder anywhere near this one (and the other boy for that matter) and they will climb. 
 "Ok, paint one board."

For the beams we sampled a couple colors.  I LOVED SW Urbane Bronze (left below) but thought maybe I would put another color (more brown) next to it for comparison.  Status brown (right) looked like poop.

Urbane Bronze is tricky to describe.  It's kind of charcoal-ish but with a lot of brown.  I didn't want it to look gray, and I don't think it does.  It looks nice against the white, not stark. (See bad iphoto below)

Once the the holidays were over and we had a month to recoup (ie: sit around and do nothing!), we got to painting. One of our lighting guys who has been working with us forever is a professional painter (in the off season) so we booked him to get things rolling.  Ernesto painted WITH him most days.  

Having him show up everyday at 10am was just what we needed to motivate us.  A plan!

I went with a white paint everywhere and the transformation was instant and BEAUTIFUL!  Good bye horrible tan paint everywhere! Walls, ceilings, and BEAMS!? UGH! No no no!

You would think white is simple but on the contrare..... I had a horrible time deciding.

I am not a color expert, nor was I SUPER worried about all this "undertone" business, but just google "choosing a white paint" and your head will start to spin.  The more you look at pinterest and the like, the more confused you will be.

Under pressure (painter was at our house waiting for paint color) I chose Sherwin Williams Pure White for the ceilings. It was the whitest white  of alllll my samples.

Ok don't go picking any paint colors for yourself based on this horrible picture, but you can notice the color undertones easily.

It took me several days to decide on the adjacent wall color.  I wanted to just say "screw it, paint everything Pure White."  But I kept feeling like it would be too stark.. This is my first time going white and I was confused and second guessing.  On a side note, I remember yeeeears ago saying that I would NEVER paint my walls white. "With so many good colors WHY would I pick white?"

Moral: never say never)

 SW Alabaster kept coming up as a softer white and color match to the ever-popular BM White Dove.  As soon as the first wall was done, I new I had made the right decision. Whew!

A little difficult to see here [in my iPhone pics]  but there is a little contrast with the two whites and I am really digging it.  Needless to say, the house was a little disheveled during the process, but I am so happy with the results. (I will have to get better pics to reeeeally show you.)

I had a gallon of SW Shoji White (see sample above) on hand because I thought that was "the one" after seeing it on a blog that I love.  Yep, I just went and bought a gallon.  Rookie mistake. 

Anyhoo, although not the right shade of white for our living areas, it really was not a mistake.  This warm white is very nice and perfect in Paloma's room.  The cutting in was not finished here, but you can see the difference from the tan paint, and it's much better.

I have a vintage Persian in there with bright pinks and some great colorful art (yet to be hung) and this is the perfect neutral backdrop. 

Also, remember the fabulous Craigslisted armoire I scored and painted turquoise (when I was pregnant with Mateo!)??  Well, it has a new life.  She is now a beautiful shade of pink. SW Koral Kicks to be exact.  This peachy-coraly-pink gives a subtle pop against the soft white walls, and it's not sugary sweet.

I LOVE it.  It's not quite finished.  Painting those front cutouts is time consuming to say the least.  Yes, it's taking me MONTHS to get to all of them. Whew!

The only wall with COLOR upstairs is our bedroom and we only painted the wall behind the bed. (the tallest wall)   I wanted to have some color opposite all the windows.  I debated again with several swatches on my walls.

I was really inspired by a couple catalogs. Both West Elm and Cb2 were showing dark teal and I was loving it.  I bought several samples, throwing in some greens because I was also considering something forest-y.


I ended up with Ben Moore's Oasis Blue. (top right color in photo above)

It is beautiful!  

Before the wood headboard didn't stand out at all.  

Ok, lighting has everything to do with that in this pic, but.....still, you get the point. 

I LOVE how it turned out! Very rich but not super dramatic.  Now, wood headboard pops.

So obviously you need a whole bedroom shot, but Im not ready for that.  Take this little sneak peak (frog tape and all) for now, and know that a full reveal will come!

OUR NEW CASA!!!

Well, after nine months of searching for a mid century modern house in Atlanta, we are finally under contract living in one!

It all happened so fast - selling our house and buying a new house in a matter of a month! Whew! We closed on the old house at 9am and the new house at 330pm that same day.  NUTS!  But we did it!  Somehow we packed (err...threw things into tubs) and got out of our house in two days after closing.  

If you are familiar with Atlanta, we are near the intersection of Briarcliff and Lavista Rd.  (just 6.5 miles north of our house in Grant Park)  It definitely has a different feel than our old neighborhood.  Good thing?  More space.  I like that we are not on top of the house next to us.  Bad thing? More space.  It will surely be harder to get to know our neighbors, but actually Nextdoor will help with that. And of course getting to know other parents and Mateo's school. Its a new adventure! 

At just under 2000sq ft, this is not a huge house by any stretch. It actually is just 400 sq ft bigger than our last house, but the layout is going to work so much better for us. (At least,I hope!)

Ideas are just racing in my head. I will mention a few here today as there are a lot of changes we want to make.  But the house is totally livable and "up to date." (as long as you have granite, you are up to date, right?! ha - this is something I saw in sooooo many listings while house hunting)

Anyway, would you like to take a tour? 

(keep in mind that these are the listing photos with the previous owners stuff)

Built in 1963, this house creates that "living one with the outdoors" kind of feel that so many mid century modern houses are known for. All of the windows in the back let the light in making it feel spacious and bright. 

Even though the house sits on a .5 acre lot, the back yard is small.  I love that it is wooded beyond the fence (which we will be replacing obvs) but there is a HUGE drop off- so much of the "yard" is  un-usable land . Not ideal, but perfect for a Tarzan swing or zip-line!! Ha! Still, with all the trees it feels secluded and private. Who would guess that we can walk to Starbucks and Whole Foods in less than 10 minutes?!

Small or not, we are going to make this a kick-a$$ entertainers yard. It's actually pretty shaded most of the day (hence all the moss growing) but some of the trees need major trimming so this will help when we go to plant grass/lay sod.

What sold me right away on this house is the high ceilings.  

I told you I bought a 10 ft white Christmas tree on clearance from Target last year right?  Well, that is the main reason I started house hunting. I needed taller ceilings! Ha!  That was I said when people asked why we were moving from Grant Park.  Yep, it will fit perfectly here! 

Looking out to a forest view is awesome! So peaceful too!  Of course the peace and quiet ends at the windows for us.  See that fireplace in the middle? (that the couch is blocking??!! hello?)  Oh yeah!  That makes a great running track. As you might imagine, high ceilings and hardwoods make for great acoustics.  

I know the walls/ceilings seem light and bright in the photos, but they are painted a dark beige. Boo!   They were photo shopped for the listing, but feel a bit drab in person.  I am delving into the confusing world of white paint choices right now... Why is white so hard? It's white right?  The more I look, the more undecided I am.  I bought three samples and I just have to pick from those (Ill show you in another post!) and be done with it. 

The light wood floors are great (albeit squeaky)! I will NEVER EVER have dark wood floors again.  Ever! The dirt can just pile up on these and I dont even notice!  I just LOL while typing that. Yes, I'm still going to sweep my floors, but it won't need to be done daily or heaven forbid twice a day! 

Ain't nobody got time for that!

Even though the kitchen is not totally open to the living area, it has great flow. The dining area is large enough to fit my 60' round table too, so I'm happy about that. 

Yes, that chandelier is SO out of there! Also those upper cabinets above the peninsula are goners too. 

Well, actually the whole kitchen is going to be removed. I know, I know, before you say "but that is a nice kitchen!"  Let me say...It is a fine kitchen.  The cabinets are great quality and solid wood (cherry I believe).  The are in great condition too (unlike our old kitchen's flimsy builder grade Home Depot cabinets) but they are not my style.  More importantly though, they are not meshing with the style of this 1960's house. Tell me, would Don Draper look right standing in this kitchen? Definitely not. 

I have surprised myself by loving the easy clean up of the vinyl floors, but you know they have to go. Another downside. Electric stove.  Its the worst! You think I burnt a lot of tortillas on a gas stove?  I am for sure going to break my record with this thing.  It takes forever to heat up, it gets too hot, you try to reduce the heat and...blah blah blah...it's gone! (unless of course it costs $10k to get gas run to our house...then we will just suffer it out)

Although there is no on suite in the master, it is huge and I am not caring at all. 

Please try to look past all of the fabulous decor here, and notice the windows, window windows! 

We did put our bed in the same location and one afternoon, Ernesto was camped out playing his golf game on his phone and "enjoying the relaxing view" from bed. I think this will probably happen again. (and again, and again)

The 2 bathrooms are not terrible.  With white tile and light gray walls, I can easily wait for a remodel, 

That strip light however, will bug me. See the little vintage one in the shower? That one is cute.  

Oh! The previous owners left the plastic curtains (window & shower) so I have been reviewing my chemistry.

This will be Paloma's room, the only other bedroom with ours upstairs.  It is light and bright and big! I can't wait to get it all set up. 

On the downstairs level there is a family room (with another fireplace!), two additional bedrooms and a laundry/storage room.  

There is built-in shelving on either side of the room, and even though my first reaction was "Im getting rid of those" my sister had the idea of having doors made to cover them and wha-la! Instant covered storage! (Thanks Fred!)  This set of shelves below are right at the sliders to go out to the back yard and carport, so will probably be a main entrance for us.  Again, my sister's idea (master organizer and user of every square inch), but these could be utilized as a make-shift mud room and each kid can have their own door! Jackets, shoes etc can all go here.  Paint them out and they are going to be awesome!  I AM GOING TO BE SO ORGANIZED!!! 

Parkay? No, parquet.  No. it's vinyl and although the flooring is not in horrible condition, I really want to put hardwoods down here.  I would like it to have the same feel as upstairs (with lower ceilings ha) and I feel clean light hardwoods (and some paint) will do the trick. 

There is a HUGE closet with floor to ceiling shelving over to the left too, and that has been designated as "the toy closet." Yes! Ideally I would like to keep all toys down here.  Yeah right. That will happen. 

Outside, a cement patio is under the deck .  We will put some kind of water barrier under the decking because you KNOW I will be on the hunt for some vintage rattan furniture! Oh yeah! 

The second bath is plain and simple.  An easy fix really. New vanity out of vintage chest...and ....well that is about as much thought as I have put into this room. 

Here is the boys room. Big Windows. They will totally be sneaking out of those in 10 years. 

It's a great size room.  Ernesto is going to build bunk beds in the corner to free up floor space. The boys are pretty excited about it. 

Technically this is the fourth bedroom.  It does have the closet and window, but it is small. 

We are still debating what to do with it.  One thing I know is that it is the only room that I can afford to wallpaper. So get ready for some pattern in here! 

Well folks. There you have it.  Welcome to our new abode. Get ready for some changes to happen.  All of which will be documented here on VivaCindy. Yes.. more house posts and a continuing of cute kids pictures and ramblings here on the 'ol bloggy blog. Stay tuned! 

We are not even CLOSE to being settled in, but mi casa es su casa! Come visit us!!