Yellow, Yellow, and more Yellow!

*** Realtor Tip Number 254:

Dress to match your listings. 

My listing in Indian Wells Country Club which will open escrow Monday! 

#sunshine #palmsprings #YellowisWorkingForMeTheseDays

***(You do remember I'm a realtor, right? That's why I'm such an Airstream Trailer Magnate!)

1966 Baby Safari Renovation Update!

Hooray! The Safari cabinets are almost done!

 Bright cheery Kitchen! 

You like? 

Whaddya think so far??

Renovation: It's All In the Attitude.

As I wrote the other day,  I purchased a 1949 Spartan Mansion (Silver Suitcase™ #3!)   Here's a sneak peak of a "before" picture. Note: my cavalier attitude.

Think I have some work to do? 

Photo: Mary Beth Acosta 

Over the next few months I'll have updates on both the Spartan and the 1966 Safari Airstream. (before pictures here)  Stay tuned!

Post Card Greetings from the Vintage Trailer Show - Palm Springs Modernism Week!

Heyyyyyy!!!!

Today was huge fun!

Didn't make it today?

Me + my Silver Suitcase™ along with 34 really great trailers will be there tomorrow, 

Sunday the 23rd  from 10-3!

Click on the link below for event details + I do hope to see you there!

Modernism Week Vintage Trailer Show

Hilton Hotel Parking Lot

400 East Tahquitz Canyon 

Palm Springs, CA 92262

World Famous Crochet Museum: Joshua Tree

If you've not yet been to Joshua Tree, be sure to spend a day up there poking around at the art scene.  One of my favorite stops is Art Queen, where they have the World Famous Crochet Museum on their back lot, amongst a lot of other interesting items. 

Midcentury Mates: Palm Springs Architecture and Goldie, My Oldsmobile

Goldie and the Distinctive Block Pattern at Robinon's

I've been driving Goldie, my 1962 Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight six-window hardtop sedan (that's a mouthful!) this week.  I so enjoy just looking at this car parked in different places, and swung by the former Robinson's department store on Palm Canyon Drive in Palm Springs for a quick snapshot.  The Robinson's store (now The Alley) was designed by architects Pereira & Luckman (Pereira also designed the Transamerica Tower in San Francisco).  



A little bit about the building from Palm Springs Preservation Foundation:
Constructed from 1957-1958 at a cost of $280,000 on land purchased from Palm Springs pioneer Pearl McManus, the J.W. Robinson Department Store Building was designed by the Los Angeles-based architectural firm of Charles Luckman Associates and William L. Pereira. Located on the southwest corner of South Palm Canyon Drive and West Baristo Avenue, the pavilion-style modernist building is dramatically elevated from the street level by four long horizontal concrete steps that create both a sense of arrival and impart a sense importance to the building. The building  won the AIA’s “First Honor Award” for 1958.

This structure was declared a Class One historic site in November of 2012.

Photo of Robinsons from approx 1966

Scooting Around Palm Springs

With all the warnings from the residents at Palm Springs' Happy Traveler RV Park about how hard it is to get around the park during season, I decided to purchase a 1968 Honda Cub Scooter at a garage sale.  It's been a blast, and really has come in handy when two or three RVs are moving in and out of spots blocking passage for my giant cars.  I just hop on the scooter and tear over to my office at The Paul Kaplan Group.  It makes quite a noise, and parking is a cinch in our lobby!

Palm Springs Modern Committee Fall Home Tour 2013

I spent part of Saturday touring homes for PSmodcom's Fall tour, with such homes as 1961 by Home Lab, the new Dee Residence in Rancho Mirage by architect Lance O'Donnell of o2 Architecture, and a recent renovation of a rear patio unit at The Ocotillo Lodge, which was designed by Palmer and Krisel and built by the Alexanders (one of my favorite condo complexes, there are plaques with celebrity names on the doors, harking back to when it was a favorite weekend haunt of celebrities).  This one had a "Dinah Shore" in gold on the door.  The Estrella Swim club house in Indian Canyons was a crowd-pleaser.

Building a Campfire, The Civilized Way.

Step one for cooking in an Airstream (click on the photo to link to video on my facebook page)

Sofa! Sofa! Sofa!

The sofa/gaucho was re-installed after a long absence from the Airstream.  It went in about 30 minutes after the flooring guys had completed their job.  Alf's Blinds and Draperies did all the upholstery work.  The final choice was a Pindler Sunbrella fabric in a green tone that matches the green in the vintage Marimekko window coverings.  The drawer beneath the sofa is massive, and the sofa back flips around to become a full sleeper.I had the cushion corners slightly squared off to not look terribly terribly 1980's.

Flooring Day

Cruddy old original 1980's carpet being removed

Trimming edges on Chilewich Flooring

Gaucho Frame Removed (those are batteries underneath the ledge

Pulling out old carpet under dinette table

The flooring from Chilewich arrived at Flooring Innovations.  I was able to schedule the installation of the upholstery about 20 minutes after the flooring was installed.  What complicated the whole installation was that my upholsterer refused to install the sofa first, as the entire frame had to be removed (you can see it out entirely in the photo above with the two battery boxes bneneath).  the carpet was pretty gnarly, especially after 12 weeks of contractors in and out and no one cleaning the floor (though I did run the vacuum a few times to get up nails and things like that).  The flooring looks great.  You can hardly see where the seams are.  It's a woven vinyl mat with a rubber backing from Chilewich, who makes the great placemats and floor mats for homes.  This is a platinum/silver color with grey and charcoal strands in it.  It sparkles at night and reads like a neutral during the day.  It looks amazing!

I'm Beginning to See the Light

 

I'm on the home stretch.  Little odds and ends are getting finished.  My lighting is starting to be installed.  The Airstream originally came with plastic surface mounted lights that were ok, but didn't have a nice quality to the light (they were small incandescent bulbs that were from the 80's).  I decided to add some vintage lighting, suitable for an Airstream in Palm Springs.

From the top: Cone-shaped sconces from Rejuvenation.  If you haven't visited their website, it's a fantastic array of reproduction lighting; these happen to be salvage lights that they polish up and rewire.  Their vintage lighting section is kind of breathtaking.  These sconces are going to be mounted on the walls in the living room, for reading lights.

Next are these cool drum-shaped surface mounted lights with perforations- they'll make the bedroom look 'starry' when they're lit up.  They are going to be mounted under the tambor door cabinet at the aft end of the trailer.  They also were sourced from the vintage section at Rejuvenation Lighting and House Parts.

The fabulous gold-toned pendant light came from Midcentury4U, an Etsy Seller in London.  I love that the ringed circle applique hides a reveal that lights the circles from behind.  It will be on a hook above the dinette table on a cord that will allow it to be taken down when the table is not in use.

The last photo shows the halogen undercabinet lights over my kitchen counter.  I am also having an LED rope light installed along the window soffit over the kitchen.

Countertop Installation!

I am so excited to see the counters go in!   Jacob is here installing the Italian laminate counters into the kitchen, folding dining table, TV stand, bath vanity, and the bedroom dresser.  The countertop material came from Modern Home in Palm Springs (they are expanding the showroom at the corner of Racquet Club and Palm Canyon Drive).

Now that these are looking good, the beige outlet covers look yucky- I just ordered white ones for installation by Crandall's Mobile RV.  I have a dead stock thermostat for the furnace that looks like it is from the mid/late 1960's that will go in over the dresser.  You can kind of get a peek at my new bullet planter from Just Modern in Palm Springs.

The beige section next to the dresser will be an upholstered panel that is the same green as the countertops, but in a Sunbrella fabris, which is also what the sofa will be reupholstered in.

Gifts? Yes, I LOVE Gifts!

Please find attached photographs of gifts suitable for that special someone who is moving into a trailer home.

It's a lot of fun getting presents in the mail; it's even more fun when they are technically presents for your great big honking Airstream.  From the top:  A Weber Grill (old-school charcoal) from Paul Kaplan (of The Paul Kaplan Group that I work for), and a great midcentury cone-shaped ashtray from a real estate client; four teak-handled spoons from my mom to round out a set that I am collecting; Pink Flamingos from my dad and his wife; a book on starting my own trailer haven from my friend Liz; and a string of Airstream lights for my awning, from my sister.

First Party!

It wasn't really much of a party, actually.  I had two friends over since they're all so damn curious about this trailer.  All of my lawn furniture was delivered, and it makes quite a transformation in the appearance of the space.  I bought the dinette chairs from Pelago ($90), the table from Palm Springs True Value (I think it was $199, it's a heavy metal one).  The two chaise lounge chairs came from a garage sale in Palm Springs ($200 for the pair), and the two Brown Jordan lounge chairs from the 60's came from a tag sale in Beaumont ($40 for the pair, thank you very much).  The artichoke light is a knockoff from Ikea. 

Green Machine

The countertop selection has happened.  I chose a green Italian-produced laminate with a high-gloss finish.  It's part of the Palm Springs-inspired color palette:  Blue Skies, Green Grass, and some brown sand...

I sure hope it looks as chic installed as it does in the sample from Modern Home.   Jacob, my cabinet guy, thinks I am buts for choosing this color.  I've had a few friends try to talk me into doing white. 

The blue striped awnings, which I keep getting compliments on, are the original Zip Dee-produced ones that came new with the trailer in 1988.  They look wonderful unfurled.  I need to find the original Zip Dee lawn chairs in matching fabric that fit into a cool compartment behind the oven/range.  There are a lot of clever storage tricks and cabinets in this rig!

Cabinet Hardware Is Not the Most Interesting Topic

I knew that I wanted some different hardware from what I've been seeing.  I found these at Modern Home in Palm Springs.  The pull is a reproduction of a fairly common pull found in the late 1950's and 60's and comes in gold or a nickel finish.  I came very close to going with the Midas Touch, but went for the Nickel.  The backplates are what separates these from being just ho-hum cool.  These are about 3-4" across and really give the cabinets some flair- and now feel very nautical/aeronautical.

The fabric, you'll notice in the close up, is a Marimekko pattern that I found originally for a sportcoat, but then decided to use it as drapery fabric.  Urban Burp has been a great resource, working with my drapery workroom.  Electra (at Urban Burp) is always at the Modernism Show in Palm Springs during Modernism Week-

When One Door Closes...

Now that the painting is done, Jacob (of Jacob's Fancy Cabinets) has installed the new MDF doors that are flat and more architectural.  They clean up the look inside quite a bit, if I don't say so myself.  The fridge, you ask?  The oak trim will come off and will be white formica, to match surrounding cabinets.  The toilet is starting to creep me out.  It's beige and has a vinyl padded top.  I was starting to think "I could just go to the office when I need to use the toilet," but decided that it's probably more prudent to just put a new toilet in.

Grass? We Don't Need No Stinkin' Grass.

I couldn't take the concrete pad anymore.  I went to Lowe's and bought a 12' x 35' cheap indoor-outdoor carpeting off the roll and had it delivered.  Instant lawn!  Looks like the Brady Bunch backyard set. So much cuter now-

Step 2: Paint It White!

I wish I had a nickel for each time that I told someone to 'paint it white!'

Well, this doesn't look like much right now, but it's a vast improvement already over the glossy 1980's oak look that this had originally- the only thing is that now that it's painted "Swiss Coffee" (what the Hell is Swiss Coffee, anyhow?) the AC unit in the roof stands out quite a bit.  The mattresses are two custom twin beds that are coming out to make a platform for a queen bed with nightstands on either side (there was originally a nightstand in the middle, which will be removed.  My painters, Kurt and David of Las Palmas Painting have been wonderful.  They did an amazing job of masking everything off exceptionally well, which is the difference between a good paint job and a mediocre one. 

I am still surprised at how many people think I'm not actually going to live in this!