Mid-century Ad Gorgeousness

1957 Plymouth Suburban Ad
Originally uploaded by modern cottage.

Okay so these are just gorgeous. We’re always on the lookout for interesting art and we’re particularly drawn to graphic and commercial design. These prints from plan59 look beautiful. The retro ads in the “museum” portion of plan59 comprise a diverse collection of sleek, happy and brightly colored [...]

Through a rough patch

coffee table
Originally uploaded by modern cottage.

I love stuff made from other stuff. Yeah, all stuff is made from other stuff. But I love stuff that’s been RE-made…stuff that started life as one thing but then had a costume change in the third act and came out as something else. Altoid tin speakers? Yes! Typewriter key [...]

Too good for corn on the cob

peacock plate
Originally uploaded by modern cottage.

Ah melamine. It was the material of the future. Wait. It IS the material of the future. Wait. It’s the material from the past. Wait. Ah whatever. Melamine just screams retro modern to me. These bird designs from thomaspaul’s “Aviary” collection have a great modern, graphic, kinda Russian (bonus points [...]

Worth putting glue on your walls

wallpaper
Originally uploaded by modern cottage.

So in case you haven’t noticed, wallpaper (or “wallcoverings” if you’re feeling all chi chi) is making a comeback. They’re throwing it up on walls right and left on HGTV these days and it’s starting to push paint into the role of background singer.
I usually hate the idea of wallpaper because [...]

A Modern Cottage Introduction

I love living in a little old house. It’s 1100 square feet burst with character and style that newly-constructed double- and triple-sized  houses can’t touch. And, as it’s 84 years old, taking my place as about the 7th owner is an everyday execution of reduce/reuse/recycle. Its old windows, compact floorplan and random quirks make me happy [...]