Dress it up with Redi-Screens!

Wow! Crestview Doors has done it again!  Check out these fantastic versatile wood screens that can be used in a variety of ways to separate space around the home. Featuring modern patterns inspired by vintage textile designs, Redi-Screens™ are made from an unfinished, stain-grade Maple panel surrounded by an exquisite Maple hardwood frame. 

Redi Screens™ each measure 1-3/8” deep and may be ordered with a translucent resin backing that transmits light yet offers full privacy.  Be creative!  These amazing screens can be installed as sliding doors, pocket doors, articulating doors, room partitions, room dividers, hanging or mounted screens.  Custom sizes are also available.

Here is the inspirational photo responsible for these awesome screens! While attending a lecture during the Heritage Society's tribute to mid-century architecture, David from Crestview Doors ran across a picture of a groovy set of interior sliding wood panels!  

Crestview Doors, Inc

501 W Powell Lane

Suite 204

Austin, TX 78753

Toll-Free: 866-454-6302

Fax: 866-454-6470

info@crestviewdoors.com

Modern Resources for Modern Enthusiasts

Whether you live in a modern home, are a modern enthusiast or just like cool modern stuff, there are modern resources out there available for you EVERYWHERE! I have highlighted a few below that you may want to check into when you have some free time, extra money or just want some modern inspiration. 

Modern Mags!

   

Modernism is a quarterly magazine about 20th-century modernist design. This magazine ranges from the Wiener Werkstätte to the Bauhaus to Memphis and beyond, covering Art Deco,  mid-century, pop and postmodern design.

Launched in the year 2000, Dwell is an architecture and design magazine that is devoted to the modern aesthetic. As one of the only of its kind, this publication explores the concept of considering both the interior and exterior designs of a home while striving for ultimate harmony. Dwell Magazine has named Modern Charlotte as “The Resource” for mid-century homes in the Southeast!

Atomic Ranch celebrates mid-century houses - from 1940's ranch tracts to 1960's architect-designed modernist homes. With an emphasis on affordable solutions and homeowner renovations, their quarterly magazine shows you how to make your house cool, both inside and out.

Modern Shopping!

Modern Fabrics - located in Charlotte!  Welcome to your single source of discounted designer interior textiles. Their goal is to provide you with the best designer fabrics rescued from the cutting room floor! They collect new fabrics from the finest luxury furniture companies and offer them to you at 50-75% off list price. Reduce demand for virgin materials and minimize waste while staying on top of the latest textile design trends.

DWR - Your Charlotte source for modern design, from iconic mid-century works to innovative items designed today. Located at 4310 Sharon Road, Suite 21 - Charlotte, NC 28211

Crestview Doors - Your exclusive retailer of period-appropriate products for your mid-century modern home, renovation or restoration.  Located at 501 W. Powell Lane, Suite 204 - Austin, TX 78753 

Christiane Erwin - christiane@crestviewdoors.com

Click HERE to view Modern Charlotte's updated resource page!

Container homes are popping up everywhere!

It's estimated that 90 percent of the world's trade today moves in containers - containers that crisscross the world's oceans each year in over 5,000 container ships.  After they are used a few times they become used shipping containers that nobody wants so they just sit around taking up space. Designers all over the world are re-inventing the shipping container. They are giving us lots of cool, amazing options and are helping solve some real ecological problems at the same time.

Cordell House Shipping Container Architecture

Developers Katie Nichols and John Walker have focused their careers on creating affordable, sustainable, design-intensive homes for creative, urban people. The Cordell House is sustainable in material, progressive in design and vibrant as a habitat.  We hope that the duo at Numen Development see much more business in this direction in the very near future.

Bamboo Groves, a design and construction firm in Costa Rica, has developed 

some great designs for homes made from insulated shipping containers and bamboo.

Here's one Sitting happily on the Hillside!

The Ecopod!

Another container home designed for on- or off-grid living is the Ecopod. 

Made from a shipping container, an electric winch is used to raise and lower the 

heavy deck door (power is supplied by a solar panel). The floor is made from recycled 

car tires, and the walls have birch paneling (over closed-cell soya foam insulation). 

The glass is double paned to slow heat transfer. The Ecopod can be used as a stand 

alone unit or with other structures. It is designed to minimize environmental impact.

This home was built in Thailand and is very simple yet effective for a variety of uses. 

I particularly like the roof and simple use of materials.

Modern dwellings for your furry friends!

Forget dowdy carpet-covered cat houses, plain Jane dog crates and ugly animal beds - homes for our pets can be cool, stylish and modern!  I couldn't believe all the cool designs I found!  
Contemporary Cat and Small Dog House Designs are an excellent addition to your stylish furnishings. Your modern home or apartment will look great with this unique, comfortable and eco friendly indoor house for your pet.

Brands like Hepper are helping to bring pet beds and lounges into modern homes with a mid-century aesthetic.  These pods are healthy for the planet in addition to your sense of style.

Stackable Cube-Shaped Fish Hotel!  Give each fish a luxurious private room of its very own with this modern dwelling by Teddy Luong.  The design is stackable so you can even create a fish skyscraper.

Designer Leo Kempf made this modern cat house for his own cat, Olive, saying "she enters through a door in the bottom side and then ascends a ramp, which boosts her to the upper level.  The front wall is plexi-glass, the floor is 2.5 inch thick old sheepskin rug, and my wife made small paintings that hang on the walls".

Mod and comfy, the cat capsule by Christian Ghion bravely boasts an all-white sheepskin-lined design that will make you want a matching human-sized one for yourself!

Cubix Modern Dog House!  This dog mansion is designed to pay homage to the Bauhaus style and is made by the German company Best Friend's Home.

More examples of cool critter dwellings are the egg-shaped Nogg Chicken Coop and the geometrical, futuristic "Lulu's Hideaway".   Ideal places for your modern cat, dog or chicken!

This cat bed called Rondon designed by Christel & Ott Meyer is a simple, clean design for any room of your home.  A bit pricey, but still very cool!

Go modern with your plants!

Yes, your plants want to go modern! 

Get out your gloves and potting soil because it's time to add a modern flair to 

your living room, patio and deck! There are lots of fabulous shapes, colors and styles of 

planters out there for you to choose from!

The Beloved Bullet Planter!

First manufactured in postwar 20th century America, the planters reflected 

the era's fascination with all things "space age" and "modern".  

The Retro Bullet Planter is faithful to the vintage originals in shape, color, and the 

distinctive texture of compression-molded fiberglass.

Talk about amazing craftsmanship! Vessel USA Inc. produces the 
award winning Architectural Pottery collection show below.

Architectural Pottery has been a luxury American Made product since 1950.  

Original designs are commissioned and produced from designer specifications.

Talking Tile for your Charlotte Mid-Century Modern Home

Ceramic tiles are usually unremarkable squares used to create tidy, washable surfaces in kitchens and baths.  But, thanks to a growing appreciation for the colorful intricate styles of the 50's, 60's and 70's, patterns, decorative tiles and color are coming back!

An amazing example of fine tile workmanship would be the Miller Home in Foxcroft currently 

for sale with Modern Charlotte Realty. This home incorporates an organic blend of materials 

and showcases the artisan tile for which the Miller Tile Company was famous. 

The fresh interpretation of the bold retro aesthetic is immediately apparent in 

each example in the Vibe Mosaics collection by Walker Zanger located at 

11435 Granite Street in south Charlotte.

Barcelona Chairs By Mies Van der Rohe

OK- I admit it! I am a chair addict. One of my all time, must have chairs is the Barcelona Chair. Designed in 1929 by Mies Van der Rohe for the International Exposition of 1929 which was held in Barcelona, Spain (hence the name).

Designers and architects of the Bauhaus Movement were intent on producing great design for the "common man" - the Barcelona Chair was the exception! It was designed for Spanish Royaly.

In 1953, Mies Van der Rohe ceded his patent rights to Knoll, which renewed interest in the chair. Knoll still holds the patent rights though there are numerous knock-offs on the market.

Thanks to my Craig's list watch dog Terri, I now own a vintage pair of Knoll Barcelona chairs. And, if the deal wasn't sweet enough, they were originally owned by A.G. Odell of ODell and Associates in Charlotte, NC. Odell and Associates and their architects are responsible for many of Charlotte's mid-century modern homes and commercial buildings.