our salvation army buffet after 26 years of daily use

One of our most cherished pieces of furniture is a buffet found at a Norwood thrift store in 1986.  Shortly after we were married and moved into our first modern house, an eagle eyed new neighbor, Stan Rosemire, called and said that there was a piece of furniture at the Salvation Army that ‘looked like us.’  Intrigued, we ran over to the store and $25 later, the buffet (labeled ‘stereo cabinet’) was ours!  In not so typical thrift store fashion, it was in perfect condition. 

But 26 years, 3 kids, 3 moves and countless buffets served later, it was no longer in such perfect condition.  We toyed with the idea of having it refinished, but it was really just the top that was showing wear and it just didn’t seem worth it, especially since it is likely to get spilled on again. 

years of serving buffets have taken their toll on the original finish and especially noticeable is the watermark to the left of the tray 

'before'

'before'

Then last week, one of my internet MCM blog reading episodes lead me to two products that promised to ‘restore’ the finish of wood furniture without having to strip and refinish.  After some more searching on the net, I found out that the products, Howard Restore-a –Finish and Howard Feed-n-Wax, are available at Home Depot.  How could I not try it?  There was really nothing to lose.

restoration products used 

I applied the Restore-a-Finish (in Mahogany, which seemed from the small sample on the can like the closest color to the teak? buffet) using 0000 steel wool as suggested.  A finish coat of the Feed –n-Wax went a long way to even the tone of the wood an make it look way less dried out.  The entire process with drying time only took an hour. 

it only took an hour and I didn't even have to change into work clothes!

The white water ring on the right side of the top covered over beautifully.  The other lighter and darker (wine?) stains did not fare as well, but overall it does look a lot better.  Not quite the miracle products I had hoped for, but overall an improvement.  And I do feel like the wood is more protected than it was.  Overall, I give the products a C+, and certainly worth the small amount of time and money invested. 

'after'

'after' our kitty Miller seems unimpressed...

the finished product - the white ring is gone! What do you think?

It once stood proud

It’s now in tatters

Is architecture all that matters?

Carl Strauss, Ray Roush, you built them all

You never intended to see them fall

If you love it, a house is a home

But watch out if you start to roam

Fifty years from start to finish

Wood, glass and stucco, hard to diminish

Yet there it is, so uncertain

Waiting for its final curtain

-Susan Rissover

own this home for less than rent! ask us how!

*Welcome Home Funds Program is offered by the Federal Home Loan Bank. These Welcome Home Funds are meant to assist eligible homebuyers with their down payment and closing costs on the purchase of an eligible property. These funds may be reserved as soon as March 1st and will only be available for a limited time. FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO RESERVE YOURS, CONTACT SHAWN HUSS @ FIRST PLACE BANK 513.703.6489. 

We 'found' three of these original early production George Nelson Coconut Chairs in a GTE office building in Lafayette, IN in 1986. New chairs were on order and they ‘sold’ them to us for a $25 donation to the American Heart Association. Right away, our cats took to them. This is the sweetest cat that ever lived, Tyler, taking a siesta on one of them shortly after we acquired them. Evidently word got our about how comfortable the chairs were, and our cat Ryan had to see for himself (circa 1986). The chairs had just been recovered in 1987 when our friend Jenny could not resist their particular charms at a New Year’s Eve party. Either that or we throw really bad (or good?!) parties……Tyler, again (circa 1988).Our 2 ½ year old son, Trent (now 23), taking a coconut nap in December 1991. Daughter Tenley, just shy of her 3rd birthday in 2000.Tenley showing that the chairs are comfortable so many ways!Daughter Tenley when she was 13 posing with her violin (circa 2010).Our family photo for Best Magazine with daughter Kirsten (then 18) in the chair in the foreground, and Tenley in the background (circa 2010). Our cat Harper circa 2011 proving that orange cats LOVE to nap on coconut chairs!

my friend Jenny and I selling bugs in the neighborhood, circa 1969

And it hit me.  Everything I grew up with was new.  The house my family lived in when I was born was 3 years old.  We moved to a brand new house when I was 6.  My grade school was built 1960ish in a faux colonial revival style.  My junior high was roughly the same age (although in a decidedly more midcentury modern style), and my high school…… built in 1976, let’s just say it was late 20^th Century penitentiary style.  Very few windows, and the ones that were there were dark and did not open.  What if there was a fire?  Is that even legal?

Sylvania Southview High School, 1976I was born at the end of the baby boom and my Suburbia was hastily constructed to accommodate the burgeoning population.  My schools were completely devoid of any kind of architectural detail.  They were all slab on grade – no steps.  None of my schools even had an auditorium!  The only ‘character’ in my friends’ houses, (all built roughly between 1968 and 1972) were the different patterns of kitchen carpeting (yes, kitchen carpet was all the rage circa 1970 and my entire neighborhood was built with it).  My very cool and cutting edge friend, Linda, had the most awesome 70’s wallpaper and furniture in her house, made even cooler by the fact that the whole family listened to Carly Simon on the Hi Fi.  But surely none of this exists in these homes today. 

that's me, second from the left, in my friend Linda's groovy kitchen, circa 1979Tile work, such as Rookwood and Wheatley in the early 20^th Century, and the more generic mosaics and 4x4 field tiles with decorative borders or accent tiles so popular in the 40’s, 50’s and early 60’s is a lasting testament to the era when these homes were built.  A time when things were built to last, when craftsmanship was an art form, and before everyone was in such a hurry.  The article in the paper this morning talked about a time when Rookwood tile fell out of favor, only to be fawned all over by today’s buyer.  We often get feedback about our midcentury listings that the bathrooms are ‘dated’ or need updating.  I imagine the 1950’s era buyer of a 1928 Cincinnati Tudor felt the same way about their Rookwood fireplace!

Rookwood bathroom in a Price Hill Tudor, circa 1928. Notice the relief tile (or plaster?) border at the top....Rookwood Fireplace in a 1926 Tudor in Clifton -Susan Rissover

my parents and little brother, surrounded by the holiday booty of 1972

Since Oprah is not doing her ‘Favorite Things’ episode this year, I thought I would fill in with a list of our ‘Favorite MODERN Things.’  Here are some ideal gift ideas for the modern lover in your life – or some 'wish list' items for you!  I am a sucker for good design, and many of these items prove that good design does not have to be expensive (some are priced as low as $5.99)!  And in case Santa is reading this, I would still dearly love a piece of architectural pottery :)  And please, use the comment option below to share your favorite modern things.  Happy shopping!

-Susan

harper calendar

one of many charley harper calendars available. every well appointed home or office needs at least one!
atomic ranch calendar
and since you will probably need more than one calendar, this one is another great option. as an added bonus, the amberley village home of rick kay and jim kelly is again featured (april and september).atomic ranch bookthis is the original 'atomic ranch' book, chock full of inspiration and eye candyatomic ranch midcentury interiors – pre order

available for pre-order from amazon. target publish date is march 1, 2012. chapter 2 is all about our house!
miller house merchandise

these alexander girard design plates are just one of the many miller house inspired items available from the indianapolis museum of art gift shop.

aalto vase by iittala

every modern house needs at least one of these (originally known as the savoy vase).
modern address #s from home depot

we just love these clean line address numbers - and they are only $5.99 each (available in brushed stainless or black)! an instant modern touch to any abode!

chilewich spun vinyl abstract door mat

love this asymmetrical doormat. see another photo below of the mat in black with the home depot address #s.the chilewich door mat and home depot house #s in use - along with a remcraft bullet fixture and crestview door lite (other great gifts!).

harper books

no modern library would be complete without a selection of charley harper books. this one is the definitive work by todd oldham.

harper prints

i can't imagine a modern house without at least one harper print. this is one of our favs (whitecoat) - it hangs in our bedroom.harper coloring books and puzzles

and for the kiddies on your list, there is an ever expanding selection of harper kids books, puzzles and prints. this gorgeous coloring book would be inspirational for any budding artist

nelson ball clock

 this iconic modern piece is more affordable than ever! originally designed by george nelson and manufactured by the howard miller clock company, it is once again being made by howard miller and is under $75 (the licensed design is now made by vitra and is way more expensive).

henny throw from ikea

ikea calls this a bedspread, but it is really more of a throw. we have it at the foot of our bed (similar to this ikea photo above) and it adds great color and texture. it is a nice soft wool with a great vintage pattern.
joseph joseph cooking utensils from sur la table

these kitchen tools are as practical as they are good looking with the built in rests to keep them off of the counter. as an extra added bonus, the spatula is ambidexterous for us lefties!
eames hang it all by herman miller

we love the whimsical usefulness of our hang-it-all. it's a wall sculpture the you can actually use! ours is the licensed herman miller version that we have a link to here, but i noticed while doing my research that like the nelson ball clock, there are less expensive versions out there.
365 oven/serving dish from ikea

just simple good design. i always get compliments when i use mine.
architectural pottery

love, love, love the shapes of this stuff! santa, are you listening? i'm pretty sure i'm not on the naughty list this year....

modern art jewelry

arlen gave me this pin over 20 years ago, and several aaron rubenstein pieces have followed through the years. each one is unique and beautiful and modern. he's a staple at summerfair & the hyde park art show, but you can catch him year-round in his little shop in deer park. it's chock full of amazing design at a reasonable price.

Happy New Year!  Not only does Rosh Hashanah ring in the Jewish New Year in the Fall, but the Cincinnati Real Estate New Year starts then as well.  Not really sure why, but the annual ‘Circle of Excellence’ numbers are tracked from Oct. 1 of one year – Sept 30 of the next year.  And I am happy to report that for 2011 we are once again in the Circle of Excellence,  the top  10 - 14% of agents in the Cincinnati Area Board of Realtors and have been for 4 of the last 5 years.  Not bad in this economy, especially since the qualifications have not changed with a declining market!

Also not bad since I got into the business of selling modern homes 8 years ago as a ‘part time’ gig.  Little did I know when I started on this journey that there were SO many other modern aficionados out there – and so many homes that needed proper representation!   Not only is it no longer part time, but is now a family affair with my husband Arlen adding his time and expertise to the team.  But our team is actually much bigger than just the two of us – something I don’t talk about a lot but deserves not only recognition but explanation. 

In the state of Ohio, a real estate sales person’s license must be held by a broker in a brokerage.  We are real estate sales persons, or Realtors, and our brokerage, our larger team, is Keller Williams Advisors.  So even though we have the sporty and very different green signs noting cincinnatimodern (our brand), we are Keller Williams Agents and very proud of it.  Keller Williams is very unusual in that they not only allow (gasp), but encourage self branded agents. 

Instead of pushing the company name like most other brokerages do, Keller Williams instead works very hard to attract top agents who already run successful businesses (all Realtors are independent contractors, working for commission ONLY) and give them tried and proven tools to grow their individual businesses.  They are also forerunners in technology, the first national company to use a state of the art paperless contract system with electronic signatures.  They did not get to be the #2 real estate company in the country by accident, and it is a pleasure to be associated with a company who is as dedicated to our success as we are.

Internet presence is far and away the #1 marketing tool when you are selling a house, and our listing system feeds our listing to literally hundreds of Real Estate portals all over the web.  NO listings have a better web presence than ours do.  This may be why that even though our Keller Williams Advisors office in Cincinnati, only 5 years old, is the #2 volume real estate office in the entire Cincinnati MLS, and our listings have the lowest days on the market of any top producing office.  Can you tell I am proud to be associated with such a great company?

So in this NEW YEAR, the key to selling your house is to price it appropriately.  Plain and simple, that is what it takes.  The key to buying is to get yourself pre qualified by one of our recommended lenders (or one of your own) and take advantage of historic low interest rates and great home prices.  We have had great success in this market and we want to help you be successful, too whether you are buying or selling!

-Susan Rissover

 p.s. – if you are considering a career in real estate, give me a call – I would love to share my experiences with you. 

arne jacobsen designed vola faucet (1968)

What is MODERN and what is CONTEMPORARY?  These terms are often used interchangeably but fundamentally there IS a difference, at least in the design & architecture world.  If you look the terms up in the dictionary, you will be even more confused – they seem to be synonymous.  So here is my 101 primer on design:  Modern is a clean and unadorned style.  With roots in the early 20^th century, modern is truly form follows function.  Modern design does not change.  If something is modern, it will always be modern.  That is why the Saarinen designed Miller House and Garden or the Irwin Union Bank Building look so darn good today – because they are classic modern in design, and they remain unchanged.   Contemporary, on the other hand, is what is hip and in and trendy at the time.  It is a moving target.  Perhaps MODERN was CONTEMPORARY in the 1950’s (a style now known as midcentury modern, which is kind of a ‘subset’ of modern), but flash forward to the 1970’s  and 1980’s and contemporary had a whole new meaning.  Picture avocado and gold shag carpet, and lots of teal, brass and mirrors.

irwin union bank building in columbus, in designed by eero saarinen 1954 (photo from 2010)

The modern homes that have managed to escape ‘contemporary’ remodels are highly coveted 50 years or so after they were built.  New modern homes are almost non existent because of high custom building costs and lack of buildable land.  But what about the truly contemporary homes?  Homes that epitomize the era when they were built?  The market is full of time capsule gems just waiting for a new lease on life, but buyers often overlook these homes.  Look past ‘dated’ and look at the bones of these homes.  Most were custom built for forward thinking clients, and were not ‘cookie cutter’ homes.  And they all have modern elements incorporated in the design.  I applaud the buyer who is looking for the time capsule and who is content to live in a home as it is because they love it.  But what about the buyer looking for something new, or current contemporary, or modern?  It’s certainly worth looking at contemporary homes!

rudy hermes designed 1978 contemporary home in delhi

A prime example is our newest listing in Hyde Park.  This contemporary home was designed and custom built by the original owner in 1986.  It last sold in 2000 for $624,500.  We currently have this house, with one of the most sought after addresses in the entire city (Grandin Road) on the market for $415,000.  Why, you ask?  Is it in terrible condition?  On the contrary – it is in excellent condition, but it has a strong color palette and an eclectic use of ‘contemporary’ materials.  Some may say it needs design simplification and some may say it looks dated, but at the end of the day it is a whole lot of quality cool house for the money, and because of its location, there is plenty of room to add whatever touches you think it needs to make it your modern or contemporary dream home.  It already has Arne Jacobsen Vola faucets (my personal fave - see above) – it doesn’t get any more modern than that! 

1986 contemporary design on lower grandin in hyde parkgreat room of hyde park contemporary

arlen, outside of one of our SOLD listings in pleasant ridge

• Valuations and appraisals continue to be the biggest issue.  As a seller, you must be realistic about what the market value of your home is.  As a buyer, you can expect to get a good deal on a property, but don’t expect to steal it.  Low ball offers only create bad will and can set a deal up for failure.  Sellers must forget what they think their house is worth based on sales from years past.  Only market data from the past year is taken into account by appraisers, and your house must appraise at the agreed upon sales price for buyer to get a loan, plain and simple.  We are trained to help buyers and sellers through this process, but all parties have to be realistic with their expectations.

• Speaking of appraisals, the Hamilton County Tax Valuation letter that you just got from the county with your home’s projected tax value has little if anything to do with actual market value of your home.  If the value came in higher than you expected, you can go to the county with relevant market data and request to have it lowered.  But if you are like most homeowners and it came in lower, just sit back and relax.  The worse case scenario is that you will pay less in taxes :)

• Lending seems to have loosened up a little over the past couple of years.  203k loans continue to be a good option for buyers needing to finance renovations to a house they are purchasing.  We have seen buyers with good credit obtain 95% conventional loans, and 3% down FHA loans continue to be popular.  We have even had buyers obtain ‘bridge’ loans so they can purchase their dream home while marketing their current home – with little to no out of pocket.  Looking to do something but don’t know if you can qualify?  Hit our service providers link here or at the upper right and talk to our preferred lenders with no obligation.

We also have several new listings on the market worth noting:

• JUST LISTED in Wyoming – awesome international style modern home in great neighborhood.  I have always admired the simplicity of this house while driving by.  It reminded me of a waterfront home by my Grandma’s house in Michigan.  Turns out that the original owners of this home actually fell in love with the design while on vacation in Michigan and hired the architect, Alfred Tobocman, to design a similar house for their lot in Wyoming, OH.  This home was completed in 1979 with classic modern design and materials – and none of the 70’s cliché trappings.  If you are looking for a spacious home with plenty of bedrooms, office space, and room for entertaining, this is it!  The killer wooded creekside setting doesn’t hurt, either!

• Also recently listed is another ‘70s modern – this one in the popular MCM neighborhood of Turpin Hills in Anderson Township.  The previous owners of this home completely remodeled it in the early 1990’s, resulting in a very clean and white color palette with a ton of custom built in ‘Techline’ style cabinetry throughout.  The result is a spacious, contemporary feel and an awesome palette for displaying modern artwork.  A huge benefit to this home – compared to most midcentury moderns – is the abundance of walk in closets.  WOW!!  If only I could bring one of them to my house…..

• To complete our 1970’s trilogy, we also have a classic modern, international style 3 level in Gaslight Clifton.  Designed in 1970 by UC Architecture professor Dick Peacock, it has been owned for the past 30+ years by DAAP professors from UC and it shows!  Meticulously cared for and very cool and modern inside and out, this home is a wonderful contrast to its more traditional Clifton surroundings.  In a beautiful neighborhood and walking distance to the Ludlow shopping and entertainment district.  Perfect for the modern urban dweller! 

• On our PENDING list – our streamline art moderne  (set to close this week), the Roush designed Ruth House (sorry to everyone who missed out on this one – the calls keep coming in!), and the midcentury ranch in Wyoming. 

 And last but not least……

• Congratulations to Allie and Tyler Weaver on their purchase of an Abe Dombar time capsule in Amberley Village.  There is nothing quite like the rush of finding a well built custom home in completely original condition.  From the Italian glass tile baths, to the pink metal kitchen, to the Hollywood Regency style curved stairway, to the marble trimmed corner fireplace, this house is loaded with MCM Bling!  This house was listed without photos because it  ‘needs updating(!?)’  What a gem!