Our Atomic Life

Our Favorite Mid Century Shopping - Columbus, Pittsburgh, Charleston

2010-10-07T11:51:00.000-07:00

Some of our favorite places to shop for Mid Century items

CHARLESTON, WV:

The Purple Moon
906 Quarrier St.
Charleston, WV

Pittsburgh, PA:

WHO NEW
5156 Butler Street
Pittsburgh PA

HEY BETTY!
5892 Ellsworth Avenue
Shadyside

Columbus, OH:

Boomerang Room
3274 North High Street
Columbus

Rag-O-Rama
3301 North High Street
Columbus

Eclectiques
3625 N High St
Columbus

Mad4Mod
3292 North High St
Columbus

Flower Child
989 N High St
Columbus

Atomic Cupcake Studios Pinup Photography

2010-10-07T11:34:00.000-07:00

New stuff at Atomic Cupcake Studios! New business cards, new facebook site, new photos!

I had new pin up photography cards made at MOO.com last month and I LOVE them! Go check them out. You can even get free samples of your own designs!

www.moo.com

I am now on FACEBOOK.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#!/pages/South-Charleston-WV/Atomic-Cupcake-Studios/132851670064373

I've been shooting a lot of pinups lately so I thought I might share a few of my favorites.

Tops Off Barbershop

2010-10-07T11:14:00.000-07:00

I have been working on a new venture over the past few months. A vintage, "rat pack" inspired barbershop opened in our city recently and the owner asked me to offer pinup photos to clients in the shop once a month. We are calling it "The Tops Off Pinup Experience". Below are a few links to news stories about it. I'm pretty excited!

http://wowktv.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=84738

http://www.wvexecutive.com/news/top%E2%80%99s-barbershop-opens-downtown

Our new look.

2010-09-20T12:45:00.000-07:00

We are very excited with the new color. The original was a nice yellow, but it had begun chipping and was SUPER dirty. The door was brown with white plastic designs on it. We went with an era-appropriate taupe, black door and of course kept the original mid century lighting. After adding the floating house numbers we called it a day.

House numbers were a special order through Home Depot and we went with Behr paint/primer in one. It took one full weekend and about $300 for Brent and I to do it all ourselves.

Before photo of color/door:

Lots of new goodies!

2010-09-20T12:36:00.000-07:00

I am such a slacker. I apologize and beg forgiveness. We have had quite the year. Lots of good and bad happenings, but finally back to the good ol' blog.

So...what's new? Well, we painted the house, hung new floating house numbers, hit some great flea markets all over Ohio, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. We have been super busy doing pin up modeling shoots, and we bought lots of new vintage goodies to share with you.

Because we have so many new things to talk about I will spread them out over the next few weeks.

BIG NEWS IN THE MEANTIME!!!

Some of you may or may not know I had gastric bypass surgery and lost 150 pounds. Well, I am going in the day after tomorrow (Sept. 22nd) to have my plastic surgeries to fix all the yucky skin. Blah.

This healing period will leave me with plenty of time to blog for you. Woohoo.

xoxo,
C

Be gone snow. Be gone!

2010-03-01T09:34:00.000-08:00

It is March and I am hoping; neigh, praying that we see the last of this years snow. I am ready to plant some spring flowers, get some fresh air, and just get out of the house in general. Bring on the good weather, flea markets, and estate sales!!!

We took this picture of Brent and I last night at our church's volunteer banquet. Brent and I work the nursery at church and get to take care of all the little babies. FUN!

New Logo

2010-02-05T09:53:00.000-08:00

I have a new company logo. Yay!

Special thanks to:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/camillechung

ME!

2010-01-24T17:19:00.000-08:00

This is me in some of my favorite hats. I have about 75 vintage hats. xoxo

Pin Ups

2010-01-21T17:46:00.000-08:00

This week I had a big pinup photoshoot. I also took commercial photos for a local rockabilly shop. I figured I'd share a few. XOXO

SWING DANCING!

2010-01-15T06:32:00.000-08:00

Brent and I are getting ready to start swing dance lessons and I can't wait! I have always wanted to learn. I have been watching YouTube videos to get myself psyched out. This is my favorite, so I thought I'd share. Enjoy! xoxo

NEW CARPET and the little things...

2010-01-12T16:37:00.000-08:00

Here are pictures of our new carpet. It went in today and we are thrilled with the vintage-esque results. YAY! I also added some pictures of details around the house. Just a few of the little things that make it "home". xoxo

CARPET:

KITCHEN WALL TEXTURE:

CLOTH WALL TEXTURE:

BATHROOM TILE AND DECOR:

WALL ART IN FAMILYROOM:

(ok, so Velvet Elvis' are more 70's, but we LOVE him!)

UPDATES and LOTS OF PICS!

2009-12-29T12:58:00.000-08:00

Since moving in we have been renovating like crazy! We painted most of the rooms and had to put in new carpet(due to the original carpet dry rotting). We also had to replace the dishwasher and fridge. Despite the updates, we did our best to keep with the original integrity of the home. We really want it to seem authentic when people see it. Enjoy the photos.

LIVINGROOM

OFFICE

KITCHEN

DININGROOM

FOYER

MASTER BEDROOM

PINK BATHROOM

BLUE BATHROOM

BASEMENT

Farewell to our dishwasher...

2009-12-20T06:08:00.000-08:00

Our dishwasher was used one time before it crapped out. It is just one more thing to add to our list of unexpected expenses. We were told it worked, but since the house had been vacant for over a year we knew there was a possibility it might not.

As soon as I started it up it began smoking and smelled like burning tires. Not good.
We ended up getting a new stainless steel one to match the stovetop and new fridge. This is it:

*UPDATE: Lowes came and measured for new carpet upstairs since the old shag had dry-rotted. New carpet will be going in late January. We found a retroesque patterned carpet that we love. It is the same color gold as the original shag and will go perfectly with the 1960's custom curtains and original cloth wallpaper.

SNOW!

2009-12-20T06:04:00.001-08:00

Today we had the first snowfall of the season and my son was in HEAVEN! We have the BEST hill for sledding and the two fireplaces come in handy on these cold evenings. So cozy!

More Details

2009-11-20T14:54:00.000-08:00

We have been doing alot of work to the house so please keep in mind these it is a work in progress. These are a few photos from along the way.

This is the new wallpaper we put up in the kitchen.

This is an example of the mess left under the old wallpaper.
We got this new stainless fridge and wanted to revamp the older appliances. I found a great paint that has actual stainless steel in it. Here are the finished pieces.

It could be worse...

2009-11-20T09:10:00.000-08:00

Well, we officailly closed on the house and got right to work tearing the old carpet off the stairs. We were excited to find beautiful finished oak underneath; however, the good news ends there...

Our first big renovation began by stripping wallpaper in the kitchen. We immediately found unfinished drywall walls underneath. Our plan had been to prime and paint and spend about $50. We ended up doing a $350 wallpaper job to cover the mess underneath. Thank goodness my mom and her husband were visiting from northern California. They were alot of help.

Next, we had our shag carpet cleaned a few days after moving in. As it dried it began showing signs of dry rot and within 24 hours was literally breaking apart under our feet. We are looking at about $1,000 to replace it. Also, when they steam cleaned they used our outside water source that had not been used in over a year and had not been winterized. The pipe broke off in our wall and we had to call a plumber to the tune of $500. They also had to cut a hole in our livingroom wall to get to the leak! Patching that is our next fix. Grrrr!

While the plumber was at the house he looked at both toilets. He said they were outdated, had obsolete parts, and he was suprised they were not leaking by now. Of course I cringe at the cost it will be to fix them. I definitely DO NOT want to replace them. They match the bathrooms perfectly and are original to the house!

On a happier note, we got all of the rooms painted, carpet installed downstairs, and did alot of cleaning. Things are coming along fairly smoothly now. It could be worse.

Almost there...

2009-11-02T17:56:00.000-08:00

Our closing it going to be this week! It is official. We did our final walk through yesterday and have mailed out our change of address cards. YIPPEE!!!

This week's finds...

2009-11-02T17:35:00.001-08:00

We hit 2 estate sales this past weekend and bought a few items I thought were worth sharing. We paid $10 for the vintage atomic star burst TV trays. It's a set of 4 with the tray holder. We also got a few kitchen items. Didn't need them, but hated to pass them up for .50/each! We found 2 vintage velvet ship paintings in frames for $1/each. Lastly, I added another piece to my retro ashtray collection. It was $1.00.

Details

2009-11-02T16:03:00.000-08:00

THESE ARE A FEW DETAIL PHOTOS. MORE COMING SOON!

The following photos were taken during one of our visits to the home. I will post better pictures after we close.

I heart this blog!

2009-10-22T17:03:00.000-07:00

I have been wanting to restore and old teardrop trailer for a few years now. I am always looking for ideas and her blog has some of the best I have seen. Her trailer is THE cutest little thing ever! The pink and black interior is to die for!

A newer, more modern tear drop option is the T@B. They are a fun twist on the classic little weekender. I personally prefer a fixer-upper that I can put my blood, sweat, and tears into. They sure are cute though.

My life in vintage ads

2009-10-19T18:20:00.001-07:00

A girl can dream can't she?

2009-10-19T17:51:00.000-07:00

These homes are drool inducing. There are seriously some amazing places! I just wonder who can afford these? 2 million, 6 million, 10.5 million?! Come on now.

Anthropologie has some pretty great aprons for those of you who don't mind reproductions. Personally, I'd rather hit a few flea markets or ebay and get authentic vintage, but they are good for someone not quite as ambitious.

837 Echo Road

2009-10-19T08:30:00.001-07:00

Echo Road is in a well known Charleston-area neighborhood called Thousand Oaks. It is known for its great schools, close proximity to parks, and mid century modern homes. The homes in Thousand Oaks were all built around the same time by the same architect. They have geometric lines, stacked stone exteriors, and alot of granite detailing so we knew it was a good place to start our house hunting.

After driving by the house at 837 Echo Road we fell in love with the original exterior lighting, cut stone carport, and cozy setting. However, we had no idea if the inside would match its exterior charm so we called our realtor and made an appointment for the very next day.

We first walked up to an original door with a dimpled, frosted glass window. The door knob had a decorative brassy cover around it, and the door had a tri-rectangular design on it. It was a promising start to the tour.

Both Brent's and my mouth dropped open in unison as soon as we saw the exposed wood high beam ceilings, marble fireplace that ran floor to ceiling, and vintage custom made twill curtains. We saw original, flawless shag carpet, fabric wallpaper, and an entire wall of floor to ceiling windows. The entire home had original glass drop pendant lighting.

The kitchen had original granite floors, granite countertops, and original blonde solid wood cabinets in MINT condition. Even the hardware showed no signs of tarnishing! The appliances were the only disappointment we found - they had been updated.

Heading down the hall we passed a darling little laundry shoot and saw flawless hardwood floors that continued into both of the two upstairs bedrooms. Both rooms had original cannister light fixtures- MINT.

Next we opened the bathroom door. Our realtor, Brent, and I all 3 gasped in unison. Our realtor, out of repulsion; Brent and I out of pure JOY! It was my dream pink bathroom! From the double pink sink to the pink toilet and tub, to the pink circle mosaic tiles. The MINT condition wall paper was pink snowflakes with flecks of gold. The geometric medicine cabinet was stainless steel and glass. This too looked as if it had just been installed. It was pristine! The old linoleum floors needed replaced.

We headed downstairs. The steps were flanked by granite on one wall and vertical solid wood dowels on the other. The carpet was worn so I pulled up one corner to find gorgeous hardwoods underneath. Another hidden treasure.

At the base of the stairs was a built in stone planter. A matching stone fireplace sat in a family room that boasted original green/gold carpet, matching vintage custom curtains, and again a full wall of floor to ceiling windows! The only disadvantage was dark wood paneling that had obviously been put up in recent years.

There was another bedroom downstairs and a powder blue bathroom much like the pink one ustairs. It had a blue tub, sink, toilet, and tiles. It also had the geometric medicine cabinet and original light fixtures, but it had updated wallpaper (soon to be removed!) It also had old linoleum floors in need of replacement.

We knew the house had been on the market only 15 days and knew it was a hot property so we decided to make a full price offer and I wrote the owner a letter complimenting her home. We gave her 24 hours to accept or reject the offer. It was going to be a longgggg 24 hours, but it was in God's hands at that point.

Our realtor called us the next morning and said we got the house and it was a good thing we had offered full price because there was already another backup offer! It was like a dream come true. We would have our dream home in our dream neighborhood. We are now scheduled to close on the house in approximately 2 weeks.

Oh how I love thee...

2009-10-19T05:45:00.000-07:00

The Purple Moon is the ONLY mid-century store in the Charleston area and possibly in all of West Virginia. We just bought a couch and two chairs from here. Chuck, the owner, was wonderful. He is so full of knowledge and has a true passion for his wares. Before I left he gave me my first copy of Atomic Ranch magazine and a vintage Mary figurine to add to my collection. I can't wait to go back. He has a floor lamp and corner table I fell in love with.

The Inspiration

2009-10-18T15:38:00.000-07:00

I have always had an attraction to all things vintage. From the music and clothing, to the happy housewife persona and swing dancing. Yes, I am pretty sure I was born in the wrong decade.

It all started with listening to my grandma's stories and seeing photos of her and my grandfather. I used to imagine what it would have been like to see my grandpa as a younger man and to watch my grandma, as a young wife, say her goodbyes as he headed out to sea with the Merchant Marines.

I had many early influences. My mother, a suburban housewife, was an immaculate housekeeper, seamstress, and decorator. She was everything I wanted to be. She WAS the 1950's housewife. Her sister was the same. My aunt, also a collector, was the first person to introduce me to barkcloth, carnival glass, teak furniture, and vintage valentines.

By the time I was 17 I had begun collecting vintage hats and took an interest in pin up girls from some of the more well-known arists such as Elvgrin, Petty, and Vargas. These images covered the walls of my dorm room in college.

In college I began dating Brent. He, in a way, was another addition to my collection. The first time I met him he was wearing a vintage button up shirt and had perfect Elvis-esque sideburns. When he later wore a salvaged old western shirt I knew he would have to be mine!

During my college weekends we began hitting thrift stores and flea markets. Brent and I would buy little odds and ends and the occasional piece of vintage clothing.

After graduating college we were married and bought a home. It was a little 1950's craftsman bungalow. It had all of the darling details one might expect from a home that age. Hardwood floors, beautiful crown moulding, built in shelving framing a little fireplace, and high ceilings. It was the perfect place to start a REAL collection. We hit every flea market, yard sale, and thrift store we could find. We rummaged through our families basements and garages, and began decorating our home as if it were actually from the 1950's.

Two years after moving into the craftsman bungalow I found out I was pregnant with our little boy, Oscar. It was time to upsize. As much as we were pained to leave our little dream home, we knew we had outgrown it.

For what our new home lacked in character it made up with in size. It was a 2,000 SF, 4 bedroom rancher on almost a full acre of land. We lived there 5 years and although we liked the house, we missed the charm that only a retro home can offer so we listed it for sale and began house hunting. We looked at several homes on realtor.com and narrowed our search down to 3 mid-century homes. We drove past the first 2 and were disappointed, but as we drove past the 3rd it was love at first sight.

837 Echo Road - it is this 1963 mid-century modern home that has inspired this blog. Please follow us as we restore and work towards maintaining the authenticity of this wonderful time capsule.