All of the wood used in the shelves and trim in this four-walled, floor-to-ceiling library were milled from a single standing dead ash tree. (The emerald ash borer has killed most ash trees in southeast Michigan, making ash a kind of “recycled” wood.) Pieces with interesting grain, knots, holes, or borer-marks were saved for the more visible parts of the shelves. The reinforcing beams were salvaged from an old barn – and, somewhat miraculously, fit right in place without needing to be cut. The floor

This room was originally separated from the dining room by a wall. We removed that wall and moved another to make enough space to wrap the counter around under the East window and to open the kitchen up to the dining room towards the West, creating a corridor with large windows at either end and a skylight-well in the center of each room. With the exception of the refrigerator, all of the appliances in this kitchen came secondhand from Craigslist. (Everything and the kitchen sink!)

There was originally a wall separating this bedroom from a small 6-foot-square closet at the end of the hallway. We removed the wall and closet door to create a small sitting room with built-in shelves and large, South-facing casement windows. The transformation of what could have been a dedicated closet into a small room with a built-in shelf created a storage problem that was solved by the use of two smaller shelves, two large wardrobes (one antique, one modern), four vintage, hot-pink “Jersey Fruit” peach

This room was originally separated from the kitchen by a wall. We removed that wall to open up the space and created a corridor with large windows at either end and a skylight-well in the center of each room. The dining room floor is the kind of Vermont slate often found in the foyers of mid-century Midwestern homes – although typically there are some deep red or burgundy accent tiles included in the repeating pattern. Most of these came from a bin that a local

This bathroom had four layers of old flooring, including a top layer of carpet (carpet – in a bathroom!) that had to be removed before we could lay the tile. The layout was changed to make room for a vintage Kohler avocado green bathroom set. The “post-faux” vanity was found in a neighbor’s garage – a dusty old antique piece that had been refinished in a faux-antique style years ago, then naturally distressed for a second time after years of neglect sitting in a garage.

The floor is the original wide-plank pine floor, repaired, sanded down, stained, and sealed to keep the history embedded in some of its deeper gouges. The double doors leading to the adjacent room were originally sidelights (windows on the sides of doors) from a nunnery in Monroe, Michigan. We cleaned, stained, and sealed them to reveal original antique leadwork and beautiful wood grain under years of soot, grime, and water damage. The matching door to the hallway is from the same source. The antique secretary

This retaining wall’s 7.5 tons of concrete – or “urbanite”, as recycled concrete is sometimes called – is 100% reclaimed from local sidewalks. In 2009, the City of Ann Arbor began requiring residents to replace damaged sidewalks on their properties, which led to an abundance of this material at the local concrete yard. Since sidewalk concrete is generally poured to a uniform thickness, it makes good material for stacking if you have enough of it. All except the top course of these concrete pieces were

The stipulation that there be a full-sized bed on the West wall of this small room made it difficult to find other pieces that could fit. But with a flexible eclecticism and a limited color scheme, we managed to turn it into a striking yet functional guest bedroom, complete with dresser, desk, mirrors, bedstand, cubbies, ottoman, that could be easily converted into a children’s room in the future. Bed: supplied by client / Overhead light and fan: existing / Wall paint color: existing / Dresser:

The Bluish Barn was a house in Ann Arbor that hosted public movie screenings and other events.  Since the tenants were unable to make any permanent changes to the house’s structure or surfaces, Mongo Deco was tasked with furnishing to fit an existing layout and color scheme.  The small space had to be a comfortable place for three friends to live and work while also accommodating larger crowds.