Now & Then feat. Vintage Revivals

We followed along with keen interest as Mandi from Vintage Revivals manifested her dream, transforming a stunning 100-year-old mercantile store into the Merc, the place her family now calls home. We’re checking in with her to find out where things are now, what’s inspiring her, and what she sees ahead. 

Q: Welcome back to Tinted! We’ve followed along on your renovations on the Merc – what an incredible space! Catch us up on where you are with it. 

A: We are in this fun space that we haven’t ever been in where our projects have slowed, and we are really enjoying it! All of the major renovations are finished and now we’re doing fun projects like painting a room vs. moving plumbing or making our own tile! It’s heaven!! 

Q: Taking on a project with such tremendous scope had to be daunting. What inspired you to take the leap? 

A: The first time I walked into the Merc I knew in my soul that I was meant to save it. Every day for the last five years I’ve tried to bring out and celebrate its history and character and make it a home for our family! 

 Q: What advice do you have for our DIYers who might be inspired to take on a big project but don’t know where to start? 

A: My jumping off point with any project is to decide the feeling I want the space to have. Once you know that, things like paint colors are easier to narrow down! The next step is the logical one, what does this project actually need? It’s so fun to look at an old house and want to clean it up with a fresh coat of paint but finding out the scope of work (especially the not fun work) is so important! 

Q: What was your favorite project at the Merc?  

A: I feel like we’ve left bits of our soul in all of them! There isn’t a corner that doesn’t fill me with joy. But if I had to choose, I would say the raw wood floors in the living area. I love that the age of the Merc lets me really embrace character and patina in a way that a newer building doesn’t. Instead of laying down typical wood flooring, we sourced ¾” maple from our local lumber yard and designed our own custom pattern. Each piece was routed, cut, and attached by me and my husband, Court. It was such a labor of love! 

Q: You’ve discussed the impact of lighting on a space. How much did the lighting in the Merc influence your color choices? 

A: When we bought the Merc, all of the original windows were closed off. We reopened those and added 23 skylights to the original roof. Natural light, when you are a plant-lover, is a big deal! My loft office is this really intentional modern space with glass walls, so I leaned into what that would feel like having such a fun juxtaposition of the modern glass and 100-year-old time-scarred adobe bricks. The paint color I used on the walls in all the main areas is a custom mix called Mandi White.

Q: Can you tell us a little about your 2023 Color of the Year project and how you used Redend Point? 

A: My oldest daughter moved out and after a bit of bedroom musical chairs we finally have a dedicated guest room! Redend Point reminds me so much of the mountains of southern Utah where we live. The red undertone in it is just enough to push people out of their warm beige comfort zone and I am obsessed with it! 

Q: What’s inspiring you right now, and what do you see on the horizon? 

A: I think more than any specific design trend or color, I’m really craving calm in my life. I think that sometimes people assume that just means beige, but in my opinion, it means using color in a way that it wraps around you. The best way I find to really capture that feeling is a total wash of a space. Ceiling, walls, molding, doors, outlets, everything that’s part of the structure of the room gets painted the same color. 

Check out more of Mandi’s projects and read about her renovation of the Merc at our influencer page! Also be sure to look back at her introduction to our blog.