From the category archives:
Everyone wants better slide shows…and many want to see more midcentury furniture lines. Today I accomplish the start of both with my new NextGEN photo gallery tool. So much easier for me to use – so expect more photos and illustration galleries to come! Click on the image to move the show forward – there are 19 images. (Next, I’ll try to figure out how to add arrows.)
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Cute overload, from Apartment Therapy earlier this year. It’s been a wild and wacky holiday season. I’m going drinking to recover tonight, I swear. Would you believe it, we have one of America’s classic, unchanged tiki bars right here in Lenox, Mass. — The Luau Hale. Have a great weekend, everyone!
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Several fans of Broyhill Brasilia furniture wrote in after a recent post. Yummy, look at this room divider from jsnugbear, Allison has one just like it, too. All this furniture talk — along with the evolution of the blog — has led me to introduce some new “Furniture Favorites” pages. Starting with:
I am absolutely no furniture expert. So – what are your furniture favorites? Let me know — along with what you know about them — and together we’ll build a complete catalog.
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Look at this fabulous Broyhill Brasilia dresser (credenza) from flickr friend antonym. I saw it on his photostream and thought it would be a great add to the blog – as part of name game cataloguing and ogling of mid century furniture lines from makers that don’t get as much viz. Click the image to get to antonym’s photostream – many thanks, a!
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| From Maple furniture |
Antiquing in Louisville, I saw a bit of Willett maple furniture. Up here in Massachusetts, we had Cushman maple. Both are equally beautiful – and what quality! Another sure-to-be collectible, to be sure!
Update Feb 2009: I am in love with this furniture even more – now that I think it might have been designed by Royal Barry Wills. Ad now also attached. Swoon.
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| From Maple furniture |
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Look at these two – “Bronwyn the Bad Visualizer” and husband Greg. I have to say: They are even cuter than the vintage pinch pleats in the background. And you know how I feel about pinch pleats. Bronwyn wrote to me … in July (gulp, I’ve been overwhelmed.) She tells me it’s also taken this long for her to get a contractor on the line – so there’s still time for us to muddle up her brains with alternatives Heck yeah there is more…
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Armando in LA sends us this appeal:
My search for a retro/vintage sofa has begun. I, like most of your readers (as noted after reading Bob’s sofa story), am obsessed with finding the right sofa for me for the right price. Since the feedback to Bob’s story included some comments from readers including examples of sofa’s that were similar to Bob’s and where to find, I wanted to know if you could post a photo of vinyl black sofa that slipped through my fingers recently. It was listed on Craigslist in TX, I’m in Los Angeles, and it would have been too expensive to buy/ship. I didn’t feel comfortable with purchasing something I didn’t see first. I don’t know where I’m able to send the photo of the sofa to you, but I’d like to try this. I move into my new place in November and I am really hoping to have the sofa part figured out. Here is the sofa and thank you! I hope one of your readers can find something like it somewhere in Los Angeles. Thank you.
Thank you, Mando, for writing. That sofa sure is a classic beauty – very similar to Bob’s find from Macy’s! And please be assured, now that you have put your retro vibes out there, the decorating gods will send you the sofa that’s just right.
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Readers still looking for major furniture sets like dining rooms and bedrooms should remember to keep your eyes – and heart – open for traditional furniture from the postwar era. This stuff is far less “popular” today than “modern” sets — but how can you linger over the lines of this 1955 Drexel Peasant Provincial and not agree how beautiful it truly is? I love the stain on this wood as well. And – you will be able to buy it for a song! (eBay photos – listing come and gone.)
If you have a Cape or colonial-ranch, all the more reason to consider traditional-style furniture, which is sympathetic to the lines of your home. With this particular set, I see a tone-on-tone small print wallpaper by Thibaut to go-with. But, you can take this set any number of directions – it is very versatile.
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Curved sectionals are really wonderful – and these specially designed tables to fit right up against them and “square” off the back are really cool, too. I see them around every once in while….
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Macy's Corona sofa
Update Aug. 31: I saw this 1950s T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings for Widdicomb sofa on ebay. Very similar to the line of Macy's sofa - don't you agree! - Pam
Reader Bob sends in this great find from Macy’s:
Hi Pam,
First, want to say how much I enjoy your site. Okay, now my story! I’ve been looking (for the last 5 years!) for a suitable mid-century couch for my den. I’d been hoping to find a vintage one, but that never worked out. Then, while looking at Design Within Reach, I stumbled across the Bantam Sofa which was exactly what I had been looking for. Unfortunately, their design certainly isn’t within MY reach, so I kept looking. You can imagine my surprise when I came across an almost identical sofa at Macy’s, of all places. It’s called the Corona, and I just got mine about 2 weeks ago. Not only is it stylish and comfortable (great for naps!), it’s well made and someone said it “looked like it was stolen out of Rob and Laura Petrie’s living room!” That’s exactly the look I was going for! The good news about this sofa is the price. The Bantam is $1750.00. I got my Corona on sale for $630.00 (it’s almost always on sale.) It’s available in several colors, most of which I found unappealing. I got mine in “stone” which is basically gray. Thanks for the great site and all the great ideas!
Bob
Thanks, Bob! Great sofa, very nice lines! And I love how your gray sofa looks with those pink curtains. Pink-and-gray is a great color combo! Personally, I also like the Paprika (orange-red) color offered for the sofa, but then, burnt orange is my favorite color.
Bob's grey example. He points out that it's hard to see the button tufting, a great feature, in this photo. And says: "Also in the picture, you can see a bit of my step end tables and what I think may be a Harris Strong lamp. My den is very much a work-in-progress, so please pardon the patched plaster!"
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Your house has all kinds of features that were state-of-the-art ... and beloved ... when it was first built. Learn about them, and you may just decide to keep them.
