Vintage sofa sectionals

Above: These readers had just moved in to their new place –but already had picked out a prominent place for their prize possession — their amazing orange mid century sofa sectional.

I’m loving the clean lines of this vintage sofa sectional that this reader purchased.  They were then able to get it reupholstered for just $50 by their cousin at a family rate. It now sits proudly in their rumpus room. Those orange bolster pillows really are a nice touch, don’t you think?

This Newport Chesterfield sofa was spotted in 2012. Spaghetti lamps pop up from the cylinders on each end.

This next sofa (above) looks like it may be another design from Newport Chesterfield Company of Toronto. This deco-look version appears to have built-in laminate end tables, eye shaped end pieces that look like they either swivel or  can be moved into coffee table position, and a corner piece that has a table top and what might be a hidden, rotating compartment. Holy smokes this is one amazing vintage sectional.

Reader CatEyeGlasses55 thinks that her vintage Kroehler Valentine Seaver sectional had a corner piece at one time. But when she purchased it at a tag sale — there was none to be found. She has cleverly found a Heywood Wakefield corner table to fill the corner void — very nice!.

Reader Glamorlux Nancy has quite a glamorous sofa sectional — with sparkly looking original frieze fabric. She found this beauty on Ebay and the tag says “The Norwalk Upholstering Co., 1959.” What a beauty.We also love the small divider with integrated lighting just behind the sofa and setting off the front door. Nice piece!

Vintage Sofas

How sweet: Reader Ima Pam shared this vintage photo that shows couch that she grew up with in the mid 1960s. She adds that the sofa had two matching chairs — for grown ups only! The sunburst tufting on the backrest of the couch is just to die for. Ima Pam notes that no baby brothers or parakeets were harmed in the making of this photo — tehehe.

Here’s another sofa with an interesting backrest. Thanks, anonymous reader, this sofa a real beauty.

This reader’s long and low couch was purchased for $30 and reupholstered for a mere $150 — resulting in a fabulous mid century piece for their living room. Again, we see how bolster pillows can be used nicely — the circles soften up the hard edges of the squares and rectangles.

This readers 1958 retro red sofa has amazing lines — the way the back corners point up and the coloration of the sofa reminds me of a vintage car from the 1950s.

The curved lines of this couch and the wooden legs are fantastic — must be why this reader says they drove 3 hours one way to pick it up. Andrian Pearsall-esque

I’ve never quite seen seating like reader Megan’s mid century sofa — full of interesting angles and upholstered in a groovy late 60s stripe.

This sofa is obviously not in a reader’s home — but was instead sighted in what looks to be a vintage shop. Still — I adore the shape of this curved sofa, the contrasting bottom cushion, built in end table and — my hope is that whoever bought this couch also took home that huge vintage lamp.

This reader bought their vintage sofa from its original owner for a mere $100. At first look it may look like just another vintage couch — but hiding in this sofa is a pull out bed and storage compartments in both arms — and taking a cue from the stealthy couch — the kitty is hiding under the coffee table.

I’m not sure which is cuter — reader Caitlyn’s cheery flowered couch and matching chair that she picked up at an estate sale for $150 — or her adorable pup who seems to be attempting to camouflage himself. Let’s hear it for gypsy granny decor!

I couldn’t leave out reader Weed30 from St. Louis’s built in knotty pine sofa with original greenish gold naugahyde upholstery — the perfect place to curl up with a book or to stash a passed out party guest for the night.

Mega thanks to all the readers who participated in our super popular vintage sofa uploader.

The post 16 awesome vintage sofas from readers’ houses appeared first on Retro Renovation.

Above: Vintage Solair chairs — photo from reader Marty’s porch — one of more than 100 photos added to our 2012 porch and patio uploader.

Made of colorful UV treated plastic with an welded steel base, the Solair Chair will stand up to all that summer has to offer. It is a bit difficult to track down these chairs here in the U.S. I tried to contact the company for purchase information, but received no response. After doing a bit of detective work, I found that Stardust Modern sells the Solair chair in 6 colors — white, black, orange, yellow, green or blue — but must be purchased in multiples of two through Stardust Modern at the cost of $250 per chair. If you happen to live in Sonoma, Calif., you can visit their showroom for a huge discount, since local customers can purchase the chairs for $149.99.

Reader Geraldine wrote us to share her fond memories and a link to a story (the text is in French) about the revival of the Solair chair:

I’m sending you this message because a product made in late 70 from a small town in Quebec is back. It is the amazing solar chair. I always loved it as a kid…. hoping I could still buy somes one day when I’ll get my pool house. But they were always broken or really too expensive (300$ ?!??) But they are back in funky colors. I know the text is in french but I hope you’ll enjoy it!

The Innit company also makes several woven retro style porch and patio chairs. Their signature style is the round-framed Innit Chair above, which retails for $475, and is also available as a rocker. It appears all of the Innit’s chairs are available in 11 cord colors — white, orange, red, black, pink, yellow, grey, blue, turquoise, olive green and purple — and three frame colors — black, white or chrome)

Above: Innit company’s Acapulco chair ($475) — also available in baby size, as a rocker or micro sized.

Above: Innit Concha chair ($475)

For some more affordable, strikingly similar in design options — though color choice is limited to one option per style — try the Ixtapa yellow/aqua lounge chair from CB2 — which retails for $229 but we have spotted it on sale for as little as $199.

Another option from CB2 is the Acapulco black/blue lounge chair. Very similar to the Acapulco lounger from Innit, this is a more affordable option which retails for $249.

We all know that Pier 1 is the home of the Papasan chair — but have you seen their fun and retro looking Swingasan chairs? Ranging from $279.95 for a basic model to $499.95 for a double — these coordinate well with retro decor and appeal to the kid in all of us — who doesn’t love to swing? You don’t even need to have a tree or roof overhang to be able to install one — stands are available. The above — circles model — retails for $299.95. Watch for sales.

Above: Daisy Swingasan chair from Pier 1.

Above: Pier 1′s Peacock Swingasan Chair — actual Peacock not included.

Any of these options would be perfect for your retro or mid century modern patio, porch or yard — and provide the perfect perch for the summer season.

Want more ideas to create a retro style porch, patio or deck?

• Check out our Patio products and ideas here.

The post 1972 Solair chairs still made today — and 8 more retro style patio chairs appeared first on Retro Renovation.

Pam featured this vintage 1955 Crawford garage door ad on the blog in 2008. Click on this photo to enlarge the ad  – to get even more ideas how to paint out an existing garage door go give it mid century modern design pizzaz.

MidCenturyThrifty Gal didn’t need to buy a new garage door to get the modern garage door design she wanted. Instead, she used her existing garage door … chose two colors from the Sherwin Williams Suburban Modern paint collection that complemented the red-gold color of the brick on her house… and then painted out some of the existing rectangles on the garage door to create a mid century modern geometric design. The colors she chose are Caribbean Coral and Harvest Gold. It is amazing what a little paint can do to add retro appeal to an otherwise plain garage door. Kudos to you MidCenturyThriftyGal — on a job well done — and thanks for allowing us to share this photo of your  freshly-painted garage door.

Also check out this six-page catalog (page shown above) that we featured in 2010 — it shows lots of ways to add wood trim to great terrific mid century modern garage door styles.

The post Create a modern garage door with this easy DIY idea appeared first on Retro Renovation.