Going Mobile

Ugh, these shots are awful, but I'm posting from work without the DSLR, tripod, or decent lighting.

I figured that I'd begin sharing a few of the pieces that had made their way to the office.  That's right.  The furniture hoarding has now reached the point where the entire basement is filled and it has  spilled over into the plant.

Recovery

As you've likely heard, our fair city of St. Louis experienced a couple rough nights this week.  My heart goes out to everyone caught in the middle, including our friends over at Rocket Century who were right in the thick of it on South Grand.  Thankfully, they escaped unscathed, but many others were not so fortunate.

I hope that our community can make a speedy recovery and that those responsible for the unnecessary violence and destruction are swiftly brought to justice.

Getting back on topic, I thought that I'd follow up on my last post and link you all to the new MCM-inspired collection released by Ikea.  While many MCM enthusiasts may not hold them in particularly high regard, I actually really like a few of the pieces.  Check it all out here.  Apologies for the lack of English translation.

Chicago Trip

While most of my Chicago vacation was taken up with Halloween parties and Mexican food, I did make a few shopping trips.  You didn't think I'd come all that way and miss favorite Swedish homegoods store, did you?

It seems like every time that I pay Ikea a visit, they've got a few more MCM-inspired pieces on display.  Some might scoff at such things, but I'm actually a big fan.  These pieces look great and would suit anyone who is in the market for new rather than used.  Can't wait for the new location to open in St. Louis.

Aren't these armchairs cool? The one on the left is a reproduction of an actual model that they introduced back in the 1960's.

This surprisingly solid credenza is stained to look like teak and has all the wiring cutouts,  drawers, and shelves that you'd need for a modern media center.  My 1960's credenza required some jerry-rigging and cutting in order to fit everything inside, so that might be a big plus for some.

Retail Therapy

As usual, my days have been pretty packed lately, but I found myself with a few minutes to kill during my dad's physical therapy session and decided to head on down to the Humane Society and the Green Shag Market.

You might recognize the booths pictured below as those of fellow bloggers Mr. Modtomic and Hannah (of Secondhand).

Mr. Mod's is well-stocked and arranged as usual.  I'm especially enamored with the Selig chair and the Brazilian fiber art wall hanging.

 

You could walk in here and come out with a whole living room set up ready to go.

Hannah's got tons of cool stuff available, including this giant Witco Polynesian dancer. 

I don't usually leave the antique malls with anything in-hand, but Hannah had a sale going on and I couldn't resist bringing a little something home.  Stay tuned to see what I snagged.

Art Collector

Hey again.  Things are still slow in the STL, but I thought I'd drop in and update you all with a particularly special find:

A vintage original abstract painting!

Summer Never Ends

Hey guys.  It's me again.  Just thought I'd pop in with an few updates now that we're heading into Fall.

The great St. Louis MCM drought of 2014 continues unabated, but I've still managed to ferret out a couple of goodies this summer.  Strangely, they've all been either Architectural Pottery-style planters or Modeline lamps, both of which were relatively hard to come by in years past.

 

Break Out the Aloe

It's been a while, hasn't it?  As Mr. Modtomic mentioned, St. Louis has seen a severe Mid-Century Modern drought which has become more and more pronounced over the last several months.  I'm not sure whether this can be attributed to the huge influx of new dealers, the heat, the absurd prices, changing trends, or something else, but I'm trolling Craigslist fairly consistently and there just doesn't appear to be much at all out there.  The number of "sweet MCM deals" has fallen precipitously, from several a day to several a month.

While I'm saddened by the dearth of MCM goodness, I've had much more free time to dedicate elsewhere.  The girlfriend and I even managed to take a vacation to Tampa Bay!  While we've not yet recovered from our overindulgence in sun and fried seafood, we had a wonderful time and I hope to visit again soon.  The sunsets alone were worth the trip.

A Visitor

I knew from the get-go that a full load of CISCO Networking classes was a tall order for someone with a full-time job, but this whole ordeal has me stressed to the max.  12 homework assignments, 280 pages of reading and 2 tests to study for over the holiday weekend?  That's bananas!

I did have a certain visitor stop by to keep me company though the first couple weeks though.

EDC

You know what's a great way to free up some time when the pace of your life is beginning to feel absolutely overwhelming?  Start taking a full load of night classes.

Oh, wait.  No, that's the last thing that you should do...

...but I did it anyway.

After a double-major BA and an MBA, you'd think that I'd be done with the books, but it would seem that I'm a glutton for punishment who just can't get enough of being a student.  Throw a breakdown at work, car repairs, and a certain feline houseguest in there and I'm positively swamped.

However, I did manage to finally catalog all of the many components of my Every Day Carry (EDC) kit.  Yeah, this isn't at all MCM-related, but I'm a interesting and multifaceted individual who has many hobbies.  Also, this is my blog, so I kinda do what I want. :p

Here it goes:

Light of My Life

Hey! I'm back with more Mid-Century Modern finds.

This time we've got a really stunning walnut and brass lamp from Modeline, a company well-known for their large, sculptural, Danish-style lighting.  It's one of my favorite recent finds and one that I'd had my eye on for years.

At Least I Don't Have a Garage

At this point, things are looking a little more Grey Gardens than Farnsworth House.  So it is time to do so some clearing out.

Yeah...

Blasphemy

So, I was doing my regular Craigslist crawl a while back and feeling in a total c-list rut.  Things were slow, real slow.  The St. Louis MCM furniture market just isn't what it used to be.  Then I decided to change it up and visit a few of the less-frequented sections and try to ferret out any hidden gems.

I get to the "free" page and, as usual, it's all junk: broken treadmills, used mattresses, tube televisions...

wait, wait....

HOLD.
THE.
EFFING.
PHONE.

Leave of Absense

It's been a crazy busy couple weeks.  The girlfriend is over, we've been preparing for and hosting a house party, I've had a few health-related issues, and there's been a bunch of stuff to do with the family business.  Life just hasn't left me with a whole lot of time for sitting down and cranking out a blog post, so I thought that I'd just let you all know that I'll be back with more posts soonish (next week or so).  No worries.  We aren't going anywhere.

The Nook

With the upstairs almost complete and a whole house repaint indefinitely postponed, my attention has turned to one particular trouble spot in the living room.

 

Trip Loot: Part 2 (Give Me Some Sugar)

You've seen the thrifts, the Brutalist Harlow Town Center, the Mid-Century Modern Christmas presents, and the collection of West German pottery brought home from the last of my semi-annual UK excursions, but there's still one last piece of trip loot to share.

Granted, it isn't anything mind-blowing, but this vintage ceramic sugar pot was my favorite antique mall purchase of the lot.

Trip Loot: Part 1

I've dragged this out far enough.  It's time to get to the rest of the MCM souvenirs brought home from my biannual UK excursion.

This trip turned out to be all about the ceramics, with a healthy addition to my collection of West German pottery and a few other pieces that I'll share later on.

Longing

The last of the winter vacation photos are here.  Just look at all that gorgeous modernist stuff.  Oh, and there's another super cheap teak Danish credenza (tear).  Looking through these makes me want to jump back on that plane and find a way to haul it all over here (including the cider).  Until next year...

3.4 fluid ounces or less

Just because I've nearly given up on the thrift shops, it doesn't mean that there's nothing out there to find. 

Take this American Airlines travel bag, gifted to me by a friend and fellow thrift enthusiast, as an example.

Let the Wookie Win

If you've been in the Mid-Century Modern blog reading/writing game for any amount of time, you've surely heard of The Brick House.  If not, head over and give it a good, long look.  The author, Morgan Satterfield, is one of those design-minded people who can seemingly effortlessly pick out all the best combinations of pieces, creating absolutely gorgeous rooms and vignettes.  It's a real shame that she's gone MIA, as she was a big influence on my own decorating style (though there were many others as well).

One thing that rubbed off was the affinity for Don Freedman-style fiber wall art.  Love it or hate it, she's in possession of quite an impressive collection and I was, for years, stricken with jealously as my own Don Freedman hunt had turned up nary a fiber of the good stuff.

Thift UK

As always, I had a really great time visiting my girlfriend and her family in the UK, but due to the brevity of my stay, there wasn't as many opportunities to hit the thrifts as usual.  Oh well.  It isn't like there's an economical way that I could bring much back anyway (though I did cram a surprising amount into my case).  If there was, you know that I'd have packed up all of those teak credenzas and drug them back with me.

This is just one outing, so there's more coming shortly.

 

Back

The first of the vacation pics have arrived!

Many thanks to my girlfriend and her family for taking me in for the week.  I had a wonderful time and can't wait until my next trip over.

So, without further delay, here's the first set: a few of the MCM-related gifts that I received while abroad.  Thanks again, everyone.

 

Battlestation

After a slight weather-related delay, I'm back in business.  I'll download my vacation snaps and write a real post once I've had a minute to decompress and unpack, but until then, here's a quickie to hold you over.

I've made a number of changes to the office recently, so I think that a new series of "battlestation" photos is in order.

If you'd like more information on how to create a solid and (relatively) cheap audiophile desktop speaker system, check out my tutorial here. 

Snow Day

I was hoping to get back home and post a few pictures from my Christmas vacation, but apparently Old Man Winter had other ideas.  St. Louis got walloped with 10-14 inches of the white stuff, a wind chill dipping below -30, and gusts of near 40 mph!  Not exactly optimal landing conditions.  On the up-side, I get to spend the day(or days, depending upon the weather) lazing around in my velvety new bath robe and eating holiday candy.  I might need to leave that suitcase behind and pick up some larger pants upon my return if this trip goes on much longer.