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.

Movin' on up

In order to make up for my extended absence, I've got a special treat for you all.

I don't believe that you and my second story have ever met.  After the disastrous pre-blog roof leak of 2011, the subsequent lack of access for cleaning, and the furniture hoarding (Oh, all the furniture hoarding...), it was looking quite the mess up there.

The room pretty much became a dusty, musty dumping ground for everything that I'd pulled out of alleys/dumpsters or found at estate sales and didn't have a place for.  1940's homes don't have the storage required for modern living, much less the life of a furniture hoarding freak, so there simply wasn't anywhere else to put it except the basement and that was already packed with my non-furniture junk.

This is the way our situation remained until my girlfriend visited last week and finally convinced me to get moving on a project that I'd thought would take years: making the master bedroom a master bedroom.

This required completely reorganizing the basement with new shelving and tidy, labeled containers.  Then came the task of dragging all the pieces that I wished to sell down two narrow, twisted stairways and into the basement, where it would be categorized and out of sight of the living areas.

Phew.

A bit of tidying/arranging and one seriously aggravating set of Home Depot blinds later, everything is looking pretty snazzy.  We've got a real, honest-to-goodness master bedroom now!

House Tour (redux)

We've gone through a number of adjustments at the homestead, so I thought it'd be a good time to update the house tour.  The place is really starting to come together and look like an actual grown-up residence.   Considering that I bought my first home and began collecting less than a year and a half ago, I'd say we're making good progress.  Don't worry though.  There's still plenty of work to be done and Mid-Mod finds to share! 

So, without further adieu, here's the grand tour.

Mid-Century Midwest House Tour (1/30/13)

Living Room

Yo Adrian!

We did it!  We landed our first Adrian Pearsall!

I was shocked when, later in the evening as I loaded my find into the van, the seller remarked that I was the only one who had inquired about the chair.  That almost never happens anymore, especially with an item as desirable (and eye-catching) as an Adrian Pearsall "wing" chair.  Yes, the Mid-mod fever has made its way to St. Louis and pieces like this are getting harder to come by.  It's a good thing I got in there while the gettin' was still good.

The organic, euro-inspired style of Pearsall's design certainly is striking when compared to the overstuffed, muted furniture common today.  This chair is a BOLD statement piece.

 The color of the upholstery perfectly matches the turquoise of the couch, wouldn't you agree?  So much for toning things down.

Perfect fagas straps, upholstery, and foam?  This guy must not have seen too many behinds.  I've never seen original straps this nicely preserved.

The tag looks practically brand new as well.  These are almost always missing, torn, faded, or discolored.  It's like this piece came out of some crazy 1960's time machine.

This pick was really exciting for me.  I've had my eye on Pearsall's stuff for quite a while now, but never thought that I'd bring home one of my own.  Now all I need is a gondola sofa and coffee table to complete the set.  Let's get on it!

A house divided

Wall units, bookcases, room dividers - I can't get enough of them (and my attic storage space can attest to this).

I'm unsure of the maker, but these pieces show up on the St. Louis Craigslist with some frequency.  I've always just missed out on that room divider action, but now I've got one of my very own.

It's a bookshelf.  It's storage.  It's a desk.  It's just so darn functional and a real looker to boot!

This piece did need some TLC, but nothing a dab of Howard's couldn't take care of.  Now it's got that perfect vintage patina.

The previous owner obviously didn't notice that the unit is finished on both sides (which is why I believe it is a room divider rather than a bookcase), and added this jankey shelf extension.  The screw holes remain, but when against a wall, nobody will be the wiser.

There it is, all moved in and gussied up.  We've got a serious shortage of nic-nacs around here, so I'm on the hunt for a nice set of Bill Curry jax bookends, brass ram heads, West German pottery, and the like.  Anybody got the hookups?

Separated at Birth

I knew something cool awaited me when Mr. Mod texted, "Have you seen the desk," after I mentioned that I was stopping by the Green Shag.  However, I wasn't quite prepared for this:

 

Could it be?  Could my previously unidentified credenza have found its long lost partner?

 

  

The family resemblance certainly is strong.  I'm not sure who runs this booth, but I did buy the desk off a Mid-Mod collector.  Perhaps this is her setup and the desk in question is the other half of the very same set!

For sure, it's an exciting mystery, but the price and scale of the piece means that these two will likely continue on their separate paths.  Maybe one day the stars will align and they'll chance upon each other again.

 However, one mystery is solved.  The desk, unlike my credenza, sported a label.  It's from the Castilian line by the Alma Desk Company.

The more you know...

Oh credenza, you complete me.

Man knows no love greater than that between a collector of Mid-Century Modern and an amazing 1960's credenza...

... and this one sure has me all riled up!

*SWOON*

Our old Best Buy TV stand served its purpose well and had a certain retro flair to it, but after a hot tip from a good friend, it hit Craigslist and moved out faster than Grant took Richmond.  Gotta make room for that new vintage hotness.

And, oh boy, did it need plenty of room.  It barely fit along our 8 foot wall!

The upside of its size is that this sexy beast has storage aplenty: a set of two drawers on the right, shelves with folding doors in the center, and another two shelves with a door on the left.  We managed to fit all of our A/V stuff in just the center section, though the receiver will require a few wire routing holes before it can be hidden away.

I've no idea who the maker is, and right now I could really care less. I just want to bask in it's warm walnut glow.  Look at them legs!

Sorry, I'll stop going on.  I think that the girlfriend and Bessie might be getting a bit jealous.  I've also gotta take care of that squirrel's nest behind the television.  I swear, those wires must be moving and knotting up all on their own.

Diamonds are a guy's best friend

You know, I've never been a real believer in luck, karma, Juju, divine intervention, or whatever you may call it.  I'm hard-core skeptic who's natural tendency is to attribute everything to the luck of the draw.

However, the world sometimes has an unmistakeable pattern to it.  Take, for example, the rather unbelievable string of home-related travesties that has befallen me since my move last year.  Surely there's no way that these events could have all occurred within this short timeframe without some kind of supernatural intervention.

Well, I must have done something right lately (a rare occasion, I assure you), because the Mid-Mod gods have chosen to smile upon me....

... and bequeath unto me this set of gorgeous Bertoia Diamond Chairs!

OK, so maybe that's a smidge dramatic, but I'm really excited.  I've been searching high and low for a pair of Bertoia's for quite some time.  In fact, I'd say that I'm completely enamored with their airy, sculptural look.  Just ask Mr. Modtomic.  He's probably sick to death of me oohing and aahing every time he brings his out.  Now I've got my very own to admire.

And the Mid-Mod gods may have played a part, but one of my readers actually delivered the goods (THANKS!).  It's such a cool experience running into readers and it's been happening more and more frequently lately, though they usually first ask if I'm Mr. Mod.  A shared interest in Mid-century Modern makes striking up a conversation easy and I've made some great friends and acquaintances over the last few months.  Anyway, she was making a trip to St. Louis to pick up a few things and decided to put some of her own items, including the chairs, up on Craigslist.  I was ALL OVER IT.

As is the case with most Bertoia's, these guys obviously spent their days out on the patio and the Rislan finish is rusted-through and flaking.  Something will need to be done, but what?  More on that in a second.

These have the original glides, for which I've already ordered replacements... 

... and the original Knoll covers.  Yep, that is a HOT pink, and that's the (very) faded side.  Wanna see a REAL hot pink?  

Daaaaaaaaang that's hot!  I didn't even know Knoll made this shade.  Obviously, being a red-blooded American male, I'll be putting the covers in storage.

So, here it is.   The breakfast nook is finally complete.  Well, almost complete.  See, I've gotta decide what to do about the finish on the chairs.  Should I go over them with a wire brush and paint them with Rustoleum?  Would it be better to take them to get sandblasted and powder coated?  How much would a job like this cost?  Should I do them in white, black, or a white/black combo like Hannah's?  Is just leaving them in their current rustic state for the best?

Oh, the questions.  The nagging, nagging questions.

Looks like I'm a little late to the Brasilia party

I'd planned on posting this the other day, but there's just not been a single minute where I could sit down and write up an entry.  I've been a busy boy.

See, Mr. Modtomic and I went halfsies on this striking Broyhill Brasilia bedroom set and I've been selling like mad on Craigslist and Ebay.  Grueling work that selling is.

I've already got one of these gentlemen's chests, but you have no idea how hard it was to part with the rest of it.  I've set my heart on a roomfull, but it'll have to come another day.  There's bills that need paying, after all.

The buyer just moved into an amazing mid-century home (with a freakin' stream running under it and a huge sunken living room!) that I hope to feature sometime soon.

If you want to hear the details on this rather convoluted flip, head on over to Mr. Modtomic's place.  It's always a pleasure, Mr. Mod.

Also, for the Tom Waits fans among you, click this link.  It's mesmerizing.

Estate sale scores

Sorry for the delay there.  The girlfriend just arrived back in town and we've been dealing with a few more house issues. 

So here's all the goodies that I picked up at the estate sale 2 weekends ago with Mr. Modtomic.  They had a decent selection of MCM stuff, but prices were a bit too high for my liking.  The estate sale companies seem to be catching on to the whole retro-modern trend and adjusting their prices accordingly (some more so than others).  There's also pretty stiff competition from dealers.  Mr. Mod, his girlfriend, my friend Jon, and I showed up pretty darn early but our team was 4-7th in line.

I was really lucky to get anything at all, because the organizers made me move my car AS THEY OPENED THE SALE!  Oh c'mon.  I'd been waiting there all morning.  Why make me move it now?  Couldn't it wait 2 minutes?

I guess the real competition was over the American of Martinsville dining set, because I was like 25th into the place and all of these smalls were still sitting with their tags in the corner.  Sweet!

I'd actually lost out on an Ebay auction for one of these brass candelabras a few months ago.  I was a couple minutes from winning for a few dollars and the seller took it down to "correct the international shipping rates" and then relisted it with a $50 reserve price.  Well, who needs him/her!  Now I've snagged my very own for a small fraction of that reserve.

I'd also been looking all over for some West German pottery.  This green and orange piece, with its texture and bright colors, is my personal favorite.  It almost looks like a Brutalist sculpture.

These mugs were kinda an impulse purchase, but at 50 cents, who really cares?  Now I can sip in style.

Overall, things turned out better than expected after the car fiasco.  I've spent most of my time/money going after large pieces of furniture and haven't really focused on smalls, so this will really help to fill the place out.

See you all in another couple days.  Good luck and good thrifting!