it's spring and everything is coming up (saarinen) tulips!

Every single time I purchase furniture on eBay, I have regrets. Usually it is the crazy shipping costs. Or the fact I have over paid substantially for the item.

Yay! A late night package delivery.

Not this time.

#psmw: bringing the outdoors in mid-century style

Something has been weighing heavily on my mind from #PSMW Palm Springs Modernism Week 2013.

Hey good looking. I just can't stop thinking about you.

purging pottery barn from a mid-century modern

This was the year I finally purged my house of Pottery Barn.  When we first acquired our mid-century modern some fifteen years ago, I was confused. I was confused about what the architectural style of the house. I tried to force fit the house into Frank Lloyd Wright craftsman bungalow (huh?). And I became very enamored with Pottery Barn and the seashore cottage style. It was all the rage in the early oughts. Here is an article about incredible Pottery Barn product placement in a 2000 episode of  Friends and how the plot line of the show was that Rachel was trying to hide a Pottery Barn purchase from Phoebe who hated mass produced items.

I acquired this beautiful John Suart armoire on eBay a few months back:

John Stuart Armoire

Orange County Fair #2: Furniture at the Fair

Next to the food at the fair, the best part to me is the competitions (I know you thought I was going to say tattoos but I will get to that later). I think it is cool that at country fairs all over the country, people enter items in contests. And, the contests run the gamut, from food, to crafts, to agriculture. I like the welcome statement on the competitions page, "For 123 years artists, craftspeople, farmers and youth have entered competitions at the OC Fair. In 2012, the spirit of competition is alive and strong in Orange County."

I am a bit of a furniture-a-holic, so the very first stop I made was the woodworking competition. Here are my top ten picks, and all of them are distinctly modern, presented here in order of traveling through the exhibit (almost like you are there).

#1. This wonderful Nakashima-inspired chair handmade by Tyler Smutz of Killstress Designs (get the play on words kill-stress) is one of my favorite pieces because of the unique two legs. If the maker is this Tyler Smutz he is also a Broadway set carpenter, what are the odds? 

Tyler Smutz Chair

lenoir house bedroom furniture - broyhill's second cousin

Acquiring a Broyhill bedroom set is the ultimate Valhalla for mid-century modern collectors with the Brasila line being particularly distinctive. A search on eBay for Brasilia furniture reveals an endless supply of gorgeous pieces (an original Brasilia brochure compliments of BrasiliaConnection.com).

Here is a beautiful Brasilia dresser/credenza on stewzannethingsilike.

Brasilia Dresser

mid-century modern style comes naturally

I grew up in what Pam, from Retro Renovation, refers to as mid-century "modest" houses. These are typically ranch or colonial style houses, that are more mid-century and a little less modern. My mom's taste, however, ran to straight mid-century modern, which apparently imprinted me. My mom and I had fun pulling these pictures together.

My mom, Donna Minick, adjusting the cool mid-century lampshade.
She is a newlywed in this picture, circa 1960, first home in Seattle.
I was a Boeing baby (mid-century aerospace reference).

a fun furniture find: john stuart armoire

The remodel is done and, finally, the fun begins. I have been searching high and low for an appropriate armoire to replace this glorious shabby chic monolith in the master bedroom. We actually had this made 15 years ago to house our TV in the living room.

Shabby Chic Armoire - not mid-modern appropriate
and recently sold on Craig's List for $40, I'll take it.

I kept putting the words "mid-century modern armoire" into eBay and Craig's List. I had a couple of restrictions. Albert said he didn't care for "light wood." What does that even mean? I had to listen to him because a condition of the bathroom remodel was Albert could move his clothes into the master (meaning he got a closet), and he got some sort of dresser in the master bedroom (all his stuff was previously in the guest room).

pets on furniture under a j. pinto

Annie is famous! I submitted her picture for this very cute blog feature, Monday's Pets on Furniture at Desire to Inspire. This is Annie's picture under our new picture!

New Picture from J Pinto