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Health & Fitness

Furniture Fantasies

A meditation on (and lust for) Mid-Century Modern furniture.

Desire is a funny thing. It spurs the quest for immediate gratification. I want it. And I want it now. I have found that even when I employ patience and consideration, at some point, desire wins out. Perhaps if the desire is still there after patience and delay, it’s real and not impulsive. At least, that’s what I tell myself.

Right now, the itch is about furniture. I write this Weekend Show and Tell and I fill it with gorgeous things. Most of the gorgeous things are totally and outrageously beyond my budget (which is pretty much $0 right now). But a girl can dream, right?

Dreaming is what I’ve been doing a lot of in this blog. But lately, dreaming has turned to drooling. Every time I look at the lovely Pottery Barn furniture that so suited our Seattle craftsman, I have visions of new mid-century furniture and heated desire to fill our new home with it.

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What to do? What to do? My birthday is coming up (40!) on Halloween and I have been thinking that maybe I deserve a little something for that big milestone. But you know, it’s hard to say ‘a sofa please’ when someone asks you what you would like as a gift. Nonetheless, I have decided I need a piece of nice MCM furniture to mark the occasion.

How does one get that without spending money? Hmmm. For those of you who know me, impossible questions like that are my specialties. If it can’t be done, I am all the more inspired and willful (a word often used to describe me as a child). I will tell you, my friends: the mecca called Craigslist.

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Now I know Craigslist has a bad rap, but if you aren’t looking for a date (or a facsimile thereof, if you know what I mean), it’s a wonderful digital marketplace to buy and sell. Mind you, I am in the selling mode because the pieces of furniture I desire aren’t on Craigslist sadly. I have been scouring for MCM stuff and what I find is over-priced for the condition it’s in. I am going to keep looking though to see if any beauties pop up.

So I decided to sell it all. The sofa, the chair and ottoman, the two Oriental rugs. I am keeping the coffee table and end tables, because they work with the theme and were bought from the very MCM store West Elm just three years ago. I put it all on Craigslist and the response has been tremendous. We have sold one rug already and two people are coming today to see the rest of the furniture. I figure if I sell everything, I clear $1000. And I already have that spent. In my mind, of course, where all things like this happen.

And what, may you ask, does my fantasy furniture spree look like? Pretty much like this:

A gorgeous sofa from Perch called the Gracie. How charming is that? Gracie Allen is a perfect icon and while not MCM per se, she exudes that kind of class. I swoon over the orange, but faint at the price tag. Starts at $1400. Yikes. Think they’d let me buy 70% of it?

I found a similar sofa at Urban Outfitters that has the same lines but does not come in the gorgeous orange. Plus it folds out into a sleeper and is, according to the reviews, of very good quality. And the bigger bonus, it’s less than half the price at $600. And come on, we know me, right? This is all going to change again anyway. I figure pump it up with some orange pillows and throws and I’m close.

One other sofa to consider (despite what I think of as the college-dorm feel of IKEA) is the Karlstad. I’ve seen enough reviews of this sofa in LA at Home and Young House Love, to think it’s worth consideration. I don’t think it has the panache of the buttoned upholstery of the two above, it still seems like a good solid bargain and possibly better quality than the Urban Outiffters one according to some.

Also from Urban Outfitters comes this wonderful rocking chair. All the lines of a Danish MCM chair, with rockers to boot. However, it doesn’t come close to the Herman Miller Eames rocker that I covet. Perhaps I could have both? Ooops. Just blew my budget there.

Finally, also from UO, I see this lovely armchair, but at $479 I am definitely blowing my budget. That is until I remember, hey! I thrifted one of these from Goodwill.  New upholstery (coming soon!) and I have my chair.

I will keep you all posted on my scheming. If you know anyone in the Seattle area in the market for a lovely Pottery Barn sofa/chair/ottoman in sage green velvet, let me know!

(For more, visit our website www.midcenturymodernlove.com)

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