It's great to see so many wonderful mid century modern pieces of furniture getting re issued. The latest to be announced is this beautiful Egyptian Stool that was originally designed by Danish architect Ole Wanscher in 1957. Carl Hansen & Son has now acquired rights to the design, and for the first time since 1970 it will be available in the US again. I absolutely love the brass and leather accents agains the dark mahogany. Pricing is likely to be in the $1,400 range. Perfection doesn't come cheap.
Argh, I'm so over winter already. In fact I think my hatred of cold may have hit a new level today when I actually put a hand warmer in my pocket before leaving for work. While mother nature continues to deliver up cold weather and snow storms, I like to daydream of warm days on the patio.
Yesterday I came across this gorgeous Clam Chair on The Potted Store. After a little bit of digging around, it sounds like they were originally designed by John B Salterini. The originals can be quite expensive, but these new ones seem very reasonable at $295 each. They are available in orange, a lovely pale green and brown.
Clam Chair $295 from The Potted Store
Remember that Chelsea Sofa that Fashion for Home sent me a few years ago to review? Well, even back then I was a bit worried about how well the fabric would hold up to the abuse of two kids and my admittedly negligent self. It only took two years, and this sub $1,000 was looking pretty grimy. The lower cushion had acquired some stains that I was unable to get out, so last night on a whim I grabbed an old orange wool blanket I had picked up for $20 and recovered it. I was surprised how well it came out considering #1 I stitched it all by hand, #2 I was fairly occupied catching up on Walking Dead. Who knows how well the orange will hold up. In the meantime, it looks like I may need to rethink my pillow colors.
What do you think?
Whoa! Is this really Joss and Main? I signed with these guys because they were a sponsor at Alt NYC, and I've been continually unimpressed ever since. Then all of a sudden they hit it out of the park with not one, but two amazing curated sales?
First the Details magazine curated sale is spot on. They describe it as a "stylish man collection" but I like to think it applies to anyone with good taste. There are plenty of deals too, like the $219 tripod floor lamp, $518 Sofa! and many more.
The "right angles" sale catches the tail of the now fading infatuation with triangles and all things faceted. Don't get me wrong, I'm still all about the angles, I just don't see this being the big "in" thing for too much longer. That being said, they have some timeless pieces that I absolutely love. Word to the wise though, look out for knockoffs.
Available at Joss and Main
As you know I like to feature up and coming companies that are making quality beautiful products. RX Made manages to pull that off with ease, and adds to the list of accomplishments by locally sourcing the majority of their material, and even heavily utilizing reclaimed good in their products.
Born out of a Chicago based non profit called Rebuild Exchange, RX Made pairs local job program trainees with the design expertise of Chicago based Strand Design. The end product is an attractive group of products ranging from bottle openers to benches.
It's clear that RX Made is doing good things and making a difference, and you can make a difference too by supporting them. They are launching their products on Kickstarter as we speak. You can help them out for as little as $1or for $25 you can get the handsome bottle opener above. Check out some of their other goods below, then head over to Kickstarter to watch their video and pitch in.
RX Made on Kickstarter
One of the obstacles to making furniture affordable is shipping. It's an easy obstacle to overlook as a consumer, but for designers it can be a major influence to the final design. Ikea is a master of flat packing furniture to realize shipping savings. A truly great piece of furniture will take what is a potential design obstacle and make it into a beautiful part of the final design. That is what has me so interested in this Pilot Stool by QUINZE & MILAN. It uses a very old solution to the problem, a threaded wooden leg. I think it looks as good disassembled as assembled. The bonus is it makes for a beautiful, simple connection, between the seat and leg, and it's easy to install.
Pilot Stool $370
Sometimes I like it a little rough. I suspect in fact that many of you do. The latest trend in modern furniture is using reclaimed and less polished materials in contrast to clean modern forms to create an interesting visual tension. Feeling the olympic spirit, UK based James Henry Austin designed a range of furniture built from salvaged sports hall flooring (that a gym floor in case you wondered). The lines are simple and often even traditional but the execution and presentation are just right to make it modern and interesting.
James Henry Austin
To say that I love these stools would be an understatement. They are simple, effective and cheerful. I really like the contrast of the walnut and the painted steel, and the detailing on the seat is perfection. Do want.
Thread Family by Coordination
Over the weekend Fab had a sale on Ginko Home Furnishing items. I had never heard of them before, but I was sort of blown away at the prices. Of course they were steeply discount because of the Fab sale, but even some of the retail prices on the stuff wasn't bad at all. The designs for the most part are very classic MCM and the construction looks good. Has anybody seen these in real life? Did anybody manage to pick anything up during the Fab sale? It looks like a lot of the good stuff is sold out, but the sale goes for another 5 day's and there are still some good bargains.
Ginko Home Furnishings on Fab
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I'm not going to lie. I'm really pretty easy. Just give me a poster of a bunch of fabulous chairs designed by one of my favorite designers and I start to get all swoony.
Chairs By Eames $19
What do you get when you mix old school Bosnian craftsmanship with Washington DC modernism? Manulution. Such is the name of this amazing little company that was founded in 1927. If you want to get technical, Manulution is really a subsidiary of Rukotvorine, but what really matters is the furniture. It's everything that a piece of modern furniture should be. Well designed, not afraid to show it' origin and craftsmanship, and reasonably priced. I'm particularly fond of the Daisy Collection.
What's your favorite?
Manulution
It's getting more and more rare these days to see people producing furniture from solid wood. I'm glad to see companies like New Breed embracing it.
About: New Breed was founded by John Lindsay and Alex Paradiso, two designs and craftsmen of radically different styles and personalities. What they share is a love of original design centered around environmental sustainability and unique aesthetics blended with mass production techniques. New Breed furniture is made right here in the United States and has received much acclaim for it Petaply Series of real wood furniture.
New Breed Furniture $250 - $3,500
I was looking on ebay this morning for some MCM goodness to dream about over the weekend, and I came across this great Eames Soft Pad Chair. Part of the aluminum work group, these chairs ooze style and comfort. Like all good pieces of furniture I think a gently used version looks even better than a brand new one. Don't believe me? Check one out yourself. If you are in SLC you are in luck, because The Green Ant just got two of these beauties in.
Eames Soft Pad Chairs on ebay
The Green Ant
Photo via
I love a good high brow-low brow combination in furniture and these Eu/Phoria project chairs designed by Paola Navone out of Italy strike that balance perfectly. Using inexpensive industrial plastic material that we've all seen on plenty of Chinatown shopping bags.
Source Link: http://www.eumenes.it/collections/euphoria
I just can't get enough of this paired down simple modern craftsman aesthetic lately. The Moxo Stool is a simple Ipe stool made in Brazil. It's part of the Caboclas Project, which in and of itself is pretty cool.
The Caboclas Project is an innovative forest management project launched in 2000 with the support of leading Brazilian environmental agencies. It allows members to remain in their communities by providing an alternative income source through traditional woodworking while employing sustainable practices. Comprised of nearly 300 families, artisan members work in communal areas with simple hand tools. Their furniture and other handcrafted wood pieces reflect the rich folk culture and traditions of communities in the Tapajós region. The group's popular animal carvings illustrate these influences. The group uses wood from managed forests as well as reclaimed and dead trees.
Moxo Stool $100
Holy MCM goodness! I recently discovered Thrive Furniture and I'm totally blown away with all the great original mid century modern furniture they have for a reasonably affordable price. To make things even sweeter, the Nixon Love seat (top) is currently on sale for $1,349 and the Fillmore (bottom) is only $1039. They appear to have a good selection of upholstery too, including leather. Does anyone have any experience with the quality?
Thrive Furniture MCM Sofa's
It may be entirely too early to start thinking about outdoor furniture, but a boy can dream of warm or warm summer days spent on backyard patios right? Despite it's slightly awkward shape, there is some sort of irresistible charm to the MAYA chair. The brightly painted expanded metal is the perfect material to hold up to the summertime elements, and stay looking new.
Have a favorite outdoor piece? Share it in the comments!
MAYA chair $300
In my dreams I have my own forge so I can cast my own aluminum and bronze creations. Until those dreams come true, I'll just have to enjoy looking at beautiful pieces like this 
Video below. Have a good weekend everybody!