I seem to have amazing luck when it comes to Tulip tables.  When I first moved to Salt Lake City, I found an old tulip table base behind my apartment next to the dumpster.  While that particular one unfortunately met an early moving related demise (long story) I have recently stumbled across a similarly amazing deal. A good friend and owner of  local, and absolutely amazing MCM furniture store Green Ant, hooked me up with a base and laminate top for a screaming price. The top is a bit larger than I need, so I'm thinking about cutting it down smaller, and the base needs a good sanding and repaint.

Does anyone have any good restoration resources for Saarinen Tulip tables?

Looking for your own Tulip table? Check out The Green Ant, or these Tulip Tables for sale on Ebay.

Photo via.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. It seems that everything that House Industries does is golden to me. Such is the case with their new Flour Sack Towels.  Available in black, orange or gray, it seems the only questions left unanswered is which one do I get?

Flour Sack Towels available in sets of 3 for $30.

Which is your favorite?

I am moving (again) and I'm in need of a new bed frame. I'm pretty set on making my own, so last night I sat down with my girlfriend and started looking for inspiration. I came across this brilliant design by German based Tojo called the V Bed. It uses inexpensive plywood, and a simple accordion style construction to make an unique and functional bed. It's not quite what I'm looking for, but it's definitely getting stored away in my head as a great idea. Tojo has a couple other accordion inspired designs on their site worth looking at.

Tojo V Bed

Photo's via

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

We love Kickstarted projects here at Grassrootsmodern. Not only are they a great way to help designers get funding for great projects, they are also a great way to get a cool product for a great price. The Cubby is a great example of that. It's an award winning design that has never made it into production. Now is your chance to help out, and to get a Cubby for you own for only $19.  Watch the video below for more details.

Cubby coat hook and storage area

I'm a sucker for a good pendant light, especially one that is a "contemporary lighting system made of noble materials, lovingly made in France". Noble or not the 30 plates of natural oak veneer make for an amazing looking light, especially when turned on.

Naos Pendant light

Summer is just around the corner, and that means it's time to have some quality porch time with your favorite refreshing beverage. I'm sort of obsessed with all sorts of bottle openers, the more interesting the better. The Kebo was designed by RUSH3 product design studio and is a modern take on a vintage design.

Kebo bottle opener $24

Coat rack designed by Anna Lee Nashem. Brilliant idea, and could be an easy DIY project. I've got plenty of black pipe laying around...

Via www.annaleenashem.blogspot.se/

Ever since I posted about the vintage cage lights a while ago, I have been interested in making my own modern pendant light.  A lot of the parts are pretty standard, but it seemed to me that the cloth lamp cord was the chance to really make it into something amazing. I felt pretty lucky to have found out about Sundial, but a lot of their good cloth lamp cords were either sold out, or I was seeing bigger companies like Best Made use them. After a lot of searching around I was able to find a source for some fresh looking colorful cloth cord. I whipped up a few test pendants and shot some pictures of the results.

What does everyone think?

More available for sale (custom lengths etc) on my Modern Union Etsy shop.

Plus you can see some of the other colors I have on this listing here.

I have had the pleasure of being on the Salt Lake Modern committee for a couple of years now. As a part of Utah Heritage Foundation, Salt Lake Modern is dedicated to preserving and promoting the region's mid-century modern architecture and design. I'm excited to announce that we now have our own official website, full of great information about local MCM architects and buildings. Make sure you check it out, join as a member, and register for our upcoming modern homes tour. We have some amazing homes lined up.

SLModern.org

When it comes to furniture, chairs are my first passion, but tables are a close second. I often overlook the coffee table partly because there are so many cheap coffee tables out there, but there are a lot of amazing ones too. I'm currently getting ready to move into a new home, and I'm looking to upgrade from my Ikea table I got in the "as is" section. Besides the fact that I used a sharpie to make all the scratches disappear, it's just too hight for my taste. Below is a quick round up of some that have recently caught my eye. Which one is your favorite?

(above "two leg table")

Muji aluminum coffee table $185

Blu Dot Ripple Square $399

DIY Factory style cart via HGTV

Conrad Coffee Table : Misewell $1,150

Repurposed flat file. I'd love to find an old wood one of these. Image via Treehugger.

Also, there are the classics….

Eames

Noguchi

These awesome Rocking Lamps from mineheart got quite a bit of press during ICFF last year, but I never did see any ordering information. It looks like they are now available to purchase in the mineheartstore and are available with a black or white shade. The £252 price tag is a bit hard to swallow, it makes me surprised that no one has figured out an Ikea hack to get a similar look.

Rocking Lamps from mineheart

Video below. Have a good weekend everybody!

via the fabulous NCM

Equal parts art piece and useful kitchen utensil, Herriott Grace is making some of the best looking wooden spoons and kitchen utensils I have seen in a while. They definitely fall in the "not cheap" category, but that doesn't seem to stop them from selling.

Which is your favorite? How much would you pay for a gorgeous wooden spoon?

Herriott Grace

via

These jug lamps are hand blown by a local artisan and are full of lots of great subtle details.  They almost make me want to add glass blowing to my repertoire. Almost.

Available in sizes small through extra large (12" - 19") and in a myriad of colors.

Jug Lamp $425 - $625

I saw a similar looking coffee table last year in NY, and it just about blew my mind.

About:

The unique cantilevered Bloom coffee table features a salvaged Western Red cedar base fused with a colored top made of peanut and soy non-toxic resin and is finsihed with a clear lacquer.  Each base has been hand-salvaged, dried, peeled, sandblasted, and cut to size.  The fusion of the two elements creates a seamless connection that results in a heat and stain resistant surface.

Do want.

Bloom Coffee Table by Wood Design $3,900 CAD

The sun is shinning today and the birds are chirping, and my mind is starting to turn towards spring… I think a cheery picture like this Brighton Early Bird print from Lo Cole is just the thing for today.

Brighton Early Bird print (51cm x 34cm) $200

If there is one good thing about winter, it's hot drinks.  The Teavana Alasdair Glass Tea Kettle takes that one good thing, and makes it look amazing.  Best of all, it's totally affordable.

Teavana Alasdair Glass Tea Kettle $40

As much as I've been trying to avoid it, I am finally back from Paris. I can confidently say that everything went off without a hitch, and it met all expectations that I had. So what did I do? Nothing. Absolutely nothing, and it was wonderful. I didn't spend the day in any famous museums, I didn't get my picture painted on the street, I didn't go on any tours of famous sites. I just enjoyed good company, amazing food and drink, and spent all day long exploring an amazing city, and I would gladly do it all again in a heartbeat.

I'm happy to report that both my new bag acquisitions worked wonderfully. The Bexar Aviator tote became the daily carry and was perfect for everything from morning trips to the boulangerie to get some baguette to daytime shopping trips or bringing home a bottle of wine late at night. The german garment bag was an equally amazing and swallowed up 10 days of clothes with room to spare. It was a bit heavy to lug around but I didn't miss the option of having wheels at all as I carried it up and down the steps while riding the metro.

While I was gone you guys did a good job taking over for me.  We had reader submitted stories on chairs, clocks, lights, and beds. All the posts got a lot of love, but the winner was Jaren of Modern Union for his amazing submission of the best looking espresso machine I've ever seen.