Mid Century Madness

A FUNKY VINYL OTTOMAN

This awesome find was from a thrift store called ARC. I wasn't looking for anything in particular, which makes it the BEST kind of find! I paid $3.99 for it. Note the tapered legs with brass caps. Very retro! And perfect in the livingroom! There are no makers marks or labels.

THE CURRENT SOFA...aka MACARONI & CHEESE

This was the first MCM sofa I cam across on Craigslist that I could actually afford. Many have been listed (mostly in Denver), but they are VERY hard to get and can be quite expensive. The poster was asking $40, a steal for such a cool looking piece of furniture. I was THRILLED to learn I was one of the first responders to the ad, and quickly arranged to see it.

It is incredibly solid and heavy, no makers labels, unfortunately. An ornate geometric pattern is woven throughout, giving it an awesome look. The legs are square and tapered, with a design carved into them. I believe they are original but I'm not positive. No history available on the sofa, other than it belonged to a roommate that left it behind.

The color is more accurate in the middle picture. My oldest son calls it the "macaroni & cheese" sofa, lol. It is in excellent condition, with only a few loose strings here and there.

STURGIS CHAIR CO. EAMES STYLE CHAIRS

Craigslist strikes once again! I found four of these chairs being offered with a table for $15. Since I don't need a table, but really wanted the funky chairs for the patio, I emailed the gentleman and asked if I could have just the chairs for $15 and he agreed. A few weeks later, I saw the same chairs posted again as a set with a table, only this time there were two of them. I emailed the poster again, only to find it was the same guy! He offered me the two chairs for $7, and I agreed. So a total of six chairs for $21, not too shabby. These chairs were probably made in the very early 70's or late 60's. I haven't been able to find out much about them. They will look perfect as a patio set once I find the perfect table. They have a fiberglass shell and steel legs. They are a FAB shade of orange!

THE LAMP

This is the lovely lamp J. gave me...another treasure as I have actually been keeping an eye out for a lamp JUST like this! How did he know?

This is a vintage tension pole lamp, very retro in it's spaceage design. The lamp is brass in color, with three cone shades to house the bulbs. There are no markings on this lamp other than "underwriter's laboratories inc." which I believe was an inspection company as I've seen many older lamps with this sticker.

I cannot wait until we have ceilings low enough to use this lamp. Currently we have 22ft ceilings, that won't work. But when we get military housing in Hawaii, I know we'll have perfect ceilings for this lamp.

These are the BEFORE pictures. I will be cleaning and polishing this up so it shines like it did back in the 50's

A 50's Sofa and Lamp...my latest treasures!!!

Ok, so another one of my favorite hangouts (besides thrift shops) is Craigslist. I routinely check my local CL 10 times a day (okay, 20).

Just the other day, this sofa was posted in the Free section of CL. It has damage, and needs some restoration, but the moment I saw it I knew I needed to have it! I emailed the gentleman, and was graciously told it was already promised. My heart fell. I emailed him again and offered him money for it, but a true gentleman, he wouldn't go back on his word. I resigned to letting it go.

Then that night, I got another email. The lady was unable to make it, it could be mine! Hooray! I made arrangements to pick it up in the morning. The sofa was in Woodland Park, I was in Peyton. Somewhere inbetween I needed to rent a van to get it home safely.

I managed to do it, and get to Woodland Park as arranged. J. led me through a winding dirt path deep into the woods (ok, I'll admit, I got nervous for a second!) and then out to a beautiful clearing with horses and a pond. His house was past the first house on the road, and I couldn't help but look around at all the peaceful and beautiful landscaping.

We came up to garage, and there it was. Just as beautiful as I had hoped with it's turquoise and cream plush goodness. And in dire need of some lovin'. J. helped me load it into the van and then declined to take the money I offered. Bless him! What a generous soul! He told me to use the money for the rental van, which I did. We took a ride in his golf cart to an old barn to look at a chair (which unfortunately didn't go with my decor) and then we stopped at his stocked pond while he fed them. I almost didn't want to leave, it was so beautiful out there. Before I got ready to leave, J. gave me one more present...a 1950's pole lamp he had stored. More about that later!

THE SOFA
This piece of history is a three piece sectional which together form a rounded corner sofa. The fabric is hard to describe, it's a knobby woven material, possibly wool? The legs are square and tapered. There are no markings or labels on this sofa like I had hoped, so I have no clue who the maker might be.

The sofa unfortunately was attacked by a dog, hence the badly torn arm. It also has a broken piece of framing where the legs are on that same side, so that will have to be fixed before it can be used.

MY PLAN
I plan on having a professional upholsterer look at the damage and see what it might cost to fix. There is possibly enough of the torn fabric to repair, however some fabric may need to be taken from another place.

The cushions need to be replaced, as I think they are made of the original foam. I have removed the seat covers and will wash them gently in Woolite. The body of the sofa needs a good steam-cleaning as well. The legs of the sofa either need to be replaced or refinished, I haven't decided yet which to do.

I am convinced that this was was an absolute treasure of a find, and I cannot wait to show the after photos with it fully restored!

FIRST THE BAD...