Last year, over three months, I bought twelve pieces of vintage mid-century modern furniture. How does that happen to someone who has, for years, been trying to minimize her STUFF and follow a budget?
Before moving from the PNW in 2017, I sold the only furniture I had of value, a new Crate and Barrel table with two benches, and donated the rest. I didn’t need any furniture for my tiny house. And when I emptied the storage unit in Ottawa in 2018, I offloaded any antique furniture that had been sitting unused for twelve years. Some of that STUFF had been shuffled west (2000) and/or east (2001) and/or west (2006) again at great expense. I wasn’t spending any more money on it. It wasn’t getting moved again.
So four years ago when I moved from the tiny house into a one-bedroom apartment, I was a 55-year-old with no furniture.
I put a lot of thought into the modern bed frame I ordered from a local company, bought a Canadian-made sofa, and took a trip to IKEA. The rest of the furniture—like items my dad and stepmom were no longer using—were meant to be temporary. I bought a vintage 1950’s metal side table and, just when I started to think about how to go from there, taking my time to get exactly what I wanted, the pandemic happened. Distracted by the end of the world, my design plans got put on hold. I made do for two years with what I had just like I’d always done.
Then in spring 2022, I bought a newly-reupholstered vintage teak and oak telephone bench from a small MCM furniture business. Next, I bought a teak dining table from friends. Then I bought a small teak desk, coffee table, and walnut cabinet from a lovely couple who find, restore, and sell from their home at very reasonable prices. Soon after came a set of teak nesting tables and two dining chairs. At the height of my frenzy, I drove one province over to pick up two teak side tables designed by Jan Kuypers for Imperial Furniture (Canada) from an estate sale. I got them so cheap I figured I could sell for double the price. To his credit, my brother followed my road trip text updates without questioning me on my new obsession or sanity.
Then it stopped. After all, I only have an 800 square foot apartment.
I still follow my favoUrite vendors online but, at this point, I’m just looking to buy two more dining chairs*. I suppose the furniture has been a fit with my ideas in simpler living—supporting local small businesses, buying used, surrounding myself with items I love, getting quality items that last a long time. The temporary items have been moved on. And I should clarify that although I like looking at all things MCM, I don’t like most of the art, ceramics, or textiles from that era. My personal aesthetic is what I call MCM-Zen-Cat.
*I hope to eventually find a vintage teak lounge chair and ottoman too but those sets are verrry pricey.
References and related links:
- MCM: mid-century modern, a design aesthetic from the 1950’s and 1960’s.
- PNW: Pacific Northwest.
- winter solstice (post #187)
- whatever (post #180)
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