A Teapot, Short & Stout {MCM thrift store find}

01/19/2010

Not technically from a thrift store, we got this funky, mustard-yellow, wood-handled teapot from Stu on our trip to Cincinnati. (We met him at a thrift store so it’s almost a thrift store find.) This was one of the first things Jason spotted when we walked in the door.

It’s definitely vintage and the inside was really cruddy. It had some caked-on calcified minerals stuck to the bottom and insides. (I made that up but it was something hard and gross!) Thankfully my amazing, persistent, determined husband spent hours soaking, scrubbing, soaking, scraping and washing it until the speckled cobalt blue insides were restored almost back to their original mid-century modern glory.

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Floor lamp & glasses {MCM Thrift Store Finds}

01/07/2010

Technically the floor lamp is not a thrift store find since it’s from a legit vintage shop in Cincinnati called Red Polly. But it’s mid-century modern and we found it. A lovely addition to our living room, we think.

At a real thrift store in Cinci we found these OJ glasses that match a pitcher we got here in Nashville a few months ago. They might not be from the same set but they’re pretty darn close. The glasses are Anchor Hocking but the pitcher is unmarked. Cute, huh?

We also found these smokey yellow glasses that reminded us of our grandmothers. I like the shape. There are 4 total but 1 was in the dishwasher when I photographed these.

That’s all for this household but our shopping buddies picked up a few cool things, too:

Retro blue canister set

Blue starburst glass vase

Corning Ware “Spice of Life” canister

Glasbake navy blue star / snowflake casserole dish

Curtis Jere wall sculpture of wheat (from Stu)

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New Years MCM finds

01/05/2010

We had a wonderful New Years in Cincinnati with our dear friends and fellow MCM enthusiests. We ate some delicious food: lobster, pork ribs and sauerkraut, Cincinnati chili, Cheesecake Factory. Some new—from IKEA and H&M—and “new” mid-century purchases—from Red Polly, SA family store and Stu Nizny‘s house (oh the stories!)

I’m so excited to report that we finally found the perfect vintage MCM cabinet to use for our master bathroom vanity. Wow. After a year of searching it’s going to take a while to sink in! (Pun intended that time.) And it fit in our car!

While we were poking around at the thrift store I pointed out a table that looked mid-century. Out of nowhere an  eccentric silver-haired guy in a hot pink down puffer with a saucer-sized belt buckle and white silver-tipped cowboy boots was giving us his business cards, inviting us back to his house to check out his vintage collection, offering us wholesale prices, and listing off his résumé of famous clientele. We shopped around a little more than then took him up on his offer.

Stu’s house was a museum of mid-century and vintage furniture, housewares, glass art, Jeres, vintage t-shirts, suitcases, light fixtures, art … and he was right: he did have several mid-century modern cabinets that fit the very specific dimensions we needed. Thanks for the great deals, Stu! We’ll definitely be back.

I’ll share more about our other finds soon.

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God Jul! {MCM thrift store find}

12/23/2009

That’s Merry Christmas in Swedish. (Or “Good Yule!” literally.) This little green ceramic tree with tiny colored lights is a festive find from our holiday thrift store searching. We were on the hunt for bottle brush trees without much luck.

The Dálecarlian horse was a gift from my Uncle Bob several Christmases ago.

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Salem Biscayne China {a MCM thrift store find}

12/15/2009

I’ll never forget the first mid-century modern treasure Jason and I bought. We debated about whether or not we should pay $2 for a random platter and were surprised months later when we discover it was worth $50 and a legitimate collectible. A few months later we hit the mid-century antique furniture jackpot with our American by Martinsville end tables and coffee table.

A couple of weeks ago we struck gold again. Out on a leisurely thrift store stroll, we came across a set of mid-century modern dishes. What made this lightly used china so special was the size of the set. We couldn’t believe it: 9 teacups, 9 saucers, salt & pepper shakers, creamer, sugar bowl, gravy bowl, serving platter, serving bowl (not pictured), 6 dinner plates, 6 dessert plates, 6 cereal bowls and 6 small bowls.

Even though the price was amazing, I wasn’t sure I liked the pattern enough to own these so we walked out. (Not a big flower pattern fan.) As I suspected, after some googling a couple days later I regretted my decision and my wonderful husband went back to the place and scooped them up.

I can’t believe we almost missed out on these. Thank God for second chances. We’re thrilled with this Salem Biscayne china, especially after discovering it’s worth 6-10x what we paid for it—not that we plan on selling.

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Pyrex Teacups {a MCM thrift store find}

12/02/2009

A few weeks ago, Jason and I found two of these sweet little Pyrex tea cups at the thrift store.

I am not sure of their vintage-ness but they look pretty retro to me. What do you think?

New hat + new tea cup = I’m all ready for winter!

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Blue Bowl & OJ Pitcher {mcm thrift store finds}

11/19/2009

Over the weekend we stopped by a couple of thrift stores and came away satisfied by these 2 finds (for about $4 total):

This pretty blue bowl that Jason spotted.

And this funky glass orange juice pitcher that I found.

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Companion Lamp {mcm thrift store find}

11/09/2009

In September we found a mid-century modern Paulding lamp at a Nashville thrift store. While we were in Erie, PA a few weeks ago, we found a companion lamp for the other side of the living room. The styles are different but they’re both blue-green, retro and fit nicely in our atomic ranch.

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Here’s a side by side comparison of the lamp buddies. They have matching shades from Target.

companions

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Paulding Lamp {mcm thrift store find}

09/09/2009

Our newest mid-century modern find: this unique lamp. If we hadn’t just come from browsing at Wonders on Woodland* and selling them a 1970’s lamp, hubby and I might have passed this one up at the thrift store.

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I find the pattern on it quite interesting.

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And, I love how it matches all the blues and greens in our living room.

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The best part: the lamp only cost $5.99 (plus a $24.99 shade from Target). I’m so happy that my husband enjoys the hunt as much as I do. Last weekend we went to no less than 4 thrift stores, 8 antique stores and 1 yard sale. We didn’t find anything we were looking for but in addition to the lamp, we found 5 great chairs — I’ll show you tomorrow!

*We happen to have Nashville’s coolest MCM antique store—Wonders on Woodland—in our neighborhood. Tell me that’s not the sweetest thing!

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