mid-century modern | myMCMlife.com

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.

1 Comment | Art, Art: interior design, Art: mcm thrift store find, Art: mid-century design, Family, Family: Extended Family and Friends | Tagged: bathroom renovation, cabinet, Cincinnati, credenza, MCM thrift store, mid-century modern | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt

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.

10 Comments | Art, Art: Cooking, Art: mcm thrift store find, Art: mid-century design | Tagged: Biscayne, mid-century modern, Salem China, vintage dishes | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt

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!

2 Comments | Art, Art: mcm thrift store find, Art: mid-century design | Tagged: mcm teacup, mid-century modern, pyrex, tea cup, thrift store find | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt

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.

1 Comment | Art, Art: mcm thrift store find, Art: mid-century design | Tagged: mid-century modern, mid-century modern home, thrift store find, thrift store hunting | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt

Life is Like a Bowl of Peaches

09/24/2009

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We got four of these bowls at an antique store recently. Thirty minutes prior we found 3 matching saucers at a thrift store on the same street. In May we found a matching pitcher at a yard sale. Last fall we found 2 pitchers, a dinner plate, a saucer and 5 tea cups in green in the same pattern at an estate sale. So it seems we have a bit of an unusual collection developing here.

pitchers

The pitcher on the right now belongs to my good friend and fellow MCM home owner. (Rê, I forgot to give you the lid!)

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(Sorry, the above pic is really flashed out.) What drives me crazy is that I can’t figure out who makes these! There is no maker’s mark on the bottom and I’ve tried searching for mid-century dinnerware dishes scalloped half-circle pattern glazed gold green ceramic … and every combination of those words with no avail. Has anyone ever seen these?? Please help!

3 Comments | Art, Art: mid-century design | Tagged: ceramics, dinnerware, dishes, glazed, mid-century design, mid-century modern | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt

Retro Starburst Clock

09/22/2009

I’ve been looking for an authentic mid-century modern starburst clock for the dining room since we moved into our house 2 and a half years ago. Oh, I can find ’em … on eBay for $70-200. But I’m looking for the ≤$20 version— the kind you find at yard sales or thrift stores or in your grandma’s basement. Speaking of yard sales, we got this modern, plastic, imitation retro clock for $3 (talked down from $5 … we’re such cheapskates).

Jase surprised me the other day (I LOVE surprises!) by spray painting the clock face and spokes, installing new hands (the originals looked really cheap) and putting the whole thing back together. I really love how it looks now.

But, of course, this is just temporary until we find an authentic “atomic” clock. (Like that alliteration?) And in typical Jason-and-Martina-fashion, we’ll most likely find a steal on the antique real deal and sell the modern imitation for 3-4x more money on craigslist or eBay. Cuz that’s how we roll.

We decided to go with the white chairs in the dining room rather than the blue ones.

2 Comments | Art, Art: interior design, Art: mid-century design, Art: modern design | Tagged: mid-century modern, my atomic ranch, retro clock, starburst | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt

Five Times the Fun

09/10/2009

Friday afternoon while I was enjoying a Pumpkin Spice Latte with my friend Rachel (after getting dismissed from work early!), I got this picture text from my hubby:

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I called back immediately and said, “Where are you? Where did you see those chairs?” A couple hours and 6 antique stores later we had these 2 turquoise chairs and 3 similar white ones puzzled into the back of our little Ford Focus. Here are the blue ones after my awesome husband spent hours scrubbing off mildew stains, washing, sealing, and painting the very rusty legs:

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(Yes, the color really did become more intense once they were clean!) It’s hard to tell from a distance but these two actually have a very retro concentric circle pattern.

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We have 4 wood and chrome Gilbert chairs from IKEA around our dining room table but we’ve been thinking it would be nice to add 2 more unique chairs at the heads of the table. I love how these match our color palette.

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We purchased 3 identical white chairs. All 5 of the chairs had been stored outside and were horribly dirty. I really didn’t think these could come clean. Thank God I’m married to a goal-oriented, super hard-working perfectionist because he got this white chair looking like new! (Two more to go.)

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I LOVE LOVE LOVE the mid-century modern style of these chairs. They’re just plastic, not fiberglass like an Eames or Herman Miller (or a Modernica replica) but the were only $9 average and they’ll suite us just fine.

We did see a black Herman Miller chair at an antique store in Nolensville for $85 if anyone is interested…

5 Comments | Art, Art: interior design, Art: mid-century design | Tagged: antique store find, mid-century design, mid-century modern, mod chairs | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt

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!

1 Comment | Art, Art: interior design, Art: mcm thrift store find, Art: mid-century design | Tagged: lamp, mid-century modern, Paulding, thrift stores, Wonders on Woodland | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt

myMCMlife.com

New Years MCM finds

Salem Biscayne China {a MCM thrift store find}

Pyrex Teacups {a MCM thrift store find}

Blue Bowl & OJ Pitcher {mcm thrift store finds}

Life is Like a Bowl of Peaches

Retro Starburst Clock

Five Times the Fun

Paulding Lamp {mcm thrift store find}

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