If you have the financial wherewithal to buy whatever you want, and are looking for one-stop shopping for licensed editions of iconic MCM pieces, you can do a lot worse that checking out this place. Free shipping on everything, and lots of good pics.
The Mid-Century Modernist: Saarinen Tulip Table and Eames DCM Chairs
There's something very fitting about mixing the Scandinavian designers and Eames. I love the grouping above.
In my own kitchen, however, I have the opposite approach: Four Jacobsen Series 7 chairs grouped around a vintage Eames aluminum group table.
I like'em both.
Gus* Modern Jane Sofa and Chair Seating
If you're looking for a sofa with the look and feel of a Florence Knoll original, without being a perfect knockoff, this isn't a bad deal.
Click the pic for a gorgeous page from Gordon International offering beautiful photos and specs on the large majority of iconic MCM pieces. Be sure to check out the quite rare Mies Tugenhadt chair, an interesting shot at melding the Brno and Barcelona chairs.
Reside - Mid-Century Modern Furniture Boston
If you're lucky enough to live in Boston, stop by and check out Reside in person. Otherwise, flip through the offerings on their web site. Some very nice pieces, with good descriptions and pricing, so that even if you can't visit, you can at least learn something.
Rago Arts and Auction Center | Results | 2007
Especially for folks new to the mid-century modern world, and even for those somewhat knowledgeable, figuring out what something looks like from a written description, or what something is actually worth, may prove difficult. One way to increase your knowledge is to have in one hand the catalog of a good auction house holding a mid-century sale, and in the other hand, a "prices realized" report.
Or, in this day and age, you can turn to the internet and get it all in one place.
Click the lot numbers on the left of each entry for gorgeous pictures of each sale item.
For you lucky folks living in NYC, White Furniture (several locations) offers the best selection and price on mid-century modern reproductions and replicas I've seen anywhere. And according to a couple of commenters at
Apartment Therapy, the quality is pretty good, too. Of course, they don't sell a repro of the piece I really want: a Saarinen womb chair. In fact, I've only found one place that does: Paradigm Gallery.
They are also on MySpace.com, where the good news is:
In 2008, Paradigm Gallery will open galleries in Atlanta and Los Angeles with future galleries slated for Austin, New York, San Francisco, Tampa, Washington D.C., and other cities scheduled for 2009 openings.Two years to wait isn't that long, though, is it? And I could always buy online, I suppose....
Yes, I promise we'll have that extended discussion (argument, shriekfest) on the issue of vintage versus re-issues versus licensed versus reproduction versus knockoff mid century modern furniture. But not just yet. Later.
What with prices for even a single (did they make any other kind, back in the day?) Nelson Thin-Edge bed going for upwards of $5000, and being very difficult to find in the first place, having one of these babies is pretty much out of reach for most people. Still, I really liked that look of the bed floating above the floor on spindly white pipe legs, with a minimal headboard and footboard.
So I built my own.
No, it doesn't look exactly like the Nelson example, but it gives the same general feeling of minimal "floatiness," and it's quite solid. Best of all, it cost about $150 bucks.
I bought everything in one trip to Lowes (an SUV or pickup helps).
The support frame is made of 3/4 black iron pipe - available in the plumbing department. For a queen-size mattress I made a square using 4-ft lengths of pipe. Use the appropriate pipe connectors to put everything together. The pipe is quite greasy, so you might want to wear gloves while handling. I used two 4" lengths with a crossbar connector for each leg - bringing the height of each leg from the top of the frame to about 14". Once you've got it all put together, wash everything with a good grease-cutter, and then paint it. I used a can of white acrylic appliance spray paint.
For the platform I bought a pair of hollow-core undrilled doors, 32"X80", and screwed them together using three metal strap connectors on each side. Then screw the frame to the bottom of the platform using U-straps on all four sides. Flip it over upright and attach a 3" or 4" wide length of finished oak board cut to 64" length (stock at Lowes) using angle-braces. I used four of them. The headboard is a piece of plywood cut to shape, covered with batting and suede fabric, and attached to the wall behind the bed. This one stands on two wooden support legs screwed to the back. If I figure out a simple, cheap way to attach a headboard bent at an angle backwards, I'll let you know, and update this post, with another picture, too.
Here's what the underside with the frame looks like:
Okay, it's not really Nelson, but it doesn't look bad, and it ought to hold you until you've got that spare ten grand to buy a couple of the genuine article to push together beneath your queen mattress.
One good way to stir controversy among MCM aficionados is to proclaim your choice for the "best" of anything.
Chairs, for some reason, are especially contentious. Here is my pick for the best of the MCM lounge chairs: the Saarinen Womb Chair, reportedly designed for Florence Knoll, who told Saarinen to create a chair "she could curl up in." Far more than the Eames 670 lounger, the Womb Chair embodied the MCM tenets of simplicity, new materials, biomorphic shapes, and ergonomic design.
What would be your pick? Let us know in the comments.
From YouTube comes this nicely done introductory video to the basics of mid-century modernism.
