Lucky ME!

Everyone drives in LA. We don't have much of a choice. Walking in LA is like walking in the suburbs, the blocks seems to go on forever, there's not a whole lot to look at, and barely a person walking beside you, it's cars just racing by. Cars with grouchy people in a hurry to get somewhere that barely have the patience to let a pedestrian pass without hollering *profanities, at least that was my experience today.

The surprising thing is people actually DO walk in LA. We walk through quaint neighborhoods with well landscaped yards to look at and we see other people walking too, walking home from school, to the Farmer's Market or their local coffee house, walking the dog. It's really quite pleasant when we get out of our cars and hit the pavement. But it's tough to accomplish much this way and so we're chained to our cars.


There is a great thing about driving in LA though. Driving in LA means when you pass by someone's "trash" and you see something you like, like say a really cool pair of retro metal lawn chairs you don't have to ooh and ahh over something you can't take home. Sorta like The Elegant Thrifter had to do just the other day on the streets of NYC! Instead you come inches away from causing a car accident, speed around the block and jump out of the car asking ever so kindly if you can take this person's trash home.


At least that's what happened to me today and it was glorious!

I had thought about refinishing the street finds but was convinced otherwise by my friends at the Antique Station where I was conveniently on my way to when luck came my way. Don't you just wish it had been you?! I know I would.

*slight exaggeration though profanities are easy to come by in LA

The Chairs are Mine - all Mine!

I just got home and unloaded two of the coolest chairs I now own - woot woot! Absolutely LOVE them. GoodForm is like the Cinderella of mid-century furniture - beautiful and under appreciated. Who knew, obviously someone, but seriously, who knew?! Go now, find yourself some. You WILL NOT live to regret it.

That said, it's my last little gift to my home before I leave for the cross-country adventure. I don't know how often I'll be able to post from the road but I promise to try. Until then, happy hunting ya'll!

x's and o's

GoodForm

I decided several years ago that the only way to buy furniture is to buy vintage. It was something like an epiphany when I discovered the sleek, clean lines and rich woods of mid-century furniture could be purchased for a fair cost and sold for the same fair cost years later. And for us hunters out there we don't only get to enjoy great design but at times we can even profit from it.

Even better than vintage resale value is the plethora of designers and manufacturers to be discovered. It's an all too consuming past time that I try to engage in only once in a blue moon, or maybe more like once a week. Lately though I've been on a roll. I guess that's what happens when you kill hours on end online. In the last 24 hours I've discovered two, one of each.

The talented designer Ben Seibel was brought to my attention while reading back blogs posted by Apron Thrift Girl.

Apron Thrift Girl's collection of Ben Seibel for Mikasa

It seems she has been a fan of his for years and I'm thrilled to have been turned on to his designs. You can check out her post here.

This new discovery of course led to at least another hour of research on the designer himself and searching Ebay where I discovered two pages of Ben Seibel and various designs. If your interested in learning more about this artist a good place to start is www.abenseibeldesign.com.

And what's a day of searching the net without killing a couple of hours on Criagslist?! Naturally I found many-a-things that I want and hardly-a-thing I should buy. I was however driven to learn about the manufacturer GoodForm when I discovered these beauties.





The website www.pastpresentfuture.net has terrific examples of GoodForm chairs and a little bit-a history to go along with it. It's amazing that these chairs were produced sometime between the 1930's and 1950's. By the looks of them I can only imagine they'll easily last long after we're gone and still look pristine. Can you say... LOVE!





I couldn't resist I'm going to "look" at them, umm... buy them tomorrow. Aren't you excited for me?