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Getting my Mod Fix

I don’t know what it’s like in your town, but in the Seattle area it’s hella difficult to find reasonably priced mid-century modern furniture in good condition. Even more so since Mad Men premiered and everyone wants MCM style. People selling these pieces on Craigslist or at used furniture stores often completely over-estimate the value of the piece or mis-represent its condition. This is why I was so thrilled to find a darling new store offering mid-century furniture and accessories in great condition AND at awesome prices.

The Mod Fix opened three months ago in the downtown area of Olympia. Owner Katherine Sampson had seen plenty of stores in Seattle and Portland, but nothing like it in Olympia and grabbed the opportunity. She collects the pieces from a variety of places and organizes the shop like a high-end retail boutique. (In contrast to some other MCM stores that look more like garage sales!) Katherine said her grandparents had owned a flea market and she just developed an eye for MCM pieces. And I agree, she definitely has an eye and an understanding of how to best price and market them! Plus, she collects Catherinholm pieces and that makes her a-okay in my book.

Below are some images taken in the store with prices. Everything is in pristine condition. I highly encourage anyone in the area to take a look and those not in the area to check out their online store. Enjoy!

Classic Lane Dovetail Coffee Table $265

Danish Modern side chair $235

Kitsch Tiki glasses $8.50-$14

Variety of Catherineholm enamelware. Set of 4 small green bowls $175; Set of 5 blue bowls, one large, four small $265

Catherineholm coffee pot and casserole in green $65 each

Amazing retro stand alone faux fireplace $775

Turquoise arm chair with woven side panels $175

Round coffee table $139 (Kind of wish we’d bought this!)

Nesting side tables $145

Dining set: Table $675, set of four chairs $500

Gorgeous credenza in the background $800

They also stock a variety of new products like lamps ($200 below), books, aprons and kitchen linens in retro fabrics and wall clocks.

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Tags: furniture, shopping, The Mod Fix

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Categories Decor, Furniture, Products, Uncategorized

Study Time Part 3: The Finish Line

24 Apr

I should have titled this post ‘Here’s what sucks about letting furniture sit outside for so long…’ After the initial coats of paint, I added a polycrylic layer on the top of the desk, knowing that it would be used and abused by a gaggle of pre-teen and teen-aged girls that raise havoc in this house. Then I decided to leave it for a few days to ‘cure’. Well, a few days became a few weeks and a few weeks became over a month.

I occasionally looked outside to see it there sad and lonely and cold in one of the wettest springs we have had in recent memory. I consoled myself by rationalizing that it was on a covered porch and not getting wet. Ha. The stories we tell ourselves will be the death of us.

And because I have been travelling and working a lot and given that I’ve been writing an awful lot about things other than our house projects on the blog, I decided I was going to get something done today come hell or high water. The desk seemed the easiest box to check since the painting was done. All I had to do was put the hardware back on and the drawers back in and get my husband to help trade out the electronic stuff and voila. This nightmare monstrosity of paper and wires and ugly chairs would be gone, right? Wrong!

(Showing before photos sometimes feels like taking your clothes off in public. Total humiliation. Yes, we were living like this.)

Ahhh…best laid plans. After I put the hardware back on the drawers I attempted, yes, attempted to put them back in the desk. But the large drawer wouldn’t go in. Nope, wouldn’t budge. Was no where near fitting the space it had fit perfectly just…ummm…almost two months ago. Apparently even though it didn’t get direct rain, it had absorbed enough moisture to swell the wood. Lovely.

Brett came out to help me and after numerous attempts trying to shove it in, he resorted to what any red-blooded American male would to make something work; he hit with a mallet. Hmmm.

Yeah, hitting it didn’t work. Then he tried two different planer type things on the bottom and top of the drawer. Nada. Nothing. Nil. It was not budging. Finally, I suggested my sander and yep…that did the trick. We sanded down the top of the drawer on all sides and also the bar in the desk. This actually took a lot of time, sand a bit, try it, sand a bit more. This went on for about an hour and with a series of cursing that probably shocked the neighbors. Good thing the kids weren’t around.

A big hands in the air hallelujah when it finally fit and I could start what I thought I was starting over an hour ago. One of my objectives with the big desk switcheroo was cord management. Now I am not one to usually fret too much about that kind of detail, but this tangled mess of cords had gotten under my skin. I had seen a post on Young House Love about hiding cords in boxes so I bought these while file boxes from Ikea for the purpose of hiding cords and giving our prolific writer Ainsley a place to store her masterpiece manuscripts.

I cut a hole in the back for the cords to slide through and put the surge protector in the box. I also twist-tied all the cords together and tried to hide them behind the desk leg. Out of sight, out of mind! Hopefully.

Here’s the great reveal…

I love the view of the forest when I am sitting at the desk. The Eiffel Tower Eames chair is a reproduction I ordered on sale for $99 from Rex Kelly and I love it. It’s sturdy and comfortable and it works perfectly with the desk and the white boxes. It’s molded plastic and not fiberglass, so it feels a little different, but for the price, it works for me!

So full circle from the beginning of these desk posts, the family room/kitchen has gone from this:

To this:

I am going to look at these photos the next time I am frustrated and depressed about the progress to remind myself that it really does get there eventually.

Now, of course, I am just going to fixate on the linoleum and carpet that we intend to replace with cork. Someday.

Tags: furniture, Ikea, mercer island thrift store, painting

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Categories Uncategorized

Furniture Fantasies

1 Oct

Desire is a funny thing. It spurs the quest for immediate gratification. I want it. And I want it now. I have found that even when I employ patience and consideration, at some point, desire wins out. Perhaps if the desire is still there after patience and delay, it’s real and not impulsive. At least, that’s what I tell myself.

Right now, the itch is about furniture. I write this Weekend Show and Tell and I fill it with gorgeous things. Most of the gorgeous things are totally and outrageously beyond my budget (which is pretty much $0 right now). But a girl can dream, right?

Dreaming is what I’ve been doing a lot of in this blog. But lately, dreaming has turned to drooling. Every time I look at the lovely Pottery Barn furniture that so suited our Seattle craftsman, I have visions of new mid-century furniture and heated desire to fill our new home with it.

What to do? What to do? My birthday is coming up (40!) on Halloween and I have been thinking that maybe I deserve a little something for that big milestone. But you know, it’s hard to say ‘a sofa please’ when someone asks you what you would like as a gift. Nonetheless, I have decided I need a piece of nice MCM furniture to mark the occasion.

How does one get that without spending money? Hmmm. For those of you who know me, impossible questions like that are my specialties. If it can’t be done, I am all the more inspired and willful (a word often used to describe me as a child). I will tell you, my friends: the mecca called Craigslist.

Now I know Craigslist has a bad rap, but if you aren’t looking for a date (or a facsimile thereof, if you know what I mean), it’s a wonderful digital marketplace to buy and sell. Mind you, I am in the selling mode because the pieces of furniture I desire aren’t on Craigslist sadly. I have been scouring for MCM stuff and what I find is over-priced for the condition it’s in. I am going to keep looking though to see if any beauties pop up.

So I decided to sell it all. The sofa, the chair and ottoman, the two Oriental rugs. I am keeping the coffee table and end tables, because they work with the theme and were bought from the very MCM store West Elm just three years ago. I put it all on Craigslist and the response has been tremendous. We have sold one rug already and two people are coming today to see the rest of the furniture. I figure if I sell everything, I clear $1000. And I already have that spent. In my mind, of course, where all things like this happen.

And what, may you ask, does my fantasy furniture spree look like? Pretty much like this:

A gorgeous sofa from Perch called the Gracie. How charming is that? Gracie Allen is a perfect icon and while not MCM per se, she exudes that kind of class. I swoon over the orange, but faint at the price tag. Starts at $1400. Yikes. Think they’d let me buy 70% of it?

I found a similar sofa at Urban Outfitters that has the same lines but does not come in the gorgeous orange. Plus it folds out into a sleeper and is, according to the reviews, of very good quality. And the bigger bonus, it’s less than half the price at $600. And come on, we know me, right? This is all going to change again anyway. I figure pump it up with some orange pillows and throws and I’m close.

One other sofa to consider (despite what I think of as the college-dorm feel of IKEA) is the Karlstad. I’ve seen enough reviews of this sofa in LA at Home and Young House Love, to think it’s worth consideration. I don’t think it has the panache of the buttoned upholstery of the two above, it still seems like a good solid bargain and possibly better quality than the Urban Outiffters one according to some.

Also from Urban Outfitters comes this wonderful rocking chair. All the lines of a Danish MCM chair, with rockers to boot. However, it doesn’t come close to the Herman Miller Eames rocker that I covet. Perhaps I could have both? Ooops. Just blew my budget there.

Finally, also from UO, I see this lovely armchair, but at $479 I am definitely blowing my budget. That is until I remember, hey! I thrifted one of these from Goodwill. New upholstery (coming soon!) and I have my chair.

I will keep you all posted on my scheming. If you know anyone in the Seattle area in the market for a lovely Pottery Barn sofa/chair/ottoman in sage green velvet, let me know!