Summer Thrift Shop Finds

Apologies for the lack of updates lately. I've been working a lot and haven't had much free time for blogging. Hopefully I'll find the time to update more soon but I thought I'd share a few of my favorite thrift shop/estate sale purchases from the past couple of months.


Resin Owl by Sascha Brastoff (1960s)


New old stock Samsonite Silhouette Luggage Set (1960)


New old stock Westinghouse Toaster (60s)


Vintage Eero Saarinen table by Knoll (owl & coasters were also thrift store finds)

Milo Baughman

At the end of last year we picked up some great vintage pieces for our home including this incredible Milo Baughman chair for just $25 (produced by James Inc. probably between 1960-65). We swore that we wouldn't purchase any more furniture that needed to be reupholstered after buying our sofa but we just couldn't pass this chair up. The previous owners allowed their cat to use it as a scratching post so it got really damaged but the frame is in great shape and we loved the look of the chair. It's also really comfortable. It may have ended up in a garbage dump if we didn't take it home with us and we couldn't bare to see that happen. The chair just needs a good cleaning and some fresh upholstery and it will be good as new.

Milo Baughman (1925-2003) was one of America's greatest and most influential furniture designers. His work has been exhibited in museums throughout the United States including the Whitney Museum of Art in New York and the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh, NC. Baughman was also inducted into the American Society of Furniture Designers Hall of Fame in 1987. If you'd like to learn more about him and see more of his designs follow the links I've posted below:
- Milo Baughman @ Wikipedia
- Milo Baughman @ Decopedia
- Milo Baughman @ Apartment Therapy
- Milo Baughman @ the CIRCA and the WHO

Early Holiday Shopping

Took some time out this weekend to enjoy the 60th Annual Thrift Shop Christmas Bazaar in Napa and picked up some cute vintage Christmas decorations for our home. We found some more elves to add to our growing collection, including a very large one that's animated and plays music. He still works pretty good but could use a good cleaning. We also picked up a cute gold deer and some really pretty tear drop style ornaments. The money generated at the Thrift Shop Christmas Bazaar goes to non-profit organizations including the local chapters of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. You can find more information about this yearly event in a recent story published in our local paper online: Shoppers flock to Christmas Bazaar


Last week we also picked up this amazing solid walnut Kent-Coffey cabinet/dresser for just $85 at a local Goodwill store. It was part of the companies "Town House" line that I believe was originally created sometime between 1962-1966. Kent-Coffey was an American furniture company based in North Carolina and they were competitive with Broyhill. A lot of the companies furniture lines shared a similar style. I absolutely love it and I've seen similar pieces selling on Craigslist for as much as $550 so I think we got a great deal on it. It's in wonderful shape with just some minor scuffing and signs of age but overall it's still a really nice piece. We're not sure what we're going to do with it. We've talked about trying to put together an entire Kent-Coffey bedroom or just using it as a cabinet in the living room for now and maybe even a media stand. It's really beautiful and has incredible lines, the original handles, a beautiful tone and dovetail joints. The picture below doesn't flatter the piece very well. It needs to be really cleaned and but we're still deep in the middle of renovations. You'll also notice that our cat Maximilian decided to run past just as I was taking the picture.

Vintage Furniture Finds & Shopping Tips

When we're not working on our house, my husband and I have been hunting for fixtures and furniture at secondhand shops, antique stores and at local estate & garage sales as well as searching Craigslist and eBay for bargains. A lot of the things we currently own were handed down to us from family members or bought to fit into our old apartment and they just don't work in our new place. We knew we were going to have to spend some money on these things so we planned for the extra expense and worked it into our budget when we were preparing to buy our home.

My husband is 6 ft. 5 in. and he has a lot of trouble fitting comfortably into the low sofas and chairs that were popular in the '50s and '60s. Over the course of the last few months it's been a real challenge finding pieces that we not only both like and can afford, but also pieces that are comfortable and look good in our house.

One of our biggest disappointments was discovering that some colorful molded plastic Eames chairs we wanted to get for our dining room were just too tiny to accommodate my husbands tall lanky frame. We also had our eyes on a beautiful Case Study style daybed only to discover that when my husband sat on it his knees were almost hitting his chin. This has made us really cautious about buying anything online.

Thankfully my guy seems to fit really well into Danish modern furniture, which is not only beautiful and affordable, but it's also really comfortable. Danes tend to be tall and since my husband's family happens to be from the Baltic area (Latvia to be exact) it probably shouldn't be too much of a surprise that he's comfortable in Danish furniture and in the last few months we've found some beautiful Danish modern and Swedish pieces for our home.

Our first find was this incredible Dux sofa. Unfortunately it was badly stained and damaged. It also had a nasty musty odor that may have been cat urine so we're getting it reupholstered. Thankfully we were able to find some beautiful vintage Danish fabric in a color that we both really like so the sofa should still maintain its vintage appeal once it's reupholstered. I also like the idea of recycling all these vintage materials (sofa and fabric) to make a piece that will really be our own and reflect our personal taste. In the process we're learning that reupholstering anything can be really expensive so now we're taking this into consideration before we buy any vintage pieces.





Our next find was these two lovely chairs. They have no obvious markings but we believe they're Danish modern. They were in wonderful condition and just needed a good cleaning.





Our most recent find is this beautiful Swedish credenza with a matching hutch. It's also in terrific shape and looks amazing considering its age.





All of these pictures were taken at the places where we purchased the items. We always bring our camera as well as some measuring tape along with us whenever we go out looking for vintage furniture so we can be sure that we're making smart purchases. In the past our excitement has occasionally overcome good sense. We once bought a sofa that was too big to get into our apartment so now we're extra cautious.

Here's some of my tips for buying vintage furniture:

1. Size Matters: Before buying any piece of furniture make sure you measure the area where you plan to place it twice. Occasionally your good sense might become blinded by a beautiful piece of vintage furniture that looks great where it is but won't fit into your home.

2. Comfort Matters: No matter how beautiful a vintage piece of furniture is, you should also make sure you can fit into it or use it comfortably before purchasing anything. Returning furniture can be complicated and expensive unless you happen to own your own moving van. Sellers on Craigslist and eBay rarely take returns and many second-hand shops don't offer them either.

3. Bring Your Camera & Some Measuring Tape: Whenever you go shopping for home furniture make sure you bring a camera and don't be afraid to snap a few pictures of the items you're thinking about purchasing. You can use these photos for personal reference and if you don't purchase an item right away you'll have the photos to take home with you so you can make decisions later. Also make sure you measure any item twice that you intend to purchase before buying it. Even if you think you know the size of something after reading a description on Craigslist or talking to a seller, their own measurements could be wrong so it's better to take your own measurements so you won't have any regrets later on.

4. Reupholstering Can Be Expensive: Before you buy a vintage piece really take the time to consider if you can live with the condition it's in. If a chair or sofa needs to be reupholstered it can be an expensive process so make sure you consider those extra costs before buying an old piece that needs some work.

5. Delivery: If you don't own a vehicle that's large enough to haul your own furniture purchases and don't have a friend or family member that can help, you may have to rely on the seller or yourself to get your furniture purchases home. Make sure you ask about delivery costs before purchasing anything so you can factor that into the cost. If you have to take care of delivery yourself you should also research local rental places to find the best deals on car rentals or moving vans and trucks. Also make sure you have someone to help you move heavy items if the seller won't lend a hand.

I hope some of these tips are helpful. Most of them are just common sense suggestions that you've undoubtedly heard before but I figured I'd share them anyway since I have to remind myself of them all the time. My own common sense tends to disappear when I come across a beautiful vintage piece that I want for my own home. Before I measure anything or ask important questions I find myself pulling out my wallet, which has gotten me into trouble in the past. Hopefully someone can learn from my mistakes.