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

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.

Vintage Finds In Napa

Apologies for the lack of updates lately but I'm afraid that progress on our new home is extremely slow going due to work and other obligations. We've also discovered that it takes three times longer to complete any project we start (we're currently working on my office) due to all the problems you come across while restoring an older home. It's been an interesting learning experience and we've had to face the fact that it will be a long time before we can call our new house a home.

We still can't cook in our kitchen but we have a toaster oven and the house came with a microwave that I'm reluctantly learning to use. I've never owned a microwave before and I never wanted one but it has come in handy lately. Trader Joe's makes some decent microwave food but I'm getting tired of their microwave pastas, soba noodles and pad thai.

For fun we've been trying to get out of the house for a few hours on the weekends and explore Napa's second-hand shops and thrift stores. One of the best shops in Napa is undoubtedly Alice’s Consignment shop and this weekend the large parking lot behind Alice’s Consignment shop was turned into the Downtown Napa Antique & Vintage Flea Market. It was a small but interesting gathering of eclectic sellers and buyers. One of my favorite sellers was Rosey's Little Things. I bought a Melmac serving dish from her and some lovely jewelry. The Downtown Napa Antique & Vintage Flea Market is going to become a monthly event during the summer and fall months and I'm looking forward to it! The next one is scheduled to take place on June 26th and you can find more information here.

Here's a few pictures of some of the vintage goodies we've picked up for our home in the last few months.



Original painting of San Francisco's Chinatown painted in the late '60s or early '70s by an unknown artist named KING. I'm trying to find out more information about KING so if you happen to know anything please drop me a note!



Melmac serving dish and cups with saucers.



Asian influenced and slightly kitschy vintage wall hangings.



Large vintage Pyrex bowl (Square Flowers / Verde)