DOPE

How much fun was last night's Simpsons (ep #501 !!?!?) ... not that we would ever condone illegal street-art, but we definitely enjoyed El Barto's handiwork ...

Art imitating life imitating art imitating life ....

oh, Bruno ...

After a year or so of enjoying the company of our Bruno Mathsson Pernilla chair (as anticipated on the blog a while back), we thought it was high time she had some company.  About a year ago we got a rare example of the Pernilla 3-seater sofa ... and it has only taken us 12 months to source the screws needed to assemble it.

Is it the craziest sofa you've ever seen?  Seats 3 in amazing comfort (but not so great to lie down across - think Bruno designed a day-bed for that purpose).  Just steamed birch and cotton canvas, good old Swedish sparrtan post-war design and manufacture.  Anyway - we love it, and won't be leaving it outside.

Just need to find some suitable fabric to make some new headrests now ... keep you posted.

such sweet sorrow, again.

As usual we face the toughest aspect of dealing in vintage furniture - parting with things we love.  Our policy has always been to only stock things we want to keep, but it does make it tough.

This time it's a pair of sofas and matching tiered coffee table by Peter Hvidt and Orla Mølgaard Nielsen.  We have had this set stashed away for almost a year now, just totally unable to share it with the world.  The big danger, of course, has always been that somebody would want to buy them - then we wouldn't have them any more - what a bind!

Worst of all, the upholstery is the perfect colour for our place.  Seems like the more we spend on acquiring a piece, the less inclined we are to let it go ... perhaps we were born to be collectors rather than dealers ... if only we had unlimited funds and a similarly sized place.

We had another Hvidt sofa in-store about 2 years ago - we were happy to learn that it's buyer has since started collecting his designs to keep it company!

Anyway - fantastic and beautiful 'Minerva' lounge suite circa 1957 is listed on our website, and available for purchase - unless we change our minds!

POV

While we're surfing ...

It might be mostly a promotion of their furniture products, but iconic American makers Herman Miller have a great little architecture showcase on their site - it's called 'Points of View', and has some inspirational images (furnished, as expected, by some of the Miller stable's stars - Eames, Nelson, Noguchi et al.).

We are pretty taken by the prefab homes of Marmol-Radziner achitects ...

Take a peek ... and start thinking about that block of land in the desert you were thinking about building on.

coast modern

Came across this site the other day, promoting a new film being made about modernist architectural practice up the West coast of Nth America.  Coast Modern looks like a fantastic and enthusiastic examination of a great time for design ... one which the world is re-embracing now.

Their blog is well worth a visit for some great stills and info, and from the film's trailer it looks like it will be a beaut too ...


Coast Modern Trailer from Coast Modern on Vimeo.


From their 'about' page:
Filmmakers Michael Bernard and Gavin Froome will take us on a journey from Los Angeles to Vancouver; from 1922 up to the present exploring modernist architecture on the West Coast.

Not sure when we'll see the production completed and released, but can't wait.

temptations ...

We are kind of half-heartedly looking around for a car, but it's nigh-impossible to find something that's lovable, practical, and affordable ... maybe it's time to start aiming for 1.5 out of 3?

Remember Patty and Selma's funky Kübelwagen?

Well, there's a mighty close approximation for sale on Trading Post at the moment (minus the MANH8TR number-plates, of course) ... what do you think?

Not great cargo-carrying capacity, and perhaps not ideal roofage for winter, but we'd wear overcoats and scarves, and maybe that would be enough.

restoration files ... papercord ...

Well hi, been a few weeks since we've passed on any news ... you know, summer, all that.

So over the last few weeks we've been pondering a new take on restoring Fler 64 dining chairs (a favorite we have collected a bunch of - usually we re-web and reupholster, but ... meh ...).  Having seen and admired so many Moller chairs, we thought it was time to try our hand at weaving Danish paper-cord - and the structure of the Flers is pretty right for the task.

This is what we did today ...

 
Our buddy Steve (one of eBay's best stores for retro homewares, rocket2retro - check it out!) long-ago found us a rare footstool from the 64 series, which was the perfect candidate for our first try ... we ordered a big box of paper (yes, paper) cord from a supplier in the northern hemisphere, and here we go!

If you're interested, we've documented the process - just finished today!

So here's the 'before' - such nice shapes, eh?  First step was to strip the stool and remedy some very dodgy restorations from the previous owners (bless 'em).

Since the cording is a big job, we thought it best to dismantle and re-glue the frame too.  And we really can't do the job with those corner-blocks in there, so the frame needs to be as stable as possible ...

We gave the rails a good sanding too - don't want any rough edges or snags where the paper-cord is going.  Next job is pre-drilling and tacking in the L-nails that hold the cord (88 in total - crikey!).

Now, there are several ways of doing the weave - I have read that the masters at J.L.Moller do the whole job with a single strand ... I went with a 3-step technique - first wrapping the front and back rails, with caps for the warp strands ... which took 24 meters of cord!

Then a single piece doing all of the front-to-back runs - 4 strands at each side, with pairs for the rest ... all the wisdom we found on this part suggests it's about 'feel' - not too tight, but not too slack ... so far so good ...

Then it kind of got exciting - the stool is looking OK, but the third step takes the most work, and loads and loads of cord ...

This stage was kind of tricky - everyone who walked past the shop wanted to chat about what was being done, and it's pretty important not to forget what you're up to ... or loose tension in the cord ... or cut yourself on those nails underneath ... let's say I was about 50% successful in all of the above.
But after an hour or two of weaving away, with the cording getting tougher and tighter the further things progressed, there was no room for more weaves, and it was time to knock those nails in properly.

And there you go - job done!  It looks really good, feels great ... very satisfying.

So ... we do have 8 Fler 64 dining chairs tucked away in the warehouse - if you're looking for something special (and definitely unique), email us and we can talk!

are you game?

Tetris is certainly the all-time classic 'think quick' hand-eye video game.  And if you've ever been around when we are loading the van with fresh stock for the shop, you will have seen it's practicality as training for real-life situations ...

But have you tried 'first person tetris'?  An amazing javascript variation which makes it a whole new ballgame (block game?). 
Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger?  This one just makes us dizzy!

ancient modern

Dunno how we haven't come across these before - about the most beautiful bottle opener in the world ... Nambu Tekki crows.

Nambu cast iron dates from mid 17th century Japan. Originally the technique was used to create ceremonial iron teapots, but is now a well established craft, with the black color the result of a rust resistant urushi glaze.

Can't find them for sale here (again!) - but love them enough to be considering an online purchase, if it comes to that.  They sell 'em at Mjölk ... hmmmmm.

vintage home office

Sadly they don't ship to Australia, but US retailer Restoration Hardware have come out with some really nice looking vintage themed leather office furniture we really like ...

Or for the traveller - perfect for that 10-week steamer trip to Europe ...

And to accessorize -

Good, old-fashioned, hand-tooled leather fun.