MCM Facebook This Week – August 19th, 2015

Alison Alexander has been a member of the MCM Facebook page for a few years now and she has posted several photos of her collection – all of it beautiful classics. Her father, Ross Stahle, was an architect working in Melbourne, Australia who had a love for all things modern including furniture. Alison inherited some wonderful pieces, much of it Knoll, and it is great that these classics stayed in the family. It also speaks to the timelessness of good design in that Alison’s father felt no need to ‘update’ his furnishings. When you get it right you don’t need to change. I also think that good taste must run in Alison’s family as she got this chair, designed by a giant of Australian modernism Grant Featherston, from her grandmother and shown here in a lovely room that makes me want to see more of the home! Alison runs a group about the architectural firm started by her father and you can check that out here. Thank you for sharing Alison – always enjoy your posts. Click here for the original post.

What a fabulously colorful room! I’ve said it before but I admire anyone who is unafraid of color. The incandescent red ‘Living Tower’ designed by Verner Panton, a mercurial yellow Arne Jacobsen ‘Egg’ chair and stool, and bright pops of color here and there makes this the room of someone who has no time for beige. What seals it for me though is the very traditional carpet runner in the lower right of the photo. This pervasive need for soft décor to be grey and beige seems to be a recent phenom in the history of furniture / interior design. In the past few decades there has been a veritable paucity of patterns and colors so it’s nice to see folks embracing a bit of the bold. That, and the fact that this room is just filled with great items, nicely balanced with the touches of natural wood. Thanks for sharing Adam. Click here for the original post.

Ah the things that are hiding in the garage. Diane Murphy posted this ‘Scandia’ chair, designed by Hans Brattrud in 1957. Knowing little about it she shared this photo after she saw a post by Louie Rosado about the ‘Scandia’ and became aware she had a very nice design item that was also worth some money. But not only is it valuable, it is also a classic and beautiful piece of Scandinavian Modern. I get ribbed sometimes for posting items that may be ‘lovely’ but priced well beyond the means of most folks. True, I do post some expensive examples of Mid Century Modern design and if someone has the means to buy it from a dealer or auction house then good for them. But what I really hope is that people discover things in the group and then find them ‘in the wild’ for a great price. Or in their garage as in Diane’s case. The MCM Facebook group can stray from its educational mandate sometimes (and sometimes often) but it is always great to see people picking up a bit of info that turns a piece of garage junk into beautiful piece of Modernism. Lovely chair Diane and thanks for sharing. Click here for the original post.

Kimberly Smith posted what I think is the deal of the week with these three pendant lights designed by Poul Henningsen for Louis Poulsen of Denmark in the 1950’s. She found two model PH 5/5 pendants and a model PH 6 ½ and they are timeless Scandinavian classics. The Poulsen lighting has never gone out of style, with several models designed in the 1940’s and 1950’s staying in continual production since their introduction. People always want these and it’s really among the things that one should be collecting as they can suit almost any design décor. So while your taste may change lighting like this will always work. Being popular also means being a bit expensive and Kimberly had to shell out $200 for these three lights. Not bad considering recent auction prices puts these lamps at 10,000 to 12,000 dollars in value. Those little copper PH 5/5 sell for 5000 each. Incredible find Kimberly. Click here for the original post.

What a great image. Sometimes a member will post a photo of their home that makes you want to see more and this photo posted by Paul Goldberg of his home does just that. Being a fan of this late 60’s style I can say it’s not always easy to use pieces like these when trying to make a room look inviting and comfortable. But nicely paired with some colorful pop art and well-matched fixtures (the green lamp is perfect here) and a very comfortable Elda Chair by Joe Colombo and the mise en scène is complete with the result being a room that is inviting, fun, and nicely done. The bar table by Busnelli and the lamp by Carlo Nason are also very nice touches. I do enjoy mixing periods of Modernism but in this case sticking to the mid to late 60’s makes this a great looking room. Thanks for sharing Paul! Click here for the original post.

I’ve known about Catherine Bujold even before Facebook when a mutual friend pointed me to her blog. My jaw dropped when I saw her collection and how she modified her apartment into her own private Moonbase Alpha. Inspired by the early 1970’s television show Space: 1999 Catherine took to converting and decorating her home in the pieces that were used as set decoration of the cult classic sci-fi show. It may sound a tad zany but the reality is she has amassed a collection of pieces from important designers of the era that I couldn’t even guess the value of. Shown here in just one small corner of her home we have a Joe Colombo ‘Elda’ chair, a pair of ‘Toga’ chairs designed by Sergio Mazza, a Nanna Ditzel bar stool, a ‘Sorella lamp by Guzzini, and on and on. Catherine is the one collector I’m truly envious of and wish she would post more photos of her home and collection! Thank you for sharing Catherine. Click here for the original post.

I know the MCM Facebook group is not a car group but come on! This is my personal favorite post this past week. Gina Dagastino shared this wonderful post with the group and we learned a couple of things. First of all I would have loved to hang out with her in high school. In high school Gina owned two Cadillacs and one of them was a hearse so it sounds like Gina was pretty badass! A few years on Gina was in the process of having her beloved 1959 Cadillac restored but had to sell due to limited storage space. The second thing we learned about Gina is that she has a wonderfully thoughtful husband as he bought her this mint 1959 series 62 Cadillac in glorious pink. I like this post so much not just because of the car but reading the story behind just gives me all kinds of warm feels. Thank you for sharing Gina! Click here for the original post.

This is like a ray of sunshine! Stewart Munnerlyn posted this recently reupholstered sofa with a wonderful patterned fabric. I’ve said this may times that people often ‘neuter’ classic pieces of furniture with new upholstery by choosing muted and earthy tones. And quite often this works very well. Some say that a neutral fabric emphasizes the lines of a sofa, for instance, whereas a pattern or bolder color would only serve to distract from it. Valid point but a sofa is, more often than not, going to be the biggest thing in the room and it’s going to be the first thing most people notice so why not make a statement with it? One does not need to go garish to go bold as Stewart’s sofa, in this deco-ish print, demonstrates. This was one of the most ‘liked’ posts this week and I think a lot of people might feel the same way as I do. Fantastic job Steven and thank you for sharing! Click here for the original post.

Such a wonderful image! Peter Lopez posted this photo of his collection of ceramic bulls designed by Aldo Londi for Bitossi and it speaks volumes to the mindset of a collector. You have six already but you don’t have that yellow one – admit it, we’ve all been there! It can be difficult to show off our collections. The general rule of thumb is to choose a few good examples and place them in a neat fashion on a shelf or surface. It’s not a bad idea and it works. Here though, what Peter has done is actually against the ‘rules’ of design. Lining the bulls up in a way that occupies the entire surface of the sideboard would not normally be the first choice for displaying them but you know what? It works wonderfully here. The stance of the Bulls lined up in this fashion makes them look as if they’re defending the furniture. It’s a fun tableau that also picks up beautifully the other colors in the room, particularly the painting. What really caps it off though is the dog legs poking out from underneath. I get the feeling this is a relaxed and happy home. Thank you for sharing Peter! Click here for the original post.

A great save by Mandie Fowkes McMurdie with this small chest of drawers. Painted furniture posts in the group are such a source of discussion and outright arguments. They say you should never discuss religion or politics and I’m going to add painted furniture to that. Given people’s feelings on the subject it was not surprising that this post would be one of the most ‘liked’ this past week. Personally I’m indifferent to painting furniture. Sometimes a piece of furniture looks good well painted, other times not so much. This is a case of the latter as painted black as it was when Mandie found it was not doing the chest any favors. So, some paint stripper and some new hardware coupled with some effort the result is a piece that looks absolutely wonderful. And for 30 dollars it’s a quality piece that will las forever. Very nice work on this one, Mandie. Thanks for saving it and sharing it with the group! Click here for the original post.