Show Us a Retro/Vintage Corner of Your Home

I read about the Show Us a Retro/Vintage Corner of Your Home link party via Dana over at Mid2Mod. It’s being hosted by Donna at Hung Up On Retro and Kylie at Lucy Violet Vintage, two Australian vintage bloggers.

And though regular readers will have seen this corner recently (it was one of the subjects of today’s post), that little snapshot doesn’t provide a comprehensive view for new readers.

So welcome to my favorite little vintage corner, with some additional details about each of the pieces in it. There’s a lot going on here, which makes it fun. This corner is also a pretty good representation of my journey as vintage modern collector over the years since it contains both my oldest and newest vintage pieces!
Starting at the left, there is a vintage Emeco Navy Chair purchased several years ago from Circa Antiques in York, Pennsylvania. If you’re ever in their neighborhood, it’s worth a phone call to see what they’re up to. Seriously some of the nicest dealers I’ve ever met–they pulled four chairs especially for me when I mentioned I needed dining chairs as a newlywed and wanted a few big name pieces for my collection. They met me at the Modernism Show that the Art Deco Society of Washington hosts every year with their picks and each one was so perfect that I bought all four. Great eye, great talent, great dealers. 
Immediately to the chair’s right is a small desk I acquired via Craigslist from a DWR employee who was upgrading from his 1970s Dixie Furniture to something fancy from his employer. This desk has been an entryway table, a buffet, a dog crate disguiser and, finally, a desk, though it has been years since I used it that way.
Ignoring the art for a moment, the Marshall Martz lamp was a recent Goodwill find. It’s sitting on an end table made by my husband’s grandfather and the waterfall scene was painted by his grandmother. All the way to the right is a Broyhill Saga sideboard that has been used as an entertainment center, a dresser and a catch-all storage piece over the last three homes I’ve lived in. I bought it at the DC Big Flea around 2008.
As for the art, I did a full post on that here quite recently since all of it is relatively new and came from local thrift stores. I recently added a printable of my own design and an estate sale find (both shown in the above photo, but not in the other two, which were taken a few weeks ago). 
There are several other vintage pieces pictured: a Gorham wine coaster, a Seth Thomas clock, a set of Hollywood Regency brass elephant bookends, a 1960s globe. Everything has a story.
Is there anything else here that particularly catches your eye?
This is a post from Pies and Puggles. Republishing this article in full or in part is a violation of copyright law. And it isn’t nice. © 2010-2013, all rights reserved.

0 thoughts on “Show Us a Retro/Vintage Corner of Your Home

  1. Hi there!! Fabulous corner of your home!!! I really like how you have filled the wall up with prints, art, the clock etc. I for whatever reason are afraid to fill up my walls. I think after gaining some inspiration from todays link, I'll take the leap and start filling up my wall spaces abit more. Your goodwill lamp and clock are awesome. Thank you so much for joining in today – much appreciated!

  2. I can't take my eyes off your gorgeous lamp! The orange shade is the perfect color for it. Thanks so much for sharing your home and your lovely vintage pieces.

  3. Thanks for hosting! I love your blog and Lucy's too. The wall occurred as a bit of an accident. I thought it would be temporary–I just needed to take pictures of the art for my Etsy store. Then I LOVED it and none of the art ended up being for sale. A happy accident, I'd say!

  4. It was quite a find. I actually made a little EEP noise when I saw it. It's almost four feet tall! The Goodwill employees couldn't understand why anyone would want it and several customers commented on my "ugly" lamp! No accounting for taste really. The shade I believe is original as early Marshall Studios shades were parchment. There's a great Marshall Studios collector site that I'm sure you're aware of, but others might not be: http://www.marshallstudios.net/MS/Marshall_Studios.html.

  5. Thanks for your comment! That corner does have a lovely warm feel to it, doesn't it? It's definitely my favorite place in the house. I think it will also lend direction to how we proceed with the rest of our decorating.

  6. Thanks so much! I'm quite lucky living where I do. The Washington DC area has a very transient population and little love for mid century modern and I find wonderful things quite often. It wasn't so easy when I lived in California!

  7. Hi Alison (I'm Kylie, not Lucy, but that's ok. Lucy Violet was my husband's Grandmother who died just short of her hundreth birthday. I named my blog after her because she was a fiesty old lady and I like that in a person) Anyway I digress. Firstly thanks so much for joining in our linky. Your vintage corner is awesome. I've got a bit of a 'thing' for lovely lamps like yours. It reminds me of a light house (a very stylish one!) and I like your clock too. I also like the way you've used your furniture in different ways over the years, that's another good thing about vintage stuff – its versatility. I will read your art post in the next couple of days – I'm intrigued by that skinny Elvis-like pic at the top. Cheerio, x

  8. Hi Kylie! Sorry about the mix-up. It was a bit late last night when I posted! I've fixed it now.

    Please do take a look at the art post. If you like my green woman, let me know and I'll put her in a box and send her down! My husband is on board with my crazy wall, but he calls her the vampire woman! I paid $6US so for that plus shipping, she could be yours!

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