Knoll Classics Sale: Come Get Your Favorite Mid-Century Modern Designs!
Check out our great window display for the Knoll Classics Sale (Monday, February 27th – Sunday, March 4th).
We’ve filled it full of fantastic pieces from Harry Bertoia. Including the… Read more
Investing in Mid-Century Modern
There was a time when investors actively sought out fine French furniture and collected it as a form of investing. In the late 1990′s, the attention switched from gaudy French furniture to the sleek and cool stylings of mid-century masters like Ray and Charles Eames, Harry Bertoia and descendants of the European Bauhaus movement. This was mainly because of the internet boom that these years saw, but also because this boom increased the wealth of much-younger investors who wanted something more streamlined and less stuffy.
As an article from CNBC titled Sitting on a Small Fortune states, these people weren’t “interested in filling their Silicon Valley mansions with museum pieces; these inventors of the future wanted a look that that leaned forward.”
It raises a good point that people should take into consideration when buying pieces like an Eames Lounge Chair or a Saarinen Table and face sticker shock, you’re not just buying a chair or a table at that point. You are taking your hard-earned money and really investing it in something that has value and can even be passed down like a family heirloom. The key is to do your research and always make sure you’re buying an authorized and authentic product.
(By the way, if you are looking to do some “alternative investing” don’t forget that this is the last weekend of the Herman Miller Holiday Sale!)
The Knoll Sale: Inspiration
Frank Gehry Cross Check Chair
The Annual Knoll Space Sale started last Friday and the weekend kicked it off just right! If you didn’t have time to make it in Saturday or Sunday, don’t fret because it runs until the end of this coming weekend (the 2nd). To give you some inspiration, Knoll has this great website filled with images of classic Knoll pieces and beautifully designed spaces. Be warned, however, that you can get lost and lose track of time as there are a lot of pictures and they’re all equally interesting and beautiful.
Or as Knoll describes them:
“Classic. In the modern sense.
Modern. In the classic sense.”
Click here for the Knoll Space Inspiration website.
Eames Designs
Are you a fan of Charles and Ray Eames? Do you day dream of their furniture designs, architecture or even films? If your answer is “yes”, then you need to check out EamesDesigns.com! Described as a “A Virtual Encyclopedia of all things Eames”, EamesDesigns.com has loads of images, interviews, catalogs, portfolio work and even this fun feature called Eames Spotting.
Eames Wire Base Table
In Eames Spotting, you can view pictures of classic Eames pieces in movies, tv shows, tv commercials, print ads and magazines. For example, the Eames Wire Base Table shows up in this 2005 W Magazine shoot featuring Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt.
Photograph by Steven Klein
Even if you don’t know that much about the Eames’s past work, the site is easy to navigate and full of interesting information and media.
A Mid-Century Modern Color Palette
The folks over at Modern Capital posted a great link on their Facebook page today. Paint company California Paints have a feature on their website where they showcase various paint colors (both interior and exterior) according to time period in their 20th Century Colors of America.
If you head down to the 1940s to the 1960s you’ll find colors for, our favorite, mid-century modern!
Here’s what they had to say:
The post-World War II housing boom and the popularization of modern architecture brought bold colors in deep tones into popularity once again. Earth tones dominated exteriors, while interiors featured sophisticated, modulated neutral shades like bone, gray-beige, pearl gray, and taupe alongside saturated accents in fuchsia, teal, evergreen, charcoal, and chocolate with strong contrasts in chartreuse, tangerine, gold, and sulfur yellow.
Check out the colors below and some of the stories behind those individual colors.
Designer Spotlight: Chloethiel Woodard Smith
Chloethiel Woodard Smith (1910-1992)
Birthplace: Peoria, Illinois
Notable Works: Harbour Square (SW Washington), the National Airport Metro Station, the Waterview Townhouses (Reston, VA), and “Chloethiel’s Corner” (the corner of Connecticut Avenue & L St. NW)
Chloethiel Woodard Smith was an American architect and urban planner whose career was centered in Washington, D.C. She designed many commercial, government and residential projects are the metro area and was influential in proposing a national museum to celebrate buildings and architecture. That building became the Pension Building which was renovated and continues to house the National Building Museum today. By 1967, Smith ran the largest female-run architectural firm in the United States.
Emily Ehrens, a Design Clique reader and TTR Sotheby’s International Realtor, just recently informed us that an original Cloethiel Woodard Smith home is now on the market in Bethesda, MD.
For more images and information, read below!
Vastu Thanks You!
We just wanted to take a minute to thank you for shopping the Herman Miller sale last week. Even though this sale was offered by other retailers (both on and offline) we appreciate you supporting your local businesses by shopping at Vastu. Thank you for being loyal customers and Design Clique readers!
Here’s some great Herman Miller photos for your enjoyment!
Round Up: Vastu’s Herman Miller Favorites
We’re down to the last few days of the Herman Miller Sale here at Vastu and all this week, we’ve shared some of our favorite Herman Miller pieces. I think we can all agree that Herman Miller’s designers are all extremely talented and many of their designs will truly stand the test of time as stylish, iconic pieces.
To wrap up the week, here are Vastu’s Herman Miller Favorites:
From Ray, the Eames Aluminum Group chairs:
“Sleek, sophisticated, comfortable, instantly recognizable and absolutely timeless.”
From Eric, the Noguchi Table:
“…it is still considered a modern icon of design despite having been created over 60 years ago…”
From Sarita, the Eames Molded Plastic chair:
“You can create so many different looks, it’s wonderful!”
From Jason, the Nelson Basic Cabinet series:
“In urban interior design, I love when pieces are multi-functional.”
If you haven’t done so yet, stop by the showroom this weekend and say hi. We’d love to show you what we have from Herman Miller.
Vastu’s Herman Miller Favorites – The Eames Aluminum Group Chairs
Today’s Herman Miller Favorite is brought to you by Vastu designer, Ray Nguyen.
His pick is the Eames Aluminum Group chairs. What started out as a design challenge, the Aluminum Group chairs represented a departure from the concept of the chair as a solid shell when Charles and Ray Eames designed the chair with a cast aluminum frame that was meant to support a stretched synthetic mesh. Today, the chair can be upholstered with many choices of fabrics.
Here’s what Ray had to say:
“Sleek, sophisticated, comfortable, instantly recognizable and absolutely timeless. This iconic group of chairs by Charles and Ray Eames is utilized in commercial and residential applications all over the world. The broad range of upholstery materials and trim levels allows the chair to be customized to each interior. Gorgeous, supple leathers in several grades, technical, easy care meshes and contract quality fabrics are all available. This chair says “I am smart. I am successful. I am stylish.” And it does it for less than ten sessions with your shrink. Not bad for a chair designed in 1958.”
The Eames Aluminum Group chair comes in various office styles as well as a in a lounge and ottoman.
For more information on these pieces, or the Herman Miller sale going on at Vastu, give us a call or stop by the showroom!
Vastu’s Herman Miller Favorites – The Noguchi Table
Today’s Herman Miller Favorite comes from one of Vastu’s designers and co-owners, Eric Kole.
Eric’s favorite is the Noguchi Table. Designed in the 1940s, the Noguchi table is made up of a wooden base composed of two identical curved wood pieces, with a heavy plate glass top. In 1947, the Herman Miller catalog described the table as “sculpture-for-use”.
Here’s what Eric had to say about the coffee table:
“While I love the table for its beauty and simplicity, and the fact that it is still considered a modern icon of design despite having been created over 60 years ago, it’s my favorite because of the designer: landscape architect Isamu Noguchi. I have long admired his works, particularly the outdoor sculptures and meditative gardens.”
Black Sun (1969)
“Several of his designs, like the table, are instantly recognizable of course, however it is the breadth of his work that I find most impressive: he designed lighting, sculpture, furniture, indoor and outdoor gardens, portrait busts and even theatre sets and costumes. The Noguchi Museum is well-worth a quick subway ride to Long Island City on your next trip to NYC!”
News (1938-40)
For more information on the Noguchi Table, or the Herman Miller sale going on at Vastu, give us a call or stop by the showroom!
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