Express Yourself

Sorry for the short posts of late, but I've been super busy with house guests and birthdays. In other words, I've been having a little bit way too much fun... I do love summer! Anyway, I know I'm behind the curve here, but I am completely obsessed with Mad Men. If you haven't seen it yet, well, watch it not only for the great acting and story lines, but also for the AMAZING set decor. It takes place at an advertising agency in 1960, so all the furniture is sleek Knoll and Herman Miller, Saarinen tulip chairs and Stiffel lamps, walls are covered in walnut paneling and grasscloth, all with punches of lime and red to lend character to the neutral furnishings. This isn't the best picture, but I think you can see what I mean:

The paintings in particular caught my eye, mostly because I am searching for the perfect something to fill a blank space on my wall. I never thought I'd say this, but I think I want an abstract expressionist painting for the wall behind my sofa... I really hope my old art profs are covering their eyes, because matching art to your furniture is so very naughty.

Nevertheless, Ebay tempts me to decorate away with their wide selection of vintage abstract paintings:

Clockwise from top left: J. Van de Bogert, Nicola Naimo, Andre J. Grill, W. Nolte.

Although I had to hunt through pages and pages of paintings that said they were abstract but weren't (hello, people, a painting of driftwood and flowers is representational), I did manage to find quite a few gems. Of the paintings above, I really think the black and white is the best of the bunch, followed by the one with the white background.

Here are some more goodies by Bela de Kristo and I. Zevon:

I think lefty is more versatile, but with the right wall color that purple background could look fantastic. Really, though, I like both of these, but with starting bids at $450 they're too too rich for my poor poor blood.

These paintings by Martin Pearce and an unknown artist have earthy undertones that would work well against a pale aqua wall... which I no longer have.

I'm considering this 50's painting by Josef Jose but it's so hard to tell what the colors will read as in real life, and I suppose this is part of the danger of decorating with art. If you buy something because it's amazing and it speaks to you, then you'll always find a place for it. If you buy a piece to coordinate with something, then you run the same risks of color trauma that you do with ordinary fabrics, rugs and patterns.

Hey painting, if you want to live with me you better start talking.

End Table Remix

Ah, the sweet beat of BAR-GAIN, SA-VINGS, DIS-COUNT -- yes those words are music to my (admittedly tone deaf) ears. Call me DJ Tightwad. Hence the glamor of 1stDibs and all of its amazing tables, rhapsodized about in my last post, is a little marred by its very extravagance. So, for all you fellow cheapskates out there, I present a day of Dibsian diamonds at cubic zirconian prices, so you can keep your bling and not go blung. Diagram 1:

People, I made graphics to illustrate the awesomeness of bargain shopping. I even did some math and stuff so I could compare apples to apples for you, my dearest readers. So it's easy to see that $350 for a pair of tables from CB2 is, oh, I don't know, a slightly better deal than $3500 for almost the exact same ones from 1stDibs. Let's calculate, shall we?

Budget Check: $3500 - $350 = $3150 worth of white V-neck American Apparel tee shirts for every day (and club-filled night) of the year. Those things are expensive, right?

Diagram 2:

Now Edward Wormley was an awesome designer and those tables are no doubt solid rosewood, but I'd be perfectly happy with these classic knockoffs tables at Home Decorators which are inspired by the originals, and are oh so sensibly priced. But if you're a true tightwad, you'll go for the stunningly cheap version from Ikea for only $12.99. It even comes in red.

Budget Check: $4000 - $280 = $3720 worth of spinner rims for your fly Toyota Prius.

Diagram 3:

Warren Platner is one of my all-time favorite designers, but until someone starts paying me to write for this blog, I'll have to stick to the similarly awesome Tornado tables from CB2, which were pretty inexpensive to begin with, but now that they're on sale they are downright thriftacular! I almost feel like it's my duty to buy them, like I must for the good of bargain hunters everywhere, but I will admit that I'd spend a few extra dollars on oversized glass tops to give these babies some extra presence.

Budget Check: $3400 - $160 = $3240 worth of Stunna Shades. I wear my sunglasses at night.

Diagram 4:

The Deal Hunter blogged about tubular steel tables some time ago, and while I'm not totally convinced on their awesomeness, Overstock really does a great job of magnetically attracting my credit card number with their low prices, spectacularly FREE shipping (there's always a coupon online to knock the nominal $2.95 charge off your total), and rockin' customer service. No, this is not an infomercial, I really do heart Overstock. Too much.

Budget Check: $1800 - $130 = $1670 worth of high top neon Nike Dunks. If only Overstock sold those, too.

Diagram 5:

The ubiquitous Saarinen tables, featured in just about every contemporary decor magazine. Actually they're feeling pretty overused, but hey, I've got one (not an original!), so who am I to prevent you from getting one, too? Here's how to get your own: Pier One. Fo' realz. Spray paint that baby white and you're good to go. Of course there are so many different versions out there; CB2 sells one for even less, but I don't care for the legs on that one. Whatever -- you can cruise their site and decide for yourself.

Budget Check: $1100 - $129 = $971 worth of Kanye West itunes. Disseminate Stronger to the entire world, yo!

Diagram 6:

Ok, to get the original tables' look, this requires a little DIY action, but stay with me... you can do it! So the 1stDibs tables have marble tops and the lovely but plain West Elm versions do not. Why not grout and tile the tops of the less expensive versions? A mosaic would be interesting. Or you could wedge a cool piece of artwork -- like an abstract mod screenprint -- between a piece of glass and the tabletop. Can you dig it?

Budget Check: $2200 - $320 = $1880 worth of subwoofers. Try not to blow the glass off your new tables!

Diagram A Million:

Yeah, this one might take some vision, but I'm sure you can see the very large "FOURTEEN THOUSAND" in the picture above. Who are these people kidding? Driftwood, pine cones, seashells and white paint? Check, check, check and check, thanks in large part to Twiggie.org. After you finish your handiwork, you can laugh all the way to the bank.

Budget Check: $14,000 - $400 = enough to throw your friends a huge party, and maybe enough to book Prince as the headliner. Isn't fiscal responsibility fun?

I Call Dibs!

I have a confession to make... last night I started working on a totally different post but got a tiny bit sidetracked by 1stDibs, and after ogling 29 pages (no hyperbole necessary) of end tables, somewhere around midnight my glassy bloodshot eyes and I realized that a state of feverish, red alert addiction had come upon us me. Great, like I don't have enough vices already (I'm talking to you, Craigslist!). Well, now I am also hooked on insanely expensive, completely unattainable vintage furniture. But, wait... just a little taste won't hurt, right?

(All photos in today's post are courtesy of 1stDibs)

What's that? You didn't realize until this very moment that you want some Moroccan spice in your life and Harvey Probber is just the man to give it to you? That trapezoids are FRESH and AWESWOME! That a gorgeously patinated two-tiered brass table by LaVerne is what you've been yearning for? That you NEED those 30's goatskin concave tables, because they are JUST like the ones Karl Lagerfeld used to decorate his apartment???

Yeah, I told you so. Oh, but people, this is just the teeny tip of the iceberg. Read on.

How about some wee triangles for a scaled down space, or some snaky black 70's resin for a little disco decadence? Maybe parchment and wrought iron gets you off, and you know you feel an urgent need to get a little French Maison Bagues Foux da fa fa, don't you?

YES! YES! YES!!!

Uh, excuse me. Moving on. Yes, there's still more, because 1stDibs defies all expectations. I swear even Target has fewer items for sale -- it just keeps going and going, page after glorious page, and once you start looking, you can't just stop. Friends, no one likes a quitter. It was exceedingly difficult to whittle down all of their amazing end tables to just a handful of personal favorites, but for you I set my teeth and did the deed.

Ok, so that's an handful... there's still another hand left, but what do you think? Those are some sexy red industrial tables, aren't they? What about the very urbane Milo Baughman zig zag tables? Or who knew that yellow lacquer could make such a statement? (I am stealing that idea, for sure!) And does the $6,800 price tag on that pair of brass wedge-shaped Tommi Parzinger tables make me want them even more?

I think it does. I feel so dirty, but I can't stop now.

Hey there, hot little red drum tables with brass bottoms! That orangey red is my color crush of the moment... it really does go with everything. And those white tulip/box tables designed by architect Paul Williams are from Beverly Hills circa 1950 -- so glam, but not fussy. No fussy for me. Chesty end tables are always a practical option for all the junk you can put in the trunk, but both of those pairs get a shot of major moxie from their shiny surfaces. The vintage Sarreid brass pieces are among my most drooled over furniture finds; I just love brass studs!

Ok, two more favorite favorites... can you see how this has become a problem for me?

So, yes, those are two big golden balls, but they are SPECTACULAR! I just know DH can duplicate them for me with his new manly table saw...

Ok, this is my other top choice. What do you think??? Half as sexy but twice as chic? I think a little industrial edge would go a long way towards alleviating the bad case of Grandma Regency I've contracted through excessive thrift store shopping. Actually, it might take more than just an end table or two to counteract GR's ill effects...

If you need me tonight, you know where I'll be.