lots of palm trees, no dressers.
Back in Portland, midcentury furniture is everywhere. Because the vintage stores – unlike Los Angeles – are not only cheap by comparison, but they’re also stocked full of designer wares. A guy I once dated found his wooden midcentury dresser at Goodwill. Goodwill! Jealous. Any design snob (which he kind of was, being a graphic designer whose idol was Charles Eames) would gladly drop a good sum of money for a piece like his.
But okay, my choices are not as versatile, and neither is my budget, so unless some person with design sense is moving to another city in a jiffy and magically decides to sell their antique dresser for cheap, I’ll have to make do with whatever the big box stores are currently offering.
Now that I’ve moved to Palm Springs – which is like vintage midcentury Portland meets modern glam – I’ve felt an urge to splurge on some nice, non-Ikea furniture. I’m envisioning an uptown glam version of Mad Men 1950s, 1960s style. The problem for me is that because midcentury pieces here are high in demand, the prices are also inflated. And I’ve checked the local Goodwills. Nothing there.
And my pickings, at the moment, are slim even for an adjusted budget. West Elm has a white midcentury dresser that comes in all-white or white with wooden trim. Crate & Barrel has a dark wooden six-drawer dresser. Both furniture stores made matching bedroom set pieces to go along with the dresser. Midcentury Modern Finds sells antique pieces for premium prices, though their website has some truly unique midcentury items, such as this gorgeous $4,800 Danish sideboard.
My grandparents never thought that their furniture would one day become highly coveted, iconic antiques. Wish they kept at least one for me!
Have a reliable furniture website or store for midcentury modern pieces? Let me know.
