OMG
Me too!!
I'm about to propose to Olive, even though I'm gay!!
Seriously, bring design-conscious is a curse and a blessing
Holidays can be difficult.bad scenery is such a downer... and other people's houses..
wouldn't life be SO much simpler if one didn't care ?
Not about to change though 😉
Uncanny
I think its funny that there is this uncanny similarity in the modes of thinking. When reading WSpike and Olive talk about clothing my mind was inventorying my closet - only two tshirts with any sort of image on them: one designed by a close friend, and one with a RedSox logo (duh). Reading James' subsequent post I was identifying with that as well - I just acquired an LTR, its perfect.
When I moved it was a good chance to curate, altho I didnt lose nearly as much baggage as I would have liked. But every single thing I left on the sidewalk in the morning was gone when I got home from work - it was exhilirating and I was able to simplify a lot of aspects of my living.
Now when I acquire something it has to be a)well made, and b)somewhat necessary for living. For example: I've realized that in my bedroom I have no clock other than my little alarm clock, which is dim and hard to read from anywhere in the room other than bed. I've been obsessing, James style, about what to put in - something easy to read without my contacts in, something of the aesthetic of MCM, and something well made. Nelson Sunburst, of course 🙂
On the other hand a friend offered me a black LCW...but I've really got no space, so I turned it down. A difficult (yet again exhilirating) experience.
A quick response
Also, a quick response to Whitespikes note about object design translating into politics et. al.
I couldnt quite tell if your response was tongue in cheek or serious. Either way I think either end of politics you fall on tend to have the same goal - making things better. For what reasons and in what manner tend to be the sticking points. In that sense there is an analogy to design in that you are establishing problems to solve, constraints in which to work, and a methodology that reflects those problems and those constraints. The same process can be applied equally to cooking as to environmentalism, albeit with varying degrees of complexity and consensus.
And make no mistake - my traditionally conservative boyfriend keeps my lefty idealism grounded in centrist reality. 😀
LuciferSum
My earlier writings were both serious and tounge in cheek. I was basically making a stab at myself and the majority of the design-conscious. I just think it's funny how an interest in design can cultivate such similarities among people who might be completely uncommon to each other otherwise.
As for the LCW - I hear you - I prefer natural colors myself. For that matter, I got rid of my one and only LCW. It is not the chair for me, albeit beautimus.
I don't know where I fit in.....
I have some compulsions, but heck, I'm also extremely lazy.
When I want to rearrange a room, I sit down and look at all of the possibilities first, rather than do anything about it. Only then, if I think I can improve it, I go ahead and do it. I'm especially talented at putting off stuff.
As far design goes, I got interested when I lived in NYC and my best friend was still alive. HE was the specialist in mid-century modern-au-go-go.
When he died, I got a few of his things including the basic Nelson Comprehsive Storage System I have now added to.
When my Dad died a couple of years ago, I finally enough money to start accumulating some decent furnishings.
So I bought a much bigger house and have been carefully selecting furniture. I have been extremely lucky to find certain key pieces - like a Saarinen Grasshopper chair and ottoman (which had to be recovered and repaired), a pair of Nelson end tables, a Nelson coffee table, etc.
I stumbled onto the Aalto Zebra 400 tank chair, which I was not in the market for, but I got it for less than half of the going selling price and it was a display item!
I also luckily found 4 of the EC-127 Eames metal based upholstered dinings chair (in a cool blue hopsack) and a grey plastic backing. I also stumbled on an Eames dining table with the same color grey formica and edging! They look like they were made for each other.
Another great find was a complete service for 8 of the Max Schoenfeld "El Verde" ironware (that was sold in Grocery stores back in the early 1970's)! They go real nice on my Eames dining room table.
I also stumbled on 2 72" 'new' Nelson benches, from Home Office Designs that were 'as is' for only $125.00 each. Brand new benches at that price were really cool, but again, I wasn't really looking for 'em.
I do believe that nice things look good together, even if you didn't plan it that way.
So, I'm compulsive about making a nice living room and dining room, but I have yet to find a sofa.
So, I guess I'm twisted, only partly so!
i hear you all
We all seem to be a like one way or the other
we all like the cool furniture and want it , I sure as hell do I feel some times i cannot stop, My wife she is wife number 2 and we have been married for 6 years lets me do what ever i want in this house as long as she gets to pick the color a trade off, since she really goes for the wild colors, but each and every one of you readers from all over would really have to see my house to get the full picture The first thing you would say this is unreal, the second you would say yep this one is big time OCD he has it bad....
but look folks we know it, at least we talk about it, no one in the closet here, with OCD tendency.
but, I knew a guy in law school that was a big time sex addict and then in later years we became Saturday golfing buddies and he was still a sex addict, I said to him why don't you get some help
for that addiction, he said NOPE not interested! I like being a sex addict,
I guess there are some addictions that some people might like, but g-d help you if you are drug or alcohol addict cause nothing ever comes out good from that.
What a great thread!
I guess there is something to be said about a 'Design Addiction'. We're all expressing at least some of the same 'symptoms'! Very amusing to think about.
One thing I am not now sharing with the rest of you is the buying of more things. No matter how lovely I think they are and how much I covet them, I am not buying anything right now. Hubby and I are planning a move to New Mexico in 2010. I will only be able to take about 50% of what I currently have with me. And that means furniture, clothes, cooking gear, art...everything!
I am deeply into my process of deciding on the keepers. It's actually rather liberating. I have been keeping a tally of what I want to keep and what I definitely want to let go. Since we've pretty much decided on the design of the new house I can imagine the interiors and decide what will work. It's tempting to want to get rid of it all and start over, but I'm finding it far more interesting to quiz myself on what is going with us and why.
I'm finding that I am torn between functionalism and beauty. I am delighted when I reach a decision that combines both feelings; the Saarinen Womb Chair, my Laioule corkscrew. And I'm torn when I can only justify one aspect. My Nelson bench is my most favorite piece, but it is not an essentially functional one. It's so lovely but it's an uncomfortable seat and an less than optimal coffee table...yet I can't bear to part with it.
Try doing this with your own stuff...maybe it won't seem so important to you if you aren't really moving cross country, but it does make you see your stuff in a whole new light. My hubby is terrified of my list. He see just how much I am willing to part with and he's wondering what's going to be left. The other day he quipped that we'd have nothing left but a mattress and that damned uncomfortable bench!
Yes, apparently there's something wrong with many of the forum users
Golly sakes....people bitching about 1st Dibs when they are not the only 'expensive bad guys' (Heck, they're only representatives...not store owners). You try to reason with those people complaining and they ignore you and keep on keeping on.
I suggested to someone that lighter fluid as a great glue remover, and again, a number of people go off the deep end with "oh my God, isn't it flammable????????" They completely ignore the fact that I have used it for years without any problem and I smoke.
Then you get the people who feel the need to slam Americans and American designers, in favor of the European MCM.
I'm starting to think that there's more mental illness out there than I had previously thought.
Then you get the people who f...
Then you get the people who feel the need to slam Americans and American designers, in favor of the European MCM.
Barry... I am taking names and numbers..
I really have not seen our friends from over yonder dump on our mcm designers our most prized possessions, and coming from me that is a compliment for them .
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