what do friends and family think of your obsession?  

I know what you mean Mark. Lu...
I know what you mean Mark. Luckily both my dad and my girlfriend understand, and even share my passion although not to a great extent. I share your idea about looking at things for hours, I often pay more attention looking at my furniture than I do the tv!

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Aesthetics concern everyone, to a degree, but not to such an extent as most DAers.It can get out of hand.Oh to just sit and relax in a chair and not contemplate its form or worse,redesign it in ones mind!

For a while
When I first got started I was really freaking out about every little thing - from stacking shell chairs, to MCM appearing in TV commercials. After about 6 months of that my friends banned me from saying the word "eames" or talking about chairs. Now it's mellowed out into an underlying thread that most of my friends and family assume. When I got my Nelson clock i made no big deal about it, but my family was like "ooooh..nice clock, whats the story about it?" The funny thing is that people assume everything I own is 'high design'. Someone recently asked me what the design story was for my curtains. I told them "IKEA" and everyone got a chuckle.

I think I have more chairs than friends.
Too funny, some people around me simply do not understand my fascination for classic Mid-century furniture. I hear oh I remember that chair, back in the day it's old huh.
I love design, of all sorts down to my VW Beetle Convertible. I had an Element and one my bro's friends said, "Your sister likes weird stuff." Pfffwhatever, I like to say I'm misunderstood some people have no sense. I understand when you guys say I can stare at a ???? for hours; I walk into my home doing the same thing. From my home to the furniture, even what I drive I have a thing for design it's who I am and I will NOT apologize for it! Smiles.

Well...I am an oddball, based on the above...
I love my beautiful things. I love the graceful forms and the delightful colors and textures. I love to look at my carefully collected objects. I enjoy the process of searching and learning about a piece I want to add to my home. I read and I study. I'm pretty well informed about the history of a lot of designers and their works (although I can't quote model names or dates as fanatically as some here).
But....
It's stuff and I'd ditch every last piece of it if I needed the dosh. It's just stuff. Possessions. Things. Nice but utterly unneccessary to the real joys in life. I'd consider it worth my Nelson Bench just to get a glimpse of a Painted Bunting. I'd gladly give up all my teapots for a trip to New Zealand... I've actually considered that one.

Olive says it is stuff ...
Olive says it is stuff and that is what it is stuff, but great stuff,
I for one who made a complete lifestyle change 5 years ago when i got serious about buying every thing , I have been collecting the stuff for 30 years, just started getting the good furniture the last several years, I started out with the art work and then the kitch,
My wife of 6 years loves it, not a real advocate but does know the names of the good stuff, and loves when i bring the good stuff home, Just like a mother she orders me to get rid of stuff when the house gets too full, My twin could care less, my daughter thinks it is cool.
The fun is in the hunt, as the money started to roll in more and more I want the better stuff,
Now it is hard to part with some of the real old treasures making way for the new treasures, but it is always fun, to go out and hunt.

furniture-porn
my husband calls the habit furniture-porn

kixrix...your husband
has a very strange sense of humor.
Collecting one's passion is one of the joys of living. I pity those people who have no interest or passion for collecting.

INTERESTING
people often collect...

"I pity those people who have...
"I pity those people who have no interest or passion for collecting"
Sometimes I am jealous of them. To live attached to nothing could be wonderful. I'll never know.
But who I really pity is those with no interest or passion period.

Furniture porn and collecting
I'm always happy when I see someone refer to it as furniture porn - since thats what much of it is: Lusting after things you cannot ever have!
Yes, it's all just stuff - but oh what wonderful stuff. I'm all for simple living, which is what drives me to MCM more than other styles or era's. With the emphasis on function, and simplicity of form it lends itself to my lifestyle - not so much the other way around. After a few collecting binges to get the items I wanted I have slowed to a more observant pace, rather than acquisitional. I dont need one of everything! Just a few well chosen pieces. And, if I had to give every piece away I would only hesitate at my LCW - for what is life if you can't sit down and relax once in a while.

...sitting there alone in the...
...sitting there alone in the dark late at night, the blue glow of the computer screen the only illumination, pouring over obscure web sites, lusting after the unobtainable... yes it is furniture porn.

I grew up with it
My Dad was stuck in 70's design my Grandmother in 60's design and my Aunt loved antiques. None of it was high end pieces. My Dad's idea of modern furniture was Macy's (YUCK!!). I didn't know much about it then, but I always wondered what the hell was he thinking! And can we get rid of this horrible burnt orange CRAP!! My friends thought we had a great place and I thought it was hideous, ofcourse I kept this to myself. I collected at a young age, music boxes, fall leaves, rocks, butterflies. I also edited my collections, only the brightest red leaves, only the nicest rocks sometimes I painted them. When I started buying furniture I was drawn to antiques. The warm woods and beveled mirrors, tufted chairs in bright velvets. As I got older I became more sophisticated, victorian chairs upholstered in beige chenille. Louie chairs in Knoll camo. Then I started mixing antiques with modern, Starck ghost chairs and eames stools. When I started mixing both styles is when I truly began to feel refelected in my home. It's my eclectic sanctuary filled with things I enjoy. And it's about the art and form in every piece. If I have any problem it's that people don't understand how much I'm willing to pay for good design/art. While they appreciate the beauty they don't understand the price tag at all.
Sometimes I wonder what I would do if my house was on fire? I would grab my family photos and look forward to starting all over again!

I also think I have more chairs than friends.
When it comes to design, I only have one friend with whom I can speak in depth. I'm dismissed by most everyone else as "weird" - although many of those same people like to stop by and hang out here at the "cool pad". Go figure. My immediate family definitely doesn't share my enthusiasm (they actually "playfully" denigrate me because of it); they're love buying furniture from Costco, and have done so on a continuous basis. I tend to go to museums and such alone, which sucks, but I'd rather go that route than deal with someone who is bored and wants to leave prematurely to go shopping "now" for the latest Louis Vuitton handbag.
It's funny that the overwhelming majority of people I know think my tastes are extravagant and much too expensive (which they most certainly are not - my pockets are very shallow), but have no problem dropping the same amount or more in Best Buy, Ikea, Target, etc. People around me have no problem dropping $2000 on a laptop or LCD tv, but balk at the notion of a $200-$300 chair. Along the same lines, my family gladly spends $2500 on a living room set from the aforementioned Costco, but can't fathom buying a $300 Bertoia chair.
Why I buy "used" or "junky old furniture" is beyond them. And regrettably, many people I know would agree with that sentiment.