Monday, April 26, 2010

The Couch That Changed My (Design) Life...

About six months before John David and I got married, I was visiting my grandparents in Pandora, Ohio (a very tiny town an hour or so south of Toledo, if you know where that is). My grandparents, parents and I went antique shopping in some towns surrounding Pandora. We walked into an antique store in some small town of which I now forget the name (I really SHOULD remember, because it's where my epiphany took place, but I don't...). I strolled in, past the "normal" antique furniture and odds-n-ends and started towards the back of the store. And, there. it. was. You know, it really should have had a spotlight shining on it and there should have been "ahhhhh" music playing (You know the tune, when someone sees something they have to have and the spotlight is shining on it and then the music plays. No? Think of when Aladdin sees the lamp for the first time in the movie. THAT'S what I mean.). I knew I had to have it. It was perfect. I didn't know what I loved about it, but I knew it was special.

Then, the store owner came up and told me they had gotten it from an old factory that had closed. It was used in the break room, but the factory had been closed down for some time and the couch had just been in storage. He said he guessed it was from the late 50s, early 60s. He was right. This Stratford couch was most likely made around 1960 or so. I love the clean lines, wood and metal legs, and the vinyl. Now, while I will say that it is not the most comfortable couch I have ever sat on, it is the coolest looking (in my opinion). It started my love for mid-century modern design, and for only $300 (it's a sectional, too), I think it was a pretty darn good deal.

I took some pictures of my beloved couch. They aren't THAT good, because I'm not an excellent photographer like Shannon or The Pioneer Woman, but I tried!! : ) And, it's black so it's really hard to see the detail, but again...I TRIED to take good pictures of it!

Note the clean lines and wood/metal legs.

And the buttons. Oh, how I LOVE the buttons.

Here it is in all its glory (Please do not pay attention to my VERY dirty coffee table. It's still cluttered from craft bazaar items)!!

There you have it, folks. If you don't like it, then fine, there will be more mid-century modern things in the world for me to buy, but I love it and never want to get rid of it! Ever.


2 comments:

Shannon said...

how cool!! I've never seen a couch like that! It does look like it's easy to clean. Like if you dropped some homemade salsa on it, it would wipe right off :D I also really love your pillows.. especially that fuzzy one in the middle! So cute, Brittany!

Sheffield said...

Funny story...back when Collin and I used to crash in the bonus room in your parents house...If i remember correctly we we're very confused about the couch. Neither of us had really dealt with such a piece of furniture before...so we both crashed on the floor in either respect or fear of this couch.