We survived the G20!

Well, we were away this weekend for a big tikifest in upstate New York, and we come back to find our sometime parttime gal Marla has sold quite a bit of furniture for us, despite the G20 demonstrations and general silliness of it all! The big smoked glass & chrome dining table sold, as did the brown & orange vinyl barstools and the curved acrylic vanity chair.
This can only mean one thing.... more stuff is coming in!
Today we're taking delivery of a big load of vintage Danish teak, including three dressers, a desk & chair, two matching chairs, four coffee tables (two square, two boat shaped), two twin beds, and a whole bunch more. We'll post pictures and prices as soon as it gets here!
See you at the store!

Celebrity Spotting!

Ethel is not one to brag, but it's always fun when celebrity designers drop by the store. You know that Sarah Richardson was here filming a few weeks ago, and that was tons of fun. We also sold a lovely teak desk to chef Lynn Crawford, of Food Networks Restaurant Makeover, and her new show Pitching In, just before Christmas. And just now, we just had celebrity designer duo Colin & Justin from Colin & Justin's Home Heist on HGTV drop in. They were surprisingly low key but they loved Edyth, our store kitty! Lets hope they come back in to do more shopping.

See you at the store!

The new Atomic Ranch is here!

Came in this morning to find the new Atomic Ranch has arrived!
Chock full of great stories on those houses we all love, including an interview with an Antiques Roadshow expert, and a feature on a modern playhouse for modern kid. Come by the store and pick up your copy to get all the news on the mid-mod scene.
See you at the store!

Sandwich Time!

Our new sandwich board arrived today! Ralston did another bang up job and with the application of the vinyl letters and logo (by Todd Temporale from Viva & Co), it looks fantastic. See how it totally coordinates with our sign?
We'll be using it to advertise sale stuff, fun stuff, Ethel's thoughts and most importantly to let our customers know when we're open (we couldn't think of anything clever to write on it this morning!)
This week as been one of things coming and going. The teak secretary went out on prop rental for two weeks, so we have to remember to allow room for it when it gets back. We also got in a lovely vintage Barcelona chair by Mies Van der Rohe, in black leather.

This one is prices at $895 and is in exceptional condition. Perfect for spanish royalty!

In keeping with 20th Century classics, we also got in another Corbusier lounger. The ponyskin hide was completely dried out and cracking on it, so we opted to have a whole new cushion made by Princess Perfect. The cushion will be in this really cool black and white geometric pattern, to reference the deco period of the lounger. Right now the frame is naked on the floor, waiting for it's new cushion.


We also got in this three panel folding screen in solid white oak. The inserts are removable so you can customize it to suit your space. Perfect as a room divider or a dressing screen, it's priced at $495 and would look lovely in a modern space.


Come by the store and check it out, and give us some ideas for our new sandwich board!
See you at the store!

Return of the Black Sheep

Ethel loves doing prop rentals. It's so thrilling to see some bit of mid-century in a Hollywood blockbuster (or a Wonderbread commercial), and know it came from our little store here in Leslieville. The downside is, when the piece is out on rental, we tend to forget it's coming back, and by the time the rental truck pulls up in front of the store to unload the return, we've completely remerchandised the store and have forgotten to make room for the returning furniture. Case in point, the black teak framed sofa that was just dropped off.

You may remember this sofa from our big Danish Invasion back in February. It's a great big beast of a thing, almost 8 feet long and a solid teak frame. The black vinyl has seen better days, but is still serviceable (and repairable, according to Lisa Jo at Princess Perfect), and with a solid teak frame, it's a solid investment. Anyway, to make a long story short, we're marking down this bad boy, from $850 to $695, so we can make room for something new.
Come by the store and check it out, and maybe our black sheep will be your new best friend
See you at the store!
UPDATE: Black sofa has sold...I guess the blog really DOES work!

New Modernism Magazine is here!

I know you're all waiting for the new Atomic Ranch, and it will be here soon, but for now, you can all enjoy the Summer 2010 issue of Modernism Magazine. Featuring a cover story on Fire Island architecture, and an in depth profile of Edgar Miller, one of Chicago's unsung design heroes, plus lots of other great modernism news.
So drop by the store to pick up your copy, and maybe by then we'll have the new Atomic Ranch in!
See you at the store!

Fish and Fowl

The new teak dining set arrived this morning and it's as lovely as we hoped! The pedestal table has two leaves stored underneath, and six chairs in the original orange wool upholstery. Remember, orange was Frank Sinatra's favourite colour!
The table and six chairs are priced at $1350.

The secretary came in too, and while it's in remarkable shape, there is an issue with the veneer on the face edge of two of the shelves. We're going to try to repair this so you don't have to, but as is, it's priced at $795. It features drawers and shelves underneath, with a pull out desk surface, small drawers above and cubbyholes for envelopes and desk storage. Perfect for a small space.
UPDATE: Secretary has sold
UPDATE: Secretary has not sold, but is being rented for two weeks


If you're not in the market for teak, maybe you just need a little tabletop colour.
These two teapots (or is one a coffee pot, I can never tell!) are priced at $25 each. One is from Midwinter in England, and one is from Japan. Can you guess which is which?
UPDATE: Teapot on the left has sold

This charming Murano glass rooster would look perfect with your collection of art glass, or even on his own, standing guard over a vintage ashtray like he is here. He's $25 and is quite the little charmer.

If you prefer fish over fowl, here's a set of five cocktail highball glasses with an abstract fish pattern in gold and white. the set of five is $24 and would be perfect for those summertime cocktails.


Drop by the store and see what else we have!
See you at the store!

Out with the old, in with the new

The Spanner dining set and buffet just went out the door, on its way to its new home in Mississauga. While we loved that set, it was time for it to move out so we could make room here in the store for new stuff! We have a new teak dining set on it's way here tomorrow, with six chairs in original orange upholstery, an oval dining table with leaves, as well as a lovely secretary. We'll post pictures as soon as it gets here.
We also were out and about yesterday, looking for more new things for the store. We can't post it all, but here are a few new items we thought would be perfect for Ethel.
This set of 5 demitasse cups and saucers are bright and cheery, and $35 for the set. Perfect for your breakfast table or tea with the ladies!

This groovy Brady Bunch style lamp has an iridescent glaze finish to the ceramic and features a big barrel burlap shade. Perfect for your rec room at $95.
UPDATE: Lamp has sold

We love these colourful glass goblets, and while they're too big for a typical cocktail (unless you're sharing with friends), they look great mixed in with other coloured art glass, as a grouping on a shelf or on your bar at home. We always have a few of these in the shop (Ethel loves her cocktails!) and the newest additions are the really large purple goblet on the left and the mid sized green goblet in the middle. The big purple one is $45 and the rest range in price from $10 to $40.

In other store news, our exterior signage is now all finished!

We think Ralston did a bang up job, and now we're looking forward to getting our sandwich board finished.
Drop by and check out the new sign and all our new finds for the store.
See you at the store!

Ethel's day off

As you all know, our store hours are Tuesday to Saturday 12 to 6, Sunday 12 to 5. Sometimes we open early if the mood strikes us (or if we get here early and customers are looking through the window) , and often we're here past 6 as customers like to drop in their way home from work.
Sometimes Ethel needs a day off so tomorrow, Wednesday June 9th, the store will be closed, and will be back open on Thursday as usual. We hope this doesn't inconvenience anyone and if you're really interested in something you see through the window, please call and leave a message, or send us an email.
See you at the store!

Ironic Art

This weekend (June 5th & 6th) is the annual Riverdale Art Walk. It's a 2-day, juried fine art show, with over 100 artists exhibiting along Queen St. E. from the DVP to Leslie and between Eastern and Dundas St. E. There's a big outdoor art show at Jimmie Simpson Park, just west of the store, and many of the stores and galleries in Leslieville host an artist as well. This year, we're hosting Rob Croxford's work, as we're big fans, and his sense of irony and "retro" images and graphics work well with the store's vibe. His website can be found on the right side, in our blogroll, and here's a few of the pieces we'll be featuring in the store this weekend.





Come by and see more of Rob's work.
See you at the store!