East End Rockabilly Weekend!

On Saturday September 22nd, we'll be set up at the 4th annual East End Rockabilly Weekend at the Dominion on Queen (500 Queen St. East, Toronto, Ontario). If you're a rockabilly fan, come by for some sweet tunes, dancin' and some of Ethel's kitschy goodness! Lots of vintage barware, tiki mugs from TikiFarm, and art by Rob Croxford to be had!
The store will also be open, as usual, but manned by my dear hubby Dave.
See you at the Dominion!

Finding good homes for vintage furniture....one sofa at a time!

Nothing makes us happier than to know that something we have sold is going to a good home. As we always say, we’re an adoption agency for furniture!

You may remember the case of the Purple People Eater. It was a huge purple sectional sofa we had in our old location a few years back. It was a gorgeous piece, custom built back in the 50’s for the original owner (one of the planners for Don Mills, Toronto’s most mid-century of mid century communities), and had been recovered a few times in it’s 50 plus years. 

Sofa in it's original Don Mills home

When it arrived in the store, it was sporting purple wool upholstery and looked brand new. We thought this monster would be around forever (which really didn’t bother us as it was sooo comfortable!) but we did sell it a few months later. The buyer was a client of our friend, Paul Dowsett, a LEED certified architect. His firm, sustainable.to is a green architectural practice, and focusses on providing sensible, sensitive and sustainable solutions for their clients. How appropriate (and green) is it that his client would buy vintage furniture!. His client decided to leave it in it’s purple glory which made us very happy as the wool fabric was in pristine shape.

Anyway, fast forward to yesterday, when I had an opportunity to visit the sofa in it’s new home. As you may or may not know, my husband is a columnist for the Globe and Mail (The Architourist) and he writes about architecture, specifically mid-century preservation, adaptive re-use and heritage topics. You can read all about the sofa’s new home in the real estate section of next Friday’s Globe and Mail (Friday September 28th), but in the meantime, here’s a sneak peek of the sofa in it’s new home.

There’s also an epilogue to this story. After visiting the home and interviewing Paul’s client, it was late and we didn't feel like cooking so we went out to dinner. Our waitress recognized me and told me that she and her boyfriend had bought a yellow sofa from me a few weeks back. I totally remembered them, and the sofa they bought. They are now really enjoying the Keith Muller & Michael Stewart designed and Precision Craftwood manufactured Image Series 2 seater sofa and they watch tv on it all the time! 

See you at the store!

New Modernism Magazine is here!

We just got in the Fall 2012 issue of Modernism Magazine and, as usual, it does not disappoint. The cover story is on Canadian architect Arthur Erikson's 1964 house for painter Gordon Smith in Vancouver, which we're going to read immediately. Also featured in this issue are stories on architectural photographer Balthazar Korab, art glass in the World's Fairs, and lots more.
We also have a few Summer 2012 issues of Modernism Magazine left, so pick one up while you're at it!
See you at the store!

Social media madness!

We all know Ethel is a modern gal, but she's a busy one too, and sometimes it's hard for her to keep up with EVERY social media platform. She does have to take a break every now and then!
We'll always try to make sure we're reaching everyone, but sometimes it gets tricky to remember what we've posted where.
So if you don't see new items here on the blog, remember to check our Shopcaster page, or follow us on Facebook or Twitter.
Ethel on Shopcaster
Ethel on Facebook
@EtheStore on Twitter
And don't forget to drop us a line every now and then. We love hearing from our customers and are always looking for feedback, new product ideas, your furniture wishlist (oh, wouldn't we all love a hot pink womb chair or set of 6 Herman Miller shell chairs in bright orange)or just what you love or don't love about Ethel. We happen to think she's perfect, but there's always room for improvement!
See you at the store!

New Atomic Ranch is here!

We just got in the Fall 2012 issue of Atomic Ranch, and as usual, it's chock full of mid-century fabulousness.
This issue features stories on houses in Sacramento, Dallas and Las Vegas, as well as an in depth profile of furniture designer Paul McCobb.
We also have three Summer 2012 issues of Atomic Ranch left, as well as a few Summer 2012 issues of Modernism.
See you at the store!