Vintage in the News

Trends come and go - remember the huge shoulder pads of the 80's? I hear tell there's a resurgence on the horizon. And that they're bigger. And square.

*Promise me you won't.

The vintage and mid-century 'revival' we hear so much about these days isn't so much a faddish revival as it is an attitude. Miss P and I have always collected vintage and we are both partial to things from different eras for different reasons. We love much of the housewares from life in the 50's for the colors employed. I am partial to some of the space-age-ish design from the late 60's and early 70's. There's just something about the Electrohome Apollo stereo system which, though audiophiles might pan for the sound, I embrace for the design.




One of the reasons mid-century design is being embraced with greater fervor today is because of the clean, modern lines. What was innovative then, is considered chic now. Dwell's Kitchen Blog touched on this awhile back. Kitchen design today is replicating modern kitchens of the 50's by embracing color in appliances and cabinet panels. The sleek lines and islands of the ultra modern home of 1958 are being incorporated into current kitchen design.

Take me there!




Our House isn't the only place one can find beautifully Up-cycled vintage furniture. Dwell Blog, again, featured an article earlier this year about an online store called Kanibal Home. Redesigning and reupholstering pieces is something we are well familiar with. How stunning the end result can be, and how worthwhile it is to salvage something otherwise destined to be discarded, is one of the reasons we chose this path to begin with. The chair shown here is very similar to the four chairs of a dining room set we refinished using the same color and the exact same fabric!
Take me there!






While we strive to make quality vintage furnishings modern and lovable I don't know that I'm feeling the next concept. London designer, Anna James, salvages and restores antique furnishings and then scrawls all over them in what the article refers to as graffiti. Now, don't get me wrong, I've seen some pretty amazing graffiti but the pieces shown simply look ruined, rather than cool, to me.







Am I missing something here? Would I want a large bureau reminiscent of a bus depot bathroom stall door? I'm not typically one to recoil at new and/or unusual ideas but I think I'd like to try this out on something smaller while reigning it waaaaay in. Bring it down a notch from punk to funk.







Up next - Modern technology wrapped in vintage.

No picture with this tidbit - go have a look see for yourself! While it defeats the convenience of freeing up floor space, it is altogether so retro cool that giving up that tiny bit of floor would be well worthwhile!
Take me there!


How green is your lawn? Rather, how green are you in the care of your lawn? It is estimated that, in the USA alone, 800 million gallons of gas are consumed by lawn mowers each year. Sara Hart of Dwell's Tech Blog cites even more alarming facts. Both the Dwell writer and Margaret Hartley of the Schenectady Daily Gazette tout push reel mowers as an alternative and a terrific way to reduce carbon emissions (and noise - and the pain in your wallet with gas prices being what they are today). Not only are push mowers powered by completely free energy (You!), they are a good source of exercise, something many of us simply don't get enough of. The Dwell article also recommends using electric mowers and that is tickety boo if your electric energy source is hydro based. Unfortunately, many cities throughout North America utilize electricity generated by coal consuming power plants which, as we all know, does nothing to improve our air.


For Margaret Hartley's article... Take me there!

On to the Dwell article... Take me there!

Next time you're about fire up that gas mower take a moment to think about seven new cars idling on your lawn. I don't want to come off as preachy, but we do have alternatives - from overseeding our lawns with Eco-Green seed, which requires little or no mowing, to picking up an electric mower. Or a sheep. There's always that.


*For the record, I found the shoulder pad photo posted with a blog entry from October, 2007. The woman is French Vogue editor-in-chief Carine Roitfeld. The blogger suggested a 'trickle down' effect and that we'd be seeing fashionistas sporting this look in no time at all. What you actually see in that photo is a woman with an injured arm who fashioned herself a designer sling. Now, just for the fun of it, a real fashion faux paux which also employs shoulder pads......