Remember Clive and Clyde?  I went to visit Clive in person the other day and left feeling really disappointed. He’s handsome, don’t get me wrong. And totally fits the function we’d need him for, which is pretty spectacular since my wish list was long. But after meeting him, I was sad because he didn’t live up to my expectations (which were to fall madly in love at first sighting and immediately wrap my arms around him to stake my claim)…oddly enough, we passed right by him in the store and didn’t notice him.  So maybe we should rethink our fear, which is that the reclaimed wood would be really overwhelming and busy in our house. Plus, C&B can’t guarantee exactly what our Clive will look like – the reclaimed wood planks may or may not have paint on them, nails, holes, etc… so yeah, not what I wanted to be feeling for that price tag. I still think about him often, though, and that says a lot, right?  We’ll see, Clive. We’ll see.

Clyde is still on my list, and we just may get him.  I feel like he’s a safe bet. But the tricky part is we can’t see him anywhere before we buy and he’s a pretty penny, too.  I’d hate to have to deal with the hassle of returning such a big piece of furniture. What a pain.  So lately I’ve been stalking Craigslist for china cabinets, bar cabinets, buffets, sideboards, and hutches.  Heck, I’ve even been toying with the idea that maybe we should have a custom dry bar area built into that area (but nixed that idea pretty quick since our plan down the road is to knock out the storage closet behind that wall the day that air conditioning goes out on us).  Anyone a carpenter/welder that wants to build us a custom Clive?  Anyone?

Anyway, I’ve been finding some neat items and one midcentury piece immediately caught my eye so I’ve emailed the seller to get more details.  West Elm has a line of midcentury furniture, it’s all over design blogs and magazines, and some of it goes for high dollar on Craigslist and Ebay — perhaps because of everyone’s love affair with Don Draper?  Or maybe it’s just that solid wood construction and simple, clean lines.

I found this NPR article where someone said

People tend to like what their grandparents liked.

For me, that’s totally true. “Grandma chic” is what I like to call it.  Remember when I brought home Jane and my parents were like “did you find that in the attic?” and reminisced about similar furniture that their parents had?  So funny. The article also explains that logic; baby boomers don’t like midcentury styles because it’s what they grew up with.  So, apparently style tastes skip a generation. I can believe that.

If you’re in Orange County, I stumbled upon a great shop: The Modern Vault in Newport Beach.  How awesome is this chair? If I had room for a free standing bar (ours needs to go up against a wall) this one is so amazing!

Do you like midcentury style?  Do you and your grandparents have the same style? 

[image via The Modern Vault]