Opal 1920's chair

Let me start at the beginning.

It was 1922. There was some dirty business going down at the Canadian Wheat Board. Baby Olive was found abandoned in a suitcase at Union Station in Toronto. War was over and people were doing things. One thing they were doing was making chairs. I came from the Stratford Chair Company, a reputable place where many fine dining chairs were birthed from ancient hardwood trees. I was given a fine wide seat of leather. That leather seat would turn out to be the one constant in my life.

  After a few years war broke out again. The people in my life were scared. Many sons had their last dinner at my table. My dark stain was depressing so I was painted a creamy white to brighten the lives around me. There was a lot of sorrow during this time but me and my leather seat held fast for the war effort and were rewarded by yet another coat of paint.

It was 1953. My old family gave me away to a young couple from church. The couple were nice but not too well off. Business was booming and soon they were too. I was painted tiffany blue which was the hot colour of those years. I looked quite grand, being a middle aged girl in the 50's was fun. So many dinner parties were had. My family liked Jello a lot it seemed, at least I ended up with many versions of it landing on my leather. I think that was one of the most fascinating things about those years; the number of dishes that could involve gelatin.

As I started to show my age, my tiffany blue was replaced with white once more. The Mod period had begun, simple lines and bright whites against bursts of colour. Experimentation in the dark and hazy lounges I'd heard about at dinner parties. Drugs, abandoned hearts, new exciting music. These things used to appeal to me but I kind of felt too old for it now. My leather was starting to get dull and brittle in spots. I fit the provincial decor of my family. It was enough for me.

My family stopped loving me. Sometimes that happens and there's nothing you can do about it. I picked myself up and sheltered my heart against the attentions of a new house full of babies. My white paint was worn and showed too many dirty fingerprints so I was painted one last time in very dark brown. I was given a special spot near the bay window for the cat to sit on and watch birds and I thought to myself, this is a nice way to spend my days. And I did spend them. I spent 40 years near that window. I had many cat friends. Cats don't live nearly long enough, it seems. Some refuse to die. I feel that I am like those cats.

My leather seat deteriorated. My paint was crazed and chipping and looked greasy under the layers. I was found and my leather was taken away from me. It was for the best because though my seat is new, you can see every single layer of my past on my arms and my legs and my face. Almost a century of time has passed and I hold that time inside of me. I feel as though my heart is no longer sheltered. I've been reborn. I am a new kind of chair, I'm not heavy with history. I'm bright and feel light and I could just go on forever. I've burst open into a new age. You can create a new story with me, as you please. I want to love again. Do you?

-solid oak chair, has been sanded down not painted (its the real deal, not a paint technique)
-grasscloth weave fabric on seat is new
-made by the Stratford Chair Company (maker's tag inside the seat bottom)
-the seat is a metal plate and is easily reupholstered

Status: Sold

Victoria: side table

 Manners and class are very important qualities in a table. Without manners, one really cannot call oneself a table. Without class one is simply a piece of wood nailed to other pieces of wood. Manners and class set one apart from ones simple beginnings and makes one whole.

For example I am a simple table. One slab on top of two slabs. I have a drawer and a shelf. But I am so much more than that. I am a beautiful centerpiece of a room. My colour pops out from the mundane dreary reality so many call home. I am many squares inside one square; a riddle and a question. I am a classic beauty and a modern dream. I am brutalist in classic Tiffany blue.

While I am all these interesting things, my manners are quite obvious. I'm polite and easy to look at. I'm the definition of poise! I long to be poised in your bedroom, your hallway, your living room. A socialite such as myself needs companionship. Do you think you'd like my company?


Status: sold

Betty: vintage child's rocker

Betty Botter bought some butter

But, she said, the butter's bitter

If I put it in my batter

It will make my batter bitter!

But a bit of better butter

Would make my batter better.

So she bought a bit of butter

Better than her bitter butter

And she put it in her batter

And the batter was not bitter.

So, that was better Betty Botter

Bought a bit of better butter.

-cute child's rocker, vintage and loved
-no creaks or cracks (one crack was repaired a long time ago)

-painted in nice modern yellow with a white back slat
-would be good for a little boy or girl

Status: SOLD

Daniel: teak and rosewood longboy dresser

We walked up the mountainside together, one last time together. I leaned over and whispered, "this is where I love you the most". Her eyes looked steadily forward, focusing on something across the valley. Perhaps it was nothing at all, just the opposite of focus. But it was something; right?

We'd lived together for 50 years. The cabin on the hill was our nest, like an eagles. Sparse but functional. Overlooking wide vistas, surrounded by small wonders. It was a fabulous time. I'd heard people say that every good thing must come to an end but to think that it was this time for us was something of a devastation.

She was dropping me off. She'd sold me. Me, her faithful dresser. The things I'd held for her were layers of shared history. Weight gains and losses, hidden photographs, a diary I couldn't bring myself to read. Secrets. And now to take me up the mountain, towards a new home, it was indescribable pain. My heart has been torn out of my chest.

Heartbreak. And I could do nothing.

-Teak dresser with rosewood handles and legs.
-9 drawers
-19" wide 28" tall 6' long
-can be used as a dresser, a TV stand (dvds fit in the drawers), credenza for a big hallway, or a buffet
-teak has been freshly oiled

Status: available

Hilary: Hall Chair Extrordinaire

A chair is a chair is a chair.
Ha!
I beg to differ.

Look at my soft curves. I'm not like other chairs. Those chairs who sit idly by, collecting loose clothing, maybe a mitten or a hat, waiting for someone to sit on them.
I wait for no one.
I demand attention.
And I get it.

A lady must always make herself useful. Sometimes those uses are of a shady countenance. Sometimes bold. It all depends on the situation. One must be adaptable to the changing times.

Take, for instance, the fact that I was born into a world full of strife. Wars, famine, epidemics, yet here I am today, reinvented not once but twice. As strong as the day I was glued and screwed. My style is full of poise and bearing, yet I am whimsicle. Though I carry the characteristics of my forebearers,I am something new and exciting.

I can sit in your hallway. Say hello when you walk through the door. I can sit near your bed like a good friend, keeping watch over you in the night, holding you clothing for you, to jump into the next day. I can chill in a drawing room awaiting a fine posterior to support while it makes merry with friends. So many options! So many translations.

Friends have called me sassy; I must concur. To be sassy for your assy is what I was made for :)

- Duncan Phyfe style chair made in Wiarton Ontario early 20th century
- New cushion and fabric, painted Espresso Bean in melamine for durability
- Upholstered in a modern art nouveau inspired pattern, greys and yellows that blend well with a   variety of decor and colours
- Perfect for a kids room, hallway/entrance, dressing chair, funky mismatched dining set, etc.

STATUS: SOLD

Lars: Danish Teak 3 Seat Couch

"I wanted so badly to lie down next to her on the couch, to wrap my arms around her and sleep. Not f*#k, like in those movies. Not even have sex. Just sleep together in the most innocent sense of the phrase. But I lacked the courage and she had a boyfriend and I was gawky and she was gorgeous and I was hopelessly boring and she was endlessly fascinating. So I walked back to my room and collapsed on the bottom bunk, thinking that if people were rain, I was drizzle and she was a hurricane."             - Looking for Alaska by John Green.

I sat on this quote as they sat on this couch. I am glad they did not hook up on top of me. A sofa has dignity that most do not recognize. Please leave the lovemaking for the bedroom not the living room.

Though I would have to say that there is a certain longing for comfort that I can understand. I'm a couch after all, I'm supposed to give people a place to reflect upon. Or to stare blankly at a wall. The point is the soft cushions that embrace your ass. Without those, all is lost.

-Danish teak couch, 75" long (6'3")  26.5" tall,  26" wide
-All cushions have had foam replaced and covers washed
-Newly oiled
-New straps have been added in seats as well as new clips. 
-Seats are supported by a secondary wood frame, probably poplar or maple as it is very strong to hold the strapping. 
-"Made In Denmark" stamps all over.

 Status: SOLD

Henry: Russet vintage swivel chair

 
Well hello readers :)
I see you've found me. I am a pretty surprsing piece of furniture. I'm the colour of autumn in the Gatineau hills; like that Irish Setter that you knew as a child. The hue that comes to mind when someone whispers, "metamorphasis".

I come from a passed time, one where sipping bourbon was a pleasure and men bought Buicks for their wives. I'm tweed like a hunters jacket on the misty moors. My legs may show a ding or two but's to be expected from a chair like me.

If leaning to the rear in interior contemplation is your desire, I've got your back.

Please let me share your indoor habitat. I fit in with many an unusual fellow. Why just yesterday a fine adventurer from Spain sat upon my springs. Last month is it was a gentle English lady, a woman who appreciated a fine seat.

I am a chair of strong constitution and material integrity. To know me is to understand traditional modernity. I'm a well spoken dreamer; a wanderer of living rooms and studies. 

Status: SOLD