Found: A $5 midcentury kid's chair

As you might have guessed, those lovely bentwood chairs were not meant to be mine. Not to worry because I sure didn't spend much time mulling my missed opportunity. I've long learned that the gods of Thrift Shop Finds can be quite capricious, rewarding me often enough to keep me going back but not so much that I expect to leave with goodies each time I visit a thrift store. What would be the fun in that, right?

Anyway, I've mentioned before that I am trying to be more focused while shopping in an attempt to cut down on clutter in my home. I've had mixed progress on that front due to my book/magazine addiction, but my list of home projects awaiting my attention has gone down considerably since I am bringing home less stuff. Here is my latest finished project:

Something about those curves has long made the vintage Casalino kid's chair appealing, but I never thought I'd be lucky enough to find one for an affordable price even after I stumbled upon a garage sale with a mid-century focus (photo below). Nope, no kid's chair to be seen, but it never hurts to ask.

OK, I didn't really ask for a Casalino kid's chair. I simply asked the seller whether he had anything else he was selling, so we then walked over to the open garage so I could see his other wares.

The chair was nearly hidden from view by other furniture but I asked him to pull it out. It was in such sorry shape that I almost didn't even ask the price. Look at what someone had sprayed in black paint on the back:

My frown quickly turned to a smile when I heard that the seller wanted only five dollars, such a low price that any doubts about my ability to renew the chair quickly dissipated.

I'm certainly not an an expert on refinishing furniture but I love the process of transforming a piece. I thought long and hard on how to give this chair a new look, even considered decoupaging it with a mod-print fabric for a unique look. In the end, I simply sanded it to remove paint drips, painted it with primer, then painted it in a color that I thought would go well in several rooms of my house so I could move it around as I wished.

I still think the decoupaging project I had in mind would've worked but I think glossy yellow was the way to go because it shows off the curves perfectly without any distractions.

To be honest, I don't know whether my chair is a vintage Casalino since the Netherlands furniture company Casala began producing new Casalino Jr. chairs in 2007 using original moulds. My chair was so beat-up that it very well could have been produced in the 70s, but it really doesn't matter to me.

Interestingly, I discovered that Casalino was the only furniture line ever designed by Alexander Begge. Upon describing his creations, the German designer said: "I had this image of a wisp of fog, and elaborated on that. It brought so much joy, I was in a glow."

Vitra Design Museum, a tribute to Eames, Girard and other design icons

Today's post is prepared in collaboration with a good friend of mine, a U.S. journalist who is traveling throughout Europe for most of October on a fellowship.

Quite coincidentally for me, my friend's fellowship included a stop at the Vitra Design Museum in Germany. My friend, Elizabeth Aguilera, e-mailed me a photo today that she took while touring the site with other colleagues from the Marshall Memorial Fellowship. The photo was such delicious eye candy that I scurried to the computer to find out more about this cultural institution.

Photo courtesy Elizabeth Aguilera

The museum has a broad range of holdings, but specializes in furniture and interior design dating from the early 1900s to the present. The museum's collections include work by some of the biggest names in design. You may know some of them. Ray and Charles Eames. Vernon Panton. Isamu Noguchi. Alexander Girard.

I can only imagine how exciting and interesting it was for my friend Elizabeth to see the work of such design giants up close. Clearly, their influence is evident today. One of the reasons I was so drawn to the photo above is that it looked like a room straight out of a magazine today.

Photo courtesy Elizabeth Aguilera

Take a look at the design on the ottoman. My friend and I both love it. It reminds me of wallpaper for some reason, but is quite stunning on this large ottoman.

Photo courtesy Elizabeth Aguilera

The Vitra Design Museum is located just outside Basel, Switzerland, and is part of a complex of architecturally innovative buildings.

Photo courtesy Elizabeth Aguilera

The complex includes the first building in Europe designed by Frank O. Gehry.

Photo courtesy Elizabeth Aguilera

Let's go inside the museum and take a look at some of the photos taken by my friend Elizabeth, who so graciously agreed to let me share them with you. As you can see, there are many design elements housed in the museum that we continue to see in many of today's homes, from those we see in magazines like Elle Decor to blogs like Apartment Therapy.

Photo courtesy Elizabeth Aguilera

I'm guessing the above is an example of the work of Alexander Girard, who is known for his whimsical designs.

Photo courtesy Elizabeth Aguilera

These sculptural lamps lend such an ethereal air to a room.

Photo courtesy Elizabeth Aguilera

These clocks are further proof that classic design can be found in utilitarian items. Hopping around on the Internet, I further discovered that the Vitra Design Museum was the offspring of the Vitra Company, an international furniture-manufacturing company based in Switzerland that was founded as a family-run business in 1950. Today, it has separate companies in more than a dozen countries.

Vitra Company

I was fascinated by all this history, but was further drawn in by a collection of photos sent in to the Vitra Company by customers and fans of its work. Check it out in the photo above and below.

Vitra Company

I just adore how these homes showcase the aesthetic elegance of the timeless designs to create such colorful and vibrant rooms.

Thank you so much to my friend Elizabeth for sharing photos from her month-long adventure in Europe.