Let the bargain hunt begin!

Bluegrass discount stores offer budget friendly modern design

If you are like me and love modern or contemporary design, but don’t have the budget for a $4,000 Eames Lounge Chair, you may be surprised to hear you can find some amazing and affordable furniture and home décor items with a modern flair at our local discount stores in Lexington—that’s right, discount stores. I’m talking about Big Lots and Burlington Coat Factory and even Kroger Marketplace! 

Don’t get me wrong. Lexington has a great variety of antique and vintage stores like Scout or Street Scene, both known for having a continual selection of mid-century modern furniture items, and I definitely agree supporting our local businesses is important. But I’m here to tell you that you can satisfy your modern hankering without breaking the bank. I just bought a sofa and loveseat for a tenth of the price of an Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman.

On the quest to “stage” my formal--aka unused--living room for a potential home sale, I’ve  scored some really great pieces in Lexington stores over the last few months, all which culminated with a  sofa and loveseat this week from none other than BIG LOTS. It’s the sofa set of my dreams! 

Take a look.


Big Lots: Loveseat came with pillows for $199, plus 10 percent off.



Decorative pillow for $12.99 at Burlington Coat Factory.



IKEA finds - Lamp base: $14.99. Shade: $6.99.


Usually people buy a sofa then buy the accessories, but in my situation, I bought the curtains, throw pillows and lamps before I found the perfect couch—it was just meant to be!
The brown curtains with overlapping green and blue circles came from Burlington Coat Factory for $19.99 a panel—not too shabby!

Now, to the throw pillows. For months I admired these pillows with blue, green, and grey circles, at Target, but I never had a true “need” for them.  However, when  I found the curtains at Burlington Coat Factory, I discovered the same exact pillows from Target there—for more than 50 percent less! Target’s price: $27.99, BCF price: $12.99. They coordinated so well with the curtains I had just had to get them.

So, a few weekends later my husband and I were in Cincinnati for the 20th Century Cincinnati Show and  we stopped by IKEA Westchester for some lighting needs. We found these lamps that would match the new silver curtain rods (Did I mention I also found curtain rods at BCF?) and picked circular shades that would mimic the circles in the curtains and pillows. Lamp base $14.99. Plastic white shade: $6.99. We got two to flank the couch of my dreams that I had not even found yet.

So…drum roll….here’s the complete look for my newly staged living room!



My husband made this coffee table from scrap trim.



Sofa, pillow, curtain, lamp = $284!



I love this curve! It reminds me of an Arne Jacobsen egg chair.



Take it from me, there is a lot to be found at your local retail discount stores. (We scored some majorly discounted furniture items a few years ago at Sears--$50 parson dinning table, $20 molded plywood dinning chairs, $70 full-length dresser, $15 end tables with aluminum legs. )

Here are a few things to keep in mind when looking for new furniture on a very limited budget:
1. People don’t think about buying furniture, especially modern designs, at Sears or Big Lots so there is often a surplus of discounted furniture items just waiting for someone to come along and discover them. You can be that person, but it takes some time and many repeat visits before you may actually find something amazing that you just have to have.

2. Another thing to remember is once you find an item that excites you (and is also well-made), to scoop it up as soon as possible. If you love it, chances are someone else will love it too. And if it’s cheap, they’ll love it even more. When I arrived at Big Lots Sunday morning, after discovering the sofa and loveseat the night before, another person was there loading the same set into his truck. Having gone through this same scenario too many times before, I was mortified thinking it I was too late. Lucky for me, there was still another sofa available in the backroom and the loveseat left was the floor display, on which I got a 10 percent discount….which leads me to my next tip.

3. Buy display items if they are available and look good. Sometimes you have no choice in the matter. But either way, you should always get a discount of at least 10 percent. Look for small marks or other  small imperfections that you can live with—that little scuff mark on the bottom of a chair leg can save you money! If the store doesn’t offer, then ask for the discount!

4. And lastly, when you find an unbelievable deal, pass it on. The most fun part about bargain hunting is telling others about your amazing finds in hopes they can get the same joy...even if it does create a little more competition in the bargain bin.

Happy hunting!

copyright: Amy Whitfield Richardson

Magic City Mod

On a quick trip home to Birmingham, Ala. last weekend to see my family, I put on my midcentury goggles and was delighted to see buildings and houses that I've passed by all my life in a new light. Although found in pockets, there is really a lot of great modern architecture, commercial and residental, in the Magic City. I wish I had more time to rediscover more of what the city offers in post-war design, but for now here's a few examples that I found on my way to and from visiting the family.

I can't tell you how many times I've passed this round office building on Hwy. 78, aka Crestwood Blvd. There's space available for lease on the second level!

Nice rectangular block screen.

Glad to see this building is still well-maintained.



How cool are these built-in concrete planters?

Well-manicured shrubs in front of this midcentury office building in the shadows of Brother Bryan Park in Birmingham's Southside. I never really noticed this subtle, pebble-coated building before.

Classic square block screen greets you out front.

I really love this simple block design, don't you?

The Eastwood/Crestwood neighborhood is a great place to find some classic 1950s-1960s ranch-style homes. But even more exciting, mixed in between these standard brick ranchers are a few midcentury modern jewels like these below.

Pictures don't do this house justice, but it's super cool and reminds me of a California Eichler home. It's one-of-a-kind in this neighborhood.

Well, the nice spring foilage obstructs the view, but this house is worthy of an Atomic Ranch cover, at least from the outside. You don't get to see the white globe pendant light hanging above the entry due to the tree.

This hillside neighborhood also boasts wonderful views of the city and airport and so there are many contemporary homes higher up the mountain taking advantage of these views, probably built in the 1970s. I was happy to see this cedar-sided lodge-like home getting a contemporay redo.

If you are interested in living in a great midcentury neighborhood with all-brick homes and the convenience of being a 5-minute drive from downtown, there are several homes for sale in this area--and with the housing market as depressed as it is, you could probably get a great deal.

This completes a very brief tour of what you might find if you just look around you on your way to work or home in Birmingham. Consider yourself lucky.  

Brief Encounter

Last month on our way to the 20^th Century Cincinnati Show, we passed this sweet Mid-century Modern high school in Sharonville, Ohio, just before arriving at the convention center.

Princeton High School near Cincinnati

I couldn’t resist snapping a few pictures on our way back by. A quick Internet search reveals “Princeton High School was built on its current site in 1957-58 thanks to a generous donation from Marianna Matthews," according to the school’s website. Although the school has had four significant expansions over the years, it has maintained its classic, mid-century façade on its front side facing Chester Road.

I love the clean lines, interesting roof angles, aluminum siding, and mosaic tiles. I couldn't find any information on the colorful tile mural, if it's original to the building's design, or if it was added later.

I think the students at this school have something very special to walk into every day. I hope they appreciate it as much as I did during this brief encounter.



Mosaic Tile Mural

Nice turqoise-colored panel siding (this looks like my own high school back in Mississippi).

Front entrance flanked with unadorned columns

Close-up of tile on columns outside entrance.

Nice modern lettering on school sign. I'm thinking this is probably original to 1958.

20th Century Cincinnati Show

Saturday was gloomy and cold in the greater Cincinnati area, but not inside the Sharonville Convention Center. That’s where my husband and I and a large crowd of other “modern” collectors and fans lined up to see a colorful and dizzying array of midcentury furniture, art, toys, costume jewelry, electronics, house wares, and more, all under one roof!

As I said in my last post, this was our third time attending the 20^th Century Cincinnati modern show . It was definitely worth the drive up from Lexington and I now look forward to it every year. We spent about two hours browsing the 50 booths. The crowd was thick so we had to make a few trips around to see it all. Though we didn’t buy anything, we didn’t come out empty-handed. I got a first-hand look, an education, in some of the most impressive and quirky design of the last century. Here are some of my favorites from the day.
 

Dinner is served--atomic style!

Bullet Planter. ( I have a thing for orange.) This one is the only one I saw at the show. It had a price tag of $150 and was scooped up quickly.

Sleek Eames plywood chair. I've never seen one in black. Like it!

A version of the Saarinen tulip table.

An orange (leather?) Eames rocker--my husband's favorite pick.

Another Eames rocker upholstered in blue.

The classic Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman. One day I will have you!

　

Modern is in the air!

Spring is right around the corner which means it’s time for the annual 20^th Century Cincinnati show! This weekend 50 vintage dealers will gather at the Sharonville Convention Center showcasing their wares from funky furniture to retro art, jewelry, home décor and more. According to the show’s website, it is “the Queen City's annual retrospective of the forward looking design trends introduced between the First World War and the Computer Age.” That’s a lot of design packed into one, small convention space and I can’t wait to explore!

This will mark my third year in a row to head up to Cincy for the event. My husband and I plan on making a day of it starting with a big breakfast on the road and a stop by IKEA on the way home (IKEA Westchester is just a few exits north of Sharonville). I guess you could say it’s a new tradition of ours.

Even if you’re not a collector or are on a shoestring budget, browsing through the booths at 20^th Century Cincinnati is a fun trip down nostalgia lane. Item after item reminds me of something that could be found in my grandmother’s old basement. It’s a true education in modern design and Midcentury aesthetics.

So, if you are in driving distance of Cincinnati and looking for something fun to do this weekend, I highly recommend the modern show. Admission is only $7 and is good for both Saturday and Sunday.

Find out everything you need to know about the 20^th Century Cincinnati modern show here: http://www.20thcenturycincinnati.com/index.html.

Why not start a new pre-spring tradition?

Bizarre in Berea

This past weekend something happened that hasn't happened in some time here in Lexington. The sun came out! The snow melted! It was finally time to awake from my winter slumber so my husband and I decided to take a drive down to Berea for an afternoon hike. Berea is known as Kentucky's "Folk Arts and Craft Capital" and I wasn't expecting to see any modern architecture there. So, you can imagine I was pleasantly surprised to see this bizarre building in the distance when we drove into town from I-75.

The closer we got I realized this modern collection of silver spheres was a school. In fact, it reminded me of my own high school in Lumberton, Miss. which had a similar curved aluminum roof, and another school, Huffman High,  in my hometown of Birmingham, Ala.

But neither of these schools had what this Berea school has. The feature that makes this building so cool is its sci-fi steeple rising from the middle dome. This school looks like it was dropped from another planet...something you might expect to find in Roswell, New Mexico, but surely not on your way to the woods in the middle of Kentucky.

The mother ship has landed in Berea, Ky.



We did make it to the trail that day. Take the trailhead at the  Indian Fort Theater to see this view.

Photos by Amy W. Richardson



Southland Scenes



Lexington, Ky.  is known best for its world-renowned horse racing industry and college basketball. When it comes to residential architecture, Colonial and Federal style abounds--think columns and pediments. One of my favorite magazines Domino (which sadly folded in early 2009) described the city as “preppy, conservative,” and I’ll have to agree. Traditional is always “in” here. But what Lexington lacks in mid-century and modern residential architecture, it makes up for in its commercial buildings. Have you noticed?

Southland Drive, a corridor in South Lexington that connects busy Nicholasville Rd. to Clays Mill, provides me with new eye candy every time I drive it. The two-mile long shopping district is home to a quintessential piece of mid-century culture--a vintage bowling alley with its original bowling ball sign high above the parking lot, adorned with the simple command, “Bowl." (See photos below) Last year my heart sank when I noticed the ball had been taken down. Much to my delight, it was returned to its perch a few weeks later with a fresh coat of paint. Even though it’s now white (I’ve never seen a white bowling ball), at least they didn’t tear it down!

Southland Drive has many more examples of interesting relics of post-war commercial design that have somehow escaped tragic alteration over the last 50 years. This is good and bad. Good, because I love to see this type of design survive. Bad because many of the buildings are in need of repair and proper restoration after half a century. Not only that, but quite a few of Southland’s retail and office buildings are without tenants and have been empty for some time. I can’t help but think a new owner might prefer a 21^st century rmakeover, or even a wrecking ball, to the current retro façade.

There are signs of hope though. An up tick of new local businesses have opened their doors over the last few years--Morris Book Shop, the Soup Kitchen, a tattoo parlor. Both Good Foods co-op and Habitat for Humanity Re-Store have both expanded. But other national chains like Save-a-Lot and Dollar General have moved in and cheapened the landscape in my opinion. 

So, while we still have them, I decided to take a few photos of the eye candy. It’s my hope that more Lexington business owners will find Southland’s quirky, retro buildings appealing enough to keep around for another 50 years.  

Bowl sign at Southland Lanes (Collins Bowling Centers) with some snow on top.

  Block screen wall at Southland Lanes

I love this nifty roofline.

Nice arches on the Southland Dollar Store

More arches on Don Wilson Music Co.

 Tile design on what appears to be a mostly vacant office buidling.

 I love this curved metal roof and the zigzag storefronts. Unfortunately this building is vacant right now.

This is current home of Hi-Tech Artificial Limbs. I love the flat roof and windows.


All photos taken by Amy W. Richardson.