While looking for a potential "Mayor of Tulsa" suit at a local thrift store, I came across this Danish keeper. Chair No. 78 was designed by Niels Moller in 1962. It's back and the top of the front legs (I call'em knees) are unique, and beautiful. These were only produced in Denmark... funny how one ended up in South Durham. The chair is in great shape overall, just needs a bit of cleaning and maybe a light oil. I wish there were more than one. We still need dining room chairs. It's a start I suppose.

A little about the little teak wonder and the original company that still produces them in Denmark from JL Moller's kind of hard to find website:

Since 1944, J. L. Møllers Møbelfabrik has produced chairs of outstandingly high quality in timeless designs.
The chairs are sold over the whole world and the Møller chair has become the epitome of Danish Design.

Chairs from J.L. Møller are assembled using the old craft traditions. As far as possible no modern technology or assembly lines are used. Each employee is a specialist in specific work processes for creating the chair, giving it a unique quality and elegance.

At J.L. Møller tenons, mortices and dowels are all glued by hand. This is the only way to ensure that all surfaces have been treated. Dowels are dried down to 5% humidity (in the other components this is 8%), so that when the dowel contacts the glue it expands and is immoveably fixed in position. The chair’s tenon construction also strengthens the chair.
Cramping is performed with compressed air in a hydraulic press.
Polishing machines are not used for the final polish, as they treat all wood alike. Instead the chairs are polished by hand. This is J.L. Møller's policy in all production phases. If the latest technology does not give a better and more satisfactory result than the well-known craft methods, it is quite simply not employed in the factory.

When the chairs leave the factory they are dispatched FULLY ASSEMBLED. Not as knock-down furniture in a box. This costs more in transport, but at J.L. Møller our view is that what can be assembled by the recipient can also be accidentally disassembled by the consumer. It is literally impossible to pull a Møller chair apart. Before packing, our chairs undergo a final inspection, where everything is checked one last time before they are packed and sent off.

We're currently undergoing a minor kitchen/dining room renovation: furniture, paint, & window treatments. At the moment, we have decent-looking, but inexpensive mission style chairs. The problem is that they fold (yes, they actually look okay) a little too easily, and we're worried our 2-year old will end-up tucked in the chair on the floor. So we ordered 4 vintage, yellow Eames fiberglass chairs. Unfortunately, we got to take a closer look at them, and we were not happy with their condition. So, we pulled out.

The Eames chairs, while ubiquitous, are beautiful and clean (see top picture). We're still leaning that way as long as we can find some that are fairly-priced, gently-used, and in a color that works. However, our runner-up chairs differ significantly. We could use a little help.



I've always been a fan of the crafted-minimalism of the Shaker style. I dig Design within Reach's glossy version of a Shaker chair (see 2 above pics). It's also only $98 a pop. Corrina isn't sold on them, though. I think that these chairs would really stand out in a lightly-yellow painted room with bright white (sheer) treatments.


Corrina's choice is another fairly priced ($119) offering from CB2. While Corrina is leaning toward the grey version, I've posted a picture of it in green, so that the lines of the chair would stand out. I'm actually a fan of the chair, but I feel it might be too bold (polished legs) and contemporary for our house.

We'd love to get your opinions. Set your friendship and family bias aside and let us know what you think... especially those that have been in our casa. Thanks!

We finally found a mid-century credenza. After years of scouring thrifts for deals and balking at high-priced vintage boutiques, Corrina found this walnut sideboard in a county south of here for $35 dollars. Clean, solid & sturdy. The munchkin dug it, too. Way to sleuth one out, Coco.





cool mcm blog that i check on the regular: The Mid-Century Modernist

And one parting shot for fun: