My love for the mid-century runs deep. It’s more than “Ooh, look at that neat building” or “Wow, that’s a cool antique;” it’s my life. I constantly surround myself with it. I wear vintage cat-eye glasses (complete with rhinestones, which I call my “old lady bling”), I listen to old 45s, I eat off of vintage plates, I cook in vintage Pyrex. My lamps are older than me as is most of my furniture.

Anyone who knows me knows I’ve been searching for a mid-century sofa for a while. It is the last major piece I need to complete my total mid-century living room transformation. Unfortunately, I’m not at a point in my life where I can spend $3,000 on a Herman Miller sofa, so it also has to be in my price range.

In my quest to find the perfect couch, I’ve become a regular at a few thrift stores around town. The owners know what I’m looking for and they keep an eye out for me.

Yesterday must have been my lucky day. Around lunchtime I received a call from one of the thrift store owners letting me know that they just took in a mid-century sofa. So I dropped everything and headed up their way (hence why there was no blog post yesterday). When I got there, this beauty was waiting for me outside:

While it’s not a $3,000 Herman Miller, I love the lines of this couch. It’s about 7 feet long, has a full padded back with low arms and a tapered leg capped in brass. It will go great with my Lane Acclaim swivel coffee table (which i recently picked up from Whispers of Time for $45)!

While I like the brown tweedy upholstery, I’m pretty sure it’s not original. But toss on a few barkcloth throw pillows and no one will notice! One day when I have the time and the patience, I will reupholster it (along with all my other chairs).

But perhaps the best part about this couch is the price. $95!!! With my current contemporary couch teetering on its last leg, this mid-century marvel is a needed and welcomed new edition to the family!

Now I direct my search efforts toward a mid-century sideboard/credenza and some bullet planters. If you know where I can find some, let me know!

While some people spend their weekends gardening or lounging by the pool, I spend mine scouring thrift stores for long-forgotten mid-century gems! Sometimes I’m lucky, and sometimes I’m not. Yesterday was a lucky day!

A few weeks ago, I scored a two-tiered Heywood-Wakefield side table from their Ashcraft collection at a local thrift store for $38. Those who know the value of Hey Wake know $38 is a STEAL! Aside from a few minor scratches, which is to be expected on a 60-year-old piece of furniture, the table is in fantastic shape.

Yesterday, I headed back to my lucky thrift store and lo and behold, they had this fabulous Heywood-Wakefield chair from the same collection! And it was only $37! It’s a little roughed up, but with some love and attention it will soon be a stellar piece.

I plan to reupholster it in a vintage-inspired Hawaiian print like this one.

For those unfamiliar with the Heywood-Wakefield name, the company was established by the five Heywood brothers in Massachusetts in 1826. They had a humble beginning — producing chairs in the family barn — but soon business took off. In the late 1800s, the Heywoods acquired the Wakefield Rattan Company and thus the Heywood-Wakefield Co. was born.

In the mid-1930s, the company began producing more modern designs and continued to do so until 1966. Today, the company’s Danish modern-inspired lines such as Sculptura, Kohinoor and Encore are highly sought after by mid-century collectors.

The Ashcraft line is different from the company’s better-known modern lines. It was created during World War II in a time when furniture making was put on hold so the wood could be used for producing rifles for the servicemen. In an effort to keep business going, Heywood-Wakefield began constructing furniture out of rattan.

Unfortunately, during the war Japan bombed the port city where the company acquired its rattan supply, so it became time to get creative. The company began utilizing New England Ash wood (hence the Ashcraft name), which looks and bends much like rattan. They used pieces of varnished wrapped paper to bind the joints.

Despite the substitution, the Ashcraft collection is just as sturdy and beautiful as every other Heywood-Wakefield line. It just has a better story!

To view more of the Ashcraft collection, check out Springdale’s Web site.