It’s a gentle progression, right? First, you are inspired, learning of the great mid-century modern minds from Eames to Jacobsen. Then you began to scour for any and all information you can find to bookmark and read. Next, you began replacing items in your home one at a time. Appreciating and collecting mid-century modern furniture can be an addiction as much as a passion,  and trust me, we know all about that.

So, you finally get your house all decked out with the must haves, a Nelson bench, Barcelona lounger or Eames lounge chair, and maybe a Saarinen Tulip table. Finally, you can relax and just worry about rearranging your space every month or so, right? Oh wait, now that you have the perfect mid-century modern furniture and home wares, you should probably look for the perfect mid-century modern home. Yes, a mid-century home is the final touch and all you have to do now, is find the perfect one.

Well, if you live in the Pacific Northwest or are thinking of relocating here, we got your back. Recently we came across two amazing resources for our fellow mid-century modern fanatic enthusiasts. Seattlemodern.com and 360modern.com are both devoted to connecting buyers and sellers. Both sites offer a unique experience that allows them to meet the needs of the PNW.

Seattlemodern.com is run by local Realtor, Tom Holst of Madison Partners Real Estate. The site features a simple presentation of new listings as they come up, presented in almost a Craig List type fashion. The site allows you to look at listings easily in no nonsense manner. Photos are paramount here with a short description introducing the property. We really can’t emphasize how easy this site is to use and how quickly you can view several properties. All the featured properties on seattlemodern.com stay true to the website’s name. Listings are a pleasant mix of new and old homes that are design and aesthetically forward.

Here are a few gems from seattlemodern.com that were recently added to the website.

Another great resource for the Greater Seattle area is 360modern.com. This site primarily features contemporary modern properties but also features classic modern listings. A collaboration of brokers from various firms across the Northwest area, from Whatcom to Pierce county, this site really embodies what a community is. One of the great features on this site is the accessibility of all the listings. Whether you want a place in Anacortes or Renton you can find someone to assist you. 360modern has been recognized by Dwell magazine and boasts a well designed website full of mid-century modern and contemporary related information. In the “Community” tab on the website you can find links for articles from Modernism in Seattle to upcoming lectures or tours.

Here are a few properties currently on the market in the Seattle area now.

Over the last few weeks a new creative outlet has been in the works, not life changing but very exciting! Recently, we started a new Flickr! group called: Vintage Finds:: Quite Serendipitous.We are huge Flickr! fans. Hopefully you are all familiar with Flickr! and all its wonderful features such as photostreams, groups, and explore to name a few. It is great for everything from researching new furniture to gaining inspiration for anything that suits your fancy.

We started Vintage Finds:: Quite Serendipitous to consolidate and encourage the existing vintage community on Flickr! Our goal is to provide a  place to cultivate a community that loves vintage furniture and housewares, while also creating an avenue to gloat about new finds and share info relating to recent acquisitions.

We hope you would do us the honor of swinging by our Flickr! group Vintage Finds:: Quite Serendipitous and check out our photostream. If you are already a member of Flickr! and feel adventurous, please join our group. Your contribution and input would be greatly appreciated. We hope you enjoy our photostream and look forward to seeing your future vintage finds.

Two chairs: one in original state, one cleaned. Gross yet amazing right?

A few weeks ago during Thanksgiving vacation, we found these two amazing vintage Thonet armchairs for our store, covered in more than a little grit and grime. What we thought would be a quick clean up turned into several days of elbow grease, a plethora of cleaners and more than a little patience. These chairs that were once brown are now a glowing creamy white and in better condition than we could have ever hoped for. We speculate they sat dormant in a garage for many many years. Though we have cleaned furniture with vinyl upholstery before, none have been this difficult to manage. This is due in part to the original color and texture of these chairs. So, in accomplishing this daunting task and trying many different products and techniques, we learned a few new tricks that we’d like to share for those that may run into the same situation.

Best Product Combo for Cleaning Vintage Vinyl Upholstery

• Shaklee Scour Off
• Shaklee Basic H2
• Scotch Brite Sponges
• Electric Toothbrush (we use an old Oral B)
• Tender Loving Care

So here is the dealio. We started out cleaning the first chair with a warm water and soap combo, then a light bleach combo, then a Goop combo and so on. We quickly learned that our efforts were futile. We happened to be at David’s parents house and they pulled out this little caddy of eco-friendly cleaning products and told us to try them. They told us to first use the Scour Off scrub, said it works wonders. And it did. Then they handed us a bottle of what they called Shaklee Basic H2 and said in combination with the scrub it should take the grime right off. And it did. We found that the more warm water we used with the products, the more efficiently they worked. After about an hour, we still wanted to speed up the process so we went searching for tools. We found an old Oral B electric toothbrush under the sink, the kind with the rotating circular head and went to town. (don’t worry, we sanitized it before using) Holy crap! Our cleaning time was cut in half. And the best part was that the toothbrush was able to get into all the little nooks and crannies of the chair upholstery. To touch up and give a basic scrub on the chair, we used your standard Scotch Brite sponge. What would have been nearly 8 hours of cleaning per chair was turned into about 3. Truly amazing.

We also wanted to touch on another item we did while cleaning up the chairs. One of the chairs happened to have an indentation in the vinyl from the foot of the other chair, when they were stacked on top of each other in that garage. This solid 1 inch indentation wasn’t relieving itself, so we figured out a simple way to fix it. Grab a blow dryer, turn it on low and hold it about 6-10 inches away from the indentation. Being careful to not get too close and melt the vinyl, we were able to relieve the indentation in a matter of moments. A small bit of coaxing with your hand also helps. One important thing to take note of is that when you do this, make sure your chair is clean. You don’t want to risk setting the stain of the chair into the actual vinyl and making it permanent. Yikes!

So there you have it. The winning vintage vinyl upholstery cleaning combo. If you happen to come across any fab products or techniques, make sure and send them our way. We always love to hear others experiences and discoveries.

In regards to the chairs, we will be listing them in our store very soon. Make sure and check back!