Pair of Thonet No.14 Bentwood cafe Chairs

It was 1/2 price Wednesday at the Ottawa Goodwill. I can't believe this set was still there at 2:30, and it was $9.99 for both. I believe they're Thonet No.14 cafe chairs, they have a very light stencil mark on their underside. Yay Thonet!

Canadian Office and School Furniture Limited wooden Chairs

We got this nice pair of chairs last weekend garage sailing. They're marked "Canadian Office and School Furniture Limited, Preston, Canada" on their bottoms. These chairs are seriously solid. They have rod supports in the runners, very heavy-duty. 

Dentsply International Dentist Dental Assistant Chair

We copped this cool dental chair for $5 on the last day of school outside of Pembroke. Overall condition is pretty good but the lever action on the seat seems pooched. I think I may make it my new desk chair

Cool 1970's desk lamps

Who doesn't need another cool desk lamp? That's what I always seem to say when I buy one. I hardly ever use my desk at all these days (thanks laptop), but I find these things irresistible. I scored these three lamps in successive weeks at one of our local spots. This first one needs a new bulb (I guess) so I haven't managed to get it to work just yet.

 

We're going to putting this one up for sale in our new Etsy Store. It's made by Well-Lite in Hong Kong. The label on the bottom looks 80's, but I'm not so sure.

This is the only one we'll probably keep. It's all metal and really heavy and has this cool faux wood finish. It also telescopes up to ridiculous heights.

Pair of Metal Emeco Navy style chairs - Canadian made by Simmons Limited, Montreal

Yesterday was a great day! This darling pair of chairs came from a 'secret spot' from down around the way from us for $1. I love Canadian metal office furniture. Canadians seem to have taken the time to elevate small details of the design that really make a piece sing out. These steel chairs made by Simmons Limited of Montreal are no exception. The chair style seems to be very reminiscent of the aluminum Emeco Navy chair. But I think these chairs are so much cooler. They're more refined. The legs struts have a beautiful inner curve to them that really compliment finer gauge of the steel tubing that was used. The Emeco chairs look brutish by comparison. I also love their institutional paint jobs, peach & pale yellow. We'll probably take them to some chair bodyshop and have them sandblasted and repainted something else (any suggestions?). The seat pads will be an easy re-do and then they'll be sweeeet, and cheap. This guy wants $979.00 (per chair!) for something similar.

I would ballpark these chairs for being made around 1959. Simmons would go on to become a major international mattress company with their 'Beautyrest' line of products (below is a 1959 article).

Simmons has brought Canadian homes, hospitals, hotels and institutions a beauty and comfort never before known. The products made by the company cover the familiar range of merchandise for which it is famous, such as mattresses, beds, springs, pillows, cribs, Hide-a-Beds, sofas, chairs, and other dual purpose furniture. Nowadays it also includes an impressive range of metal furniture, for hotels, motels, hospitals and institutions, and furnishings for ships (berths, bunks) and for lumber and mining camps. Indeed, Simmons is the pioneer manufacturer of metal bedroom furniture in Canada. Every detail, no matter how small, receives careful supervision and inspection. The Simmons' products combine the strength and durability of steel with the beauty and distinctive charm of the furniture makers' art. It is a simple job to keep Simmons' metal furniture lustrous for years because it has no cracks or crevices, and metal in itself gives protection against mice, vermin, warping and twisting. 

I need more of this furniture in my life.

Pair of 60's Canadian chairs with Stainless Steel frame and Wood armrests

We scored this pair at the Renfrew Salvation Army (great place, great staff) for $5. I'm not sure what kind of wood the armrests are from but I would guess oak. I'm not sure if the upholstery is original or not, it remind me of some beach towels we used to have. Sadly there's no tags on them, but the mix of stainless steel and wood is really appealing.

 

Primitive Modern red Canadian school desk task chair

I regret selling this chair through craigslist. We scored it at the May long weekend Fireman's garage sale in Golden Lake along with several other cool things this summer, it was $1. Somehow the proportions don't quite seem right, I think the seat base was a retro-fit onto a childs chair frame. The legs seem too big as well. I think it was because of all these that the chair worked so well. Also the cut-out on the back panel heightens its midcentury vibe.

$5 Eames fibreglass shell chair

Easy come easy go. We got this yellow Eames side shell chair for $5 from a now-closed thrift store in Barry's Bay. It had an old office supply sticker on its underside. Since then we had to sell it last year to a nice girl from Ottawa, oh well. I miss it though, it was comfortable

Arthur R. Ball Co. Ltd. pair midcentury Mad Men leather office chairs

 

This is the awesome set of chairs we scored last year at this killer thrift in Toronto at Dundas & Broadview. I could imagine these sitting in Don Draper's office, but for now they're in our offices. They're made by Arthur R. Ball Co. Ltd., of Toronto. Google didn't pull any relevant info on Arthur Ball, but these Canadian-made Danish-style chairs appear to be made of oak, and stained to a teak colour. They're construction is fabulous, there's lovely bentwood arms, and great little cutaways on the backs of the chair runners that really add a lot of sophistication. I love them, they cost $20 apiece.

Harter Metal Furniture desk task chair, made by Jan Kuypers?

We picked this up at the Pembroke Value Village for $5.00. I have a major love/hate relationship with VV. For the most part it's all overpriced used Gap jeans, and I always get the feeling that the best stuff never hits the floor to begin with. But sometimes, either people are clueless of lazy and they put good stuff out.

Like this chair, it's made by Harter Metal Furniture Ltd., of Guelph Ontario. Harter's still in business today, and they have made some iconic pieces through their history. Jan Kuypers did a long stint working with Harter, and I believe he may be responsible for the great lines on this little task chair. I love the little ant arms that stick out, and the minimalism of the frame. It's got a nice metal back rest and it's super comfortable to sit it. I think it's one of our best finds since moving here. I have grand plans to respray the metal with another colour (any suggestions?, I'm thinking maybe teal, maybe flat black), and I'll get our resident upholstery expert, Sonya, to swap out the split brown vinyl for something more fun, maybe a suede, or some graphic print. For now, it's 'resting' in our basement. 

Emeco style, Canadian made metal desk/lounge chair, with arms

We found this nice metal desk chair, which is Canadian made, by H.H. Popham and Co. of Kingston and Ottawa, Canada, at the annual Fireman's May long weekend sale in Golden Lake for $1. It sold a couple of days ago via Craigslist, to an architect student from Ottawa. She said she saw my ad online because I referenced 'Emeco'. Emeco sell a similar 'Navy Upholstered' chair to this one, for $895 on their website.  We always buy all the metal furniture we see. It seems Canada has a good reputation for the industrial furniture of the 50's-60's.