The chesterfield sofa is an iconic furniture piece that exudes sophistication, wisdom, and comfort all at the same time.  If you have ever wondered just how these pieces are made – and why they last for so many decades – just take a look at the step-by-step, handmade process that goes into each one of these creations by The Original Sofa Co. in the UK. 

Every fine chesterfield starts out as a lovely sketch.

The hardwood frames are handcut, and then the construction officially begins.

Don’t forget the padding for years and years of comfort!

I love how this process is literally sewn by hand!

Here comes the tufts or which chesterfields are famous.

And voila!  A true masterpiece ready to grace any den or study for decades.

Great furniture design transcends not only time, but its original form.  Let me illustrate with four examples of iconic chair and sofa designs – and how they beautifully translate into beds!   From chesterfields to Eames, it is clear that these antique and vintage designs live happily both in living rooms and bedrooms.

While Pltrona Frau’s white chesterfield sofa is a recent design, the chesterfield itself is as iconic as an antique sofa gets!  Of course, the chesterfield is beautifully interpreted as a bed, which is the Kensington from the collection of faux leather beds by Our World of Interiors.   Remember, not any button-tufted headboard will do, as the gently wrapped lines of the chesterfield are just as important.

The chesterfield button style combines with the classic wingback chair to create a piece that stands the test of time — and different rooms.  This wingback chesterfield chair from Sevens becomes a lovely headboard for a bed, which is the Sandringham, again from the collection of leather beds from Our World of Interiors.  This type of darker leather chesterfield inspired bed is great for a gentleman’s room or even a modern couple’s bedroom.

The Eames Lounger is one of the most iconic and coveted mid-century modern pieces.  If you want your pup to have as exquisite MCM taste as you do, then the Vurv Ellipse dog bed fits the bill!  This is the perfect canine sleeping interpretation of the Eames Lounger.  Wouldn’t it look lovely at the foot of your bed in your mid-century modern inspired bedroom?

Modernica’s Case Study Alpine Bed takes the beautiful, iconic lines of the Eames bentwood chair and turns it into a work of art for your bedroom.  I appreciate how the design thoughtfully translates the feet and curves, but I do think the headboard could have paid a bit more homage to Eames.  Nonetheless, it is a lovely bedroom interpretation of the Eames bentwood chair.

I’d love to hear about any chair-to-bed transformations you’ve seen – or would like to see!

Have you ever seen a library card catalog don high heels and sip cocktails?  Me neither — until I saw what the couple at Dream Book Design did!   The DIY couple repurposed a library card catalog into a glamorous, renovated buffet that is divine!  First, let’s take a gander at the “before,” with its hardware stripped.

And here is the stunning after!  Does it remind you too of a librarian dressed in her chicest outfit at a fancy 1940s dinner party?

While I disagree with the title of their post, “turning old junk to beauty,” as library card catalogs are absolute treasures that are slowly becoming extinct, I do wholeheartedly agree with the beauty part!

Poetic Home has needed a spring cleaning for many seasons, and I am very proud to unveil the new look, which I believe is much more symbolic of the Poetic Home aesthetic.  The website is not 100% complete just yet, as we have a few bugs to work out, but I’d love to hear your feedback!

With all of the spring cleaning, I’m also hoping to get your input about what type of content and regular features you’d like to see.

Would you like more repurposing goodness, vintage interior design posts, and peeks into chic vintage-inspired homes?  I’m also thinking of introducing new regular posts, such as a weekly round-up of library card catalogs for sale, as well as guests who share photos and stories of typewriters in their lives.  What do you think?

I sincerely welcome and appreciate your thoughts!

When I was young and reckless just five years ago, I would ride around on the back of my boyfriend’s (who turned into my husband) GSXR motorcycle wearing cocktail dresses and stilettos after partying around Honolulu.  While I thought we looked quite dashing then, imagine if we were riding around on this BMW motorcycle, as seen via materialiste!  It’s not just a rendering — but a real Art Deco motorbike that BMW recently found in a crate in one of their “sheds.”  It was created before WWI, but never went into full production.  Let’s keep our fingers crossed that it does one day!

What do you get when you combine one part 1950s TV with two parts of a vintage typewriter?  A fantastically retro Philco PC, but of course!

Designed by SchultzeWORKS, a design studio in Pasadena who has created electronics for the major names like Microsoft and LG, this Philco PC placed in the top three contestants for a challenge that called for a “radical reinvention of the personal computer.”  Isn’t it interesting that a “radical” reinvention would mean traveling back 50 and 100 years to be inspired by antique typewriters and vintage TVs?

The best part is that this design might actually become reality.  I will be the first in line to trade in my uninspiring keyboard and plastic framed monitors for this vintage-inspired technology!

UPPERCASE Magazine certainly knows how to start of 2010 the right way!  In Issue 4, there is a fun tongue-and-cheek paper calendar insert of perpetual calendars, and I have just the spot by my desk waiting to enjoy this creation year-round.

I also had the great pleasure of penning and photographing a piece on vintage perpetual calendars in the Living with Vintage column, and I can’t wait to indulge in all of the creative goodness that embodies UPPERCASE Mag.  If you have not yet subscribed, this may be just the issue with which to begin, and while we all wait excitedly for our issues to arrive, enjoy a sneak peek of the upcoming issue.

As I grow more eco-conscious about our family’s holiday decisions, I find myself pining away for vintage feather trees, which are beautiful alternatives to either cut trees or today’s petro-artificial trees.   In the mid 19th century, the German forests were in danger, and cutting down the trees for Christmas became banned as reforestation efforts arose.  Subsequently, the feather – or goosefeather, rather – Christmas tree was invented!  Interestingly, although these trees look quite artificial to us at first glance, they were modeled after the living trees found in the German forests.

This charming vintage feather Christmas tree at Terrace Hill, the Governor’s Mansion, shows the beauty in simplicity.

Simple yet charming is certainly a common theme for feather trees (via Country Living).

Of course, vintage feather Christmas trees love to be dolled up with baubles (also via Country Living)!

Simple, yet luxuriously sophisticated continues to be a prevalent feather tree theme (again via Country Living).

Even with a living Christmas tree in the house, a feather tree would make a dashing entryway presentation (via Martha Stewart).

While this is not a real feather three, the shape and simplicity of this living tree give it the same type of feel (via fjorn).

There are a variety of feather tree DIY kits and classes that I’m contemplating. Have you perchance enjoyed one of these?

Have you ever wondered what an Olivetti Valentine would look like as a laptop?  From the University of Applied Arts – Vienna, Department of Industrial Design comes four ingenious students who have created a modern tribute to the revered Olivetti Valentine.  If you ever imagined how Ettore Sottsass would have designed a laptop, your dreams have been answered with a flexible screen that seamlessly melds into the Valentine typewriter shape that we all love.

For your historical reference, here is the original Olivetti Valentine typewriter:

And here is the Valentine reinterpreted in modern glory!  I love how even the case gets recognized in this design.

Don’t you think the modern design certainly does the Valentine justice?  If only all laptops could be this inspirational!

The adage “If you love something, set it free.  If it comes back, it was truly meant to be yours” is true — and I have definitive proof!

You may recall my 1930s ladies writing desk from My Favorite Vintage Things series.  Sadly, I had to sell the antique desk during the preparation for the move to Hawaii, as there was no economical way to ship this incredibly heavy wooden desk to the islands.

Imagine my surprise and utter elation, then, when I returned to San Diego — and my husband found the desk again!  Indeed, the lady to whom I had sold the desk was herself moving and had the desk listed for sale on Craigslist.  When we went to her home to pick up my desk, it was like all the stars cosmically aligned and all in the world was right (save the recession, disease, and global warming, that is).

Doesn’t my desk look happy to be back with me in my new home?  This MY desk — I had set it free, but it was truly meant to be mine!