The best way to describe my home’s interior design style is vintage eclectic.  I love mid-century modern designs, but I also love the romantic lines of French antiques.  To be honest, the list of vintage and antique treasures I love could go on forever!  Here is a peek at my (mostly dismantled for the move) dining room, where I think mid-century modern chairs live happily with a French provencal table.

While the furniture lines are quite distinct, the clean lines of the MCM dining chairs are well offset by the curves of the French provencal table.

Bon appetit, eclectic vintage style!

This week’s Room Without a Key Tour brings us to the lobby of an intriguing hotel in Dire Dawa, home to the  only occasion of secular mid-century modern design cosmopolitan traveler A. Davey witnessed in Ethiopia.   Can you imagine lunching amongst these gorgeous room mid-century modern inspired room dividers?

Intrigued by the presence of such western design in Ethiopia, A. Davey was kind enough to delve into the history of Dire Dawa, whose existence was largely influenced by a railroad that connected Addis Ababa to Dijibouti on the Gulf of Aden.   Decades ago, passengers frequently traveled this route, but its prevalence in commerce and leisure has since diminished.

As a French-Ethiopian enterprise, the railroad ran through Dire Dawa, creating a resting point for passengers.  Subsequently, the French may have very well influenced the design of this lobby, especially considering that the imagery on the room dividers represent coffee service — much more European in influence than Ethiopian.   A. Davey concludes that the brass containers that are showcased in the room dividers are most likely shell casings.

According to A. Davey’s research, the Dire Dawa hotel dates back to 1964, which concurs with the heyday of mid-century modern design.  I love how there is such strong mid-century modern aesthetic, made even more unique with the influence of local materials.  Thank you so much A. Davey for sharing your beautiful photos, knowledge, and travel experience for this fascinating Room (or rather, lobby) Without a Key Tour!

After being quite tired from my shoot yesterday, I slept in and missed an estate sale…so to comfort myself, I still went vintage treasure hunting and scored….the mid-century modern nightstand version of Wall-E!    This mid-century modern design line is actually a trapezoid, but it looks like a square in the picture.  I’m thinking of painting the outside frame white, and then leaving the drawers the natural wood grain…or vice-versa…what do you think?  Or…perhaps I shall simply keep it in its original splendor…per the urging of my friend Amy. 

Happy fantastic Friday!  I hope you all have a splendid weekend enjoying the best of summer!

Since I have my 1947 Home & Garden’s Interior Decorating book out, here’s another lovely image from the era that nicely combines the elements of traditional and budding mid-century modern design.  Although there are so many different genres represented in this picture, they work together really well.  Partially, this is because all of the furniture lines are really clean, leaving the accents to add the eclectic flair.

BTW, the Mercedes Benz topped lamp?  I didn’t know they were ghetto fabulous back in 1947!