palm springs vintage furniture resource: the estate sale

in a recent post teasing about our then-upcoming mention in "ty pennington at home" magazine (on newsstands now!), maison21 promised to reveal a source for vintage furniture in palm springs, so today we'll take you on a mini- tour of one of our must-stop-shops when out in the desert.

the estate sale is a series of 4 buildings, one of them warehouse sized, along with a courtyard of outdoor furniture, located at 4135 e. palm canyon dr.- kind of in the no-mans land between palm springs proper and cathedral city- not much to see in the immediate vicinity outside of car dealerships, but it's definitely worth a stop. individual consignors bring in their finds to the estate sale (including a selection of art and jewelry), so furniture styles vary wildly (as do prices) and though it can be heavy on baaaaaad furniture from the 1990's, there are for sure gems to be found. as a matter of fact, with the demise of the late and lamented 111 antique mall, it may be maison21's new favorite bargain shopping in the desert! (and boy, are we bummed the the 111 mall is gone- like a stake through the heart, it is- click here to see why).

during our last visit to the estate sale, we forgot our camera during our first visit, so returned again just before closing at 4:00 on a sunday afternoon to snap these hurried pictures for y'all. we warn you, go at least an hour and a half before they close, as they start pulling the furniture overflow from the parking lots back inside, so things are crowded and chaotic! not ideal shopping conditions, or picture taking conditions either!before we even got in the front door, we spotted all kinds of goodies, including the above mid-century slipper chairs which we immediately scooped up for a client. recovered in a jewel tone silk or velvet, they will be stunning, and we might lacquer the frames in black so they look more asian-y and less danish-y (don't you love our technical design terms)?

how about this thick legged lucite table? so cheap at under 400 bucks if we remember correctly...

why we didn't buy this tesselated stone and brass maitland-smith mirror we'll never know... we've regretted it ever since, and if it's still there on our next visit, it's ours!

this pair of settees of recent vintage was perfect for one of our clients, but was part of a larger suite of furniture we didn't need- while we were working with one salesperson to see if the consignor would split it up, another salesperson sold the whole set out from under us! drat! but there is always more goodness out there, so c'est la vie...

they have a courtyard full of outdoor furniture, in varying states of use. resprayed, the woven fiberglass peacock chairs could be fabulous, and the 60's modern fiberglass game table set next to them was awesome as well.

we thought those lattice panels (the 3 with the finaials) could be good for something, and if there was a pair of the wicker onion dome etageres, they would be home with us right now!


we loved, loved, loved this pair of orange lacquered chinoiserie chests, but sadly don't have a client who could use them at the moment. at $800.00 they were a deal, but a bit outside of our comfort zone to buy them on spec.

another item we should have snapped up- a vintage 80's lightolier chandelier for dirt cheap. again, if it's still there on our return, it's ours!

maison21's next post will be before and after photos of the palms springs home just published in ty pennington at home (we know, again with the plugs- tsk, tsk- but we don't get something we worked on published everyday, ya know!) so be sure to check back in- it's quite the amazing transformation! really!

LA shopportunity: crate & barrel regency desk floor sample

m21 just returned from a quick trip to the grove and of course, ducked into the crate & barrel store while there. they had all kinds of discontinued floor samples on sale, but the one that caught our eye was the "regency" desk- a favorite of m21's because of it's sophisticated deco/neo-classic french lines (love the aged brass sabots and recessed pulls), and it's dual versatility as both a decorative sideboard and a work area via a drop down desk surface, hidden as a drawer (it was our favorite non-upholstered piece in c & b's line, so of course they discontinued it). but since m21 loves it so much, he wanted to alert his readers to the opportunity to purchase the floor sample at a greatly reduced price- $519.00, reduced from around $1200.00, if we recall correctly. outside of fingerprints and smudges, it looked in great shape too...

not the most flattering picture- maybe that's why such a chic item is being discontinued. :-(

run to the newsstands!

maison21 would like to congratulate his bff, rudy calvero, on having his palm springs weekend home published in the new issue of ty pennington at home- on newsstands today!

the house, as photographed by the talented john ellis and styled by sunday hendrickson, looks amazing! not only do the interiors look terrific, but so does the impossibly cute sam, rudy's & his partner, will stewart's comically adorable jack russell terrier (an m21 foundling, btw).

maison21 would also like to personally thank rudy for making sure our name was mentioned in the article as well "with help from designer friend, christian may". rudy and i had a blast over the years collecting the cast-off, thrift store, yard sale and ebay finds that comprise the interior, and it was truly a labor of love- for example, the sofa was a gift from my old boss- the catch being that it had to be removed from a garage on a sold property by midnight, as escrow was closing! cut to sneaking around the empty property at 11:00 at night with flashlights, trying to load a ginormous old sectional onto a truck and hoping not to be caught by security patrolling the tony neighborhood! worth it in the end, as if we actually had to pay for a sofa, a milo baughman original was probably not in the budget...

again, congrats rudy (and will, and sam)! and thanks for letting us be a part of the project- it was blast! let's do it again after you sell this one, ok? (more pictures at reality link too!)

now, run to the newsstands to get your copy before m21 buys them all up!


ps- congrats to rudy and will on their 7th anniversary- i'm honored to have you (and sam) in my life!

happy father's day to all dads everywhere!

thanks, dad- you were a true hero. i miss you.

m21 has lust in his heart...

for this retro-styled digital SLR camera from olympus:
according to engadget, right now it's only available in hong kong for about 7490 HKD (roughly a thousand bucks US). we're sure neither of those factors will prove to be a stumbling block for mona and richard, and accordingly, we will act very surprised when we open our father's day gift on sunday...

place your hand on a copy of elle decor

and repeat this solemn oath, with maison21 as your witness:

"i hereby swear never to buy a set or suite of ANYTHING larger than plates."

while m21 knows his readers are savvy enough to know that good things (furniture-wise) never come in "suites", if he can help just one poor soul who stumbles upon his blog in search of a 4 pc. leather living room set from making a costly and way too matchy-matchy mistake, than this post will have been worthwhile (obviously, pretty pairs of sofas or chairs are excepted from this rule. pairs are never a mistake, and yes, maison21 supposes a suite of matching dining chairs is a good thing too).

please, please, puhleeze mix it up people! lest you drown in a sea of dark brown, as in these photos that ended up in our junk mail box today. ugh.

you know you are a compulsive shopper...

when you buy a menorah, and you aren't even jewish...but it's kinda cool, right?

ps- we are back, and will resume posting on our regular erratic, "fit it in when we can", schedule. next up, a source for vintage finds in palm springs...

really...

m21 is coming back- but first, he'll be here for a few:

palm springs abode of m21's BFF- soon to be featured in a national publication. watch this space for details!

a brief paws...

my daddy says to tell you he'll be back blogging any day- so don't go anywhere!

in da hood (literally)

these frenchy-french hooded chairs may be a bit overplayed, but this white-wash and burlap version maison21 glimpsed this weekend at h.d. buttercup was looking pretty fresh and the price was even fresher- $1450.00 (maison21 loves the use of burlap, coarse linen or raffia to take some of the formality way from french inspired pieces- it updates them a bit).while at h.d. buttercup, maison21 was astounded by the number of empty rooms in it's cavernous building, and is hoping it's not an ominous sign- we'd truly hate to lose yet another affordable resource for stylish furniture... anybody got any word on this?