At Last! We find a dining set!
 The living/dining/area of our home is a long open space. We’ve been looking for a dining room table big enough to have company for dinner but not so large as to diminish this open space.The set couldn’t be too formal. The black vinyl composition tile didn’t seem to call for a classic teak set.The set couldn’t be too informal. Chrome dinette sets are too kitschy to be part of our living room. We didn’t want to buy something new. Modern dining room furniture tends to be over-sized. Plus, we’ve found that furniture from the era tends to settle in and feel just right in our home. And, we needed to find the set in Eastern Oregon so we didn’t have the challenge of how to get it home. We finally found something!!! We were so pleased when we found this mid-century dinette set at Classic Consignment Furniture in Baker City. It fits the space perfectly, has an extra leaf, only cost $125.00, and the whole thing fit in the back of our station wagon. The chairs have the original Virtue Brothers label (Chair 674) on the bottom. They were a large manufacturer of metal dinette sets including the classic red, green, or yellow marbleized sets with chrome legs. We’re glad they also made a few sets with black metal legs. Actually, we wonder if the table and chairs are parts of different sets. The table has gold metal in addition to the black and seems to have a slightly different style. Our table is similar to the one in this ebay posting , just rectangular instead of round. If anyone knows more about the table or chairs, please comment! And, if you live in the Eastern Oregon area we would strongly recommend checking out Classic Consignment Furniture in Baker City. Their prices are very reasonable and they often get in mid-century modern pieces. |
December 30th, 2007 at 12:13 pm
What a wonderful wonderful wonderful house!!! Is that enough superlatives for you?
I adore the dinette – have actually be watching ebay myself so that I could do a post on my blog about dinettes that aren’t so…diner. This is perfect. I will likely feature your find. Meanwhile, I also wanted to let you know that I will be adding you to my blogroll…and, that I am very interested in what you may be planning for your kitchen. Pam
January 14th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
Be sure to see my post on your dinette today! Send more pics of your house! Pam
January 14th, 2008 at 9:12 pm
Awesome! Great house…fabulous dining set! I found you through Pam! Glad to have you in the midcentury blogosphere!
October 23rd, 2008 at 11:43 pm
Anne and Gary, Great work preserving your mid-century modern gem; I too am preserving a rare modern treasure here in Atlanta, Georgia. It is true if you sit with the house long enough it will guide you in making your design decisions. You might be interested in http://www.docomomo-us.org a society dedicated to the documentation and preservation of modern architecture. The link below is from a recent modern home tour
http://www.docomomoga.org/media/documents/2007_guide.pdf also look around at http://www.northcrestmodern.com there are several homes similar to yours featured there. The images may lend you some ideas for your kitchen project. Now to the real reason I wanted to comment on your blog, my family has this identical dining room table from the 50’s. The only difference is ours has a pink faux wood-grain, printed laminate table top with matching pink chairs. The original coverings on the chairs were some sort of textured plastic or vinyl in a mottled pink and white tone. The metal legs are black with the same brass detailing. I think the table was purchased in 1956. I am not sure of the manufacturer; I would have to ask if it still has the indicating labels. I was excited to see a photo of it on your blog and to tell my mother that her vintage table is now in vogue again.
Best wishes, Mod-ATL
October 28th, 2008 at 6:16 pm
Mod-ATL,
We checked out the links you mentioned and did find them inspiring. It is amazing how often your ideas for a house change by taking the time to patiently live with it until inspiration strikes. It is a long slow process, but it pays off in the end.
How fun that your family still has the same dinette set!
Anne & Gary
January 14th, 2009 at 8:33 am
Hi. I’m having fun reading about your mid-century home. You questioned whether or not your table and chairs were from the same set, but I thought I’d just tell you that I have the exact same set too, only with different fabric (gold sparkly vinyl!). I think since 3 of us have the same table and chairs here, it’s safe to assume we have a set!
Thanks for sharing your project!
February 13th, 2009 at 11:38 pm
LOVE this dinette set! And I agree, those common chrome diner sets are a little too kitschy as in “Happy Days”. Yours is the perfect balance, especially for your space and your kitchen.
We just got a new table to go with our new chairs (so a new dining “set”) that I’ll put on my blog soon.
Feels great when things come together; especially a dining table; it’s a center-piece of one’s house.
April 21st, 2009 at 10:31 pm
Thank you for ideas. I’m going to re-model my dining room and looking for some facts and ideas about this matter.
May 3rd, 2010 at 1:54 pm
I have the exact same table. It was given to my parents as a furniture-poor young couple by a family friend in the early 1970s. I grew up with it, and kept it for myself when no one wanted it. I am so excited to see it! I checked, and it has a Virtue Bros almost worn off label on the underside. The chairs we had do not look like yours–they were metal with upholstered seats and could be folded up flat. Really neat and sturdy, actually. I don’t have the ones I grew up with though I sentimentally picked one up that I want to refurbish that looks exactly like them. The table is stamped with a number 348…no idea if that means anything.
Thank you for sharing, and it looks great!