We're suckers for retro holiday kitsch, which must be painfully apparent to anyone who's drifted into our shop this past month. (Next up: wacky tacky pilgrims!) To our fellow MCM enthusiasts in Fort Worth and Dallas, have an over-the-top, insanely fun -- oh, and OF COURSE, safe -- Halloween!
I'm currently working on refurbishing this little Lane table (top photo) to put in the shop. In this line of work, we see lots of furniture that needs love. Some of us are better than others at bringing these works of art back from the brink. On Dallas and Fort Worth Mid-Century Modern, I recently interviewed a man named Hank Tosh, who is dead serious about this endeavor. Check out his shop,Toshmahal (it's on Hampton Road in west Dallas) and you'll see: This man knows how to restore the glory of these deco and midcentury works of art. This is a Lane table (bottom photo) that Hank features on his website. Don't the contrasting colors just melt your heart?
Chuck a deuce at our newest lamp -- it JUST DOES NOT GET COOLER, children.
Ni hao, y'all! Just a little shout-out for the folks at Butler's Antiques, who are featuring a special exhibit in the room right next door to RetroMania. They've made a new friend named Alfred Jones, a former instructor at TCU who has a collection of Asian artifacts. Butler's has fixed up one of their rooms in Butler's Alley just for the occasion and has put the items on display, where they will be for sale through Sept. 27.
And then along came Marushka! 
Apparently, we're not alone, because the folks at Apartment Therapy also have the Marushka monkey on their backs. The simple graphic art on tan and white linen often features sea creatures and coastal scenes because of the company's Great Lakes location. The founder, an art instructor named Richard Sweet, named the business after his wife, Mary ("Marushka" is a Polish form of the name "Mary.")
If only I'd thought to carry this sexy little leopard-print bag during my photo shoot for Banana Republic's "Mad Men" photo contest -- it's so Joan! And imagine Betty with the bejeweled bucket bag, lunching poolside at the country club. $28 each.
Yowza! How many of THESE have you seen? Encased inside each glossy table are swirly, colorful cross sections of agate. A quirky little discovery: If you look really closely at the white-and-green agate in the big table, you can see that someone has identified it as "tree agate India." The larger table sports a sparkly background. Both pieces stand on dark wooden legs.
