Drop-dead dropfront

In with the new-vintage, and out with the old-vintage. That's been my minimalist mantra ever since I moved into this house and started buying mid-century pieces. I try to maintain "zero clutter growth" when I buy new things by storing or selling the old items instead of simply moving them over to make way for new pieces...well, most of the time.

When my SIL bought the great teak tea cart I posted about yesterday, he picked up this teak dropfront desk for me too. I already had a dropfront desk that had belonged to my mother when she was a girl in the 1930s, and while it had sentimental value, it was somewhat of a misfit in my house. It was time for mom's desk to have a new place to reside. My daughter insisted that it stay in the family, so she's taking it home with her, which is the perfect solution.

Now the new is in and the old is gone...but it's still close enough that I can visit it whenever I miss it.

This desk was manufactured in England by Remploy Ltd., short for "re-employ." The company was founded in 1945 to employ people with disabilities, primarily injured miners and people wounded during the Second World War. While Remploy specializes in school furniture today, in the late 40s and the 50s they produced a line for the home which included living room and bedroom furniture, taking part in the U. K.'s design revolution that was replacing the ornate and traditional pre-war home furnishings with a sleek, contemporary style.

Remploy teak dropfront writing desk (with a Jenn Ski print above it)

Interior of Remploy teak writing desk with multiple pigeon holes

and black vinyl writing pad attached with brass corner pieces

Close-up of interior pigeon holes with part of my vintage pewter collection
and one of my favorite small pieces of studio pottery on top of desk

Good things come to those who blog

I spend several hours each day researching mid-century designers and furnishings, as well as reading other mid-century blogs. Almost every day I run across something exciting, one of the most recent being a new giclee' print by Jenn Ski entitled Paperclips.

I found the print as a direct result of reading her blog during my daily surfing ritual. When I visited her Etsy store, I had to have the print for my own home. I got it back from the framer yesterday and hung it above the dropfront desk that my mother used in the 1930s when she was a child and I used when I was a child in the 1950s. The desk holds part of my collection of vintage pewter, a prized piece of studio pottery, and the gooseneck lamp I recently mentioned in a post. I think the geometric print provides a nice counterpoint to the old desk.

Be sure to check out the Apartment Therapy tour of Jenn's home. You don't want to miss her travertine floors, gorgeous walls of windows and spectacular patio with koi pond. She has found some fantastic pieces on craigslist, including a Noguchi coffee table, which she got for $60. I found her home delightfully cheerful, inside and out, just like her art.

Also be sure to take a look at her work when it is featured in Ty Pennington's At Home magazine, which comes out December 8.

Jenn Ski's Paperclips
jennskistudio.blogspot.com

Paperclips above my dropfront desk

Ty Pennington's At Home
jennski.com