Modern Needs

Sometimes estate sale results can be both substantial and mixed. Like that time we arrived 5 hours early to a sale, after it had been (re)scheduled multiple times in a 3-4 month period, only to find that two of the items we wanted (a matching pair of Warren Platner chairs for Knoll) had been reclaimed by the family (as it turns out, a lie—they were sold to a friend) the night before (though they were still left out for us sorry bastards to see). Fortunately, we were able to score the matching coffee table and a fireplace set by Pilgrim (attributed to George Nelson) on the relative cheap, so it was far from a total loss.

Or the time we found an original Eero Saarinen ashtray for Knoll and bought it despite the fact that it was a little more than we wanted to spend (and the fact that neither of us smokes!).