apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

is there nothing interesting outside of mid-century modern oe eames to talk about? why the single-minded focus?

I want to see photos of each and every one!
I can't judge how many is too many until I see 19 in one place!

19 Eames Chairs?!?!

Eames is rapidly becoming like BMW and Prada - the default choice for folks who don't know anything about design/engineering/fashion but just want a label.

(Thankfully I opted for the Eero Saarinen chairs)

if your home looks like dwr threw up in it, then you've gone too far. it's the ikea syndrome for those with a little bit of money. an antique here, a mid-century piece there, with a sprinkle of contemporary, and a dash of thrift store is far more interesting.

you know, i have seen anti eames comments here in the past that seem bored by eames or there is too much eames out there, but, there is a place for these pieces, they are part of the post war design history of the u.s. and they still work today.

too many multiples of these iconic pieces loses all impact whatsoever.
completely uninteresting.

is my googling accurate that the chairs pictured here are about $150 apiece?

I think a few classics shows some class.

Too many shows lack of imagination.

That's insane. Not to mention spatially impossible. 19 chairs?

I have to agree with others: after a "few," it's uninteresting. Even if you collect Eames chairs.

I'm more interested on how this friend acquired all these chairs. Did they go all out on a DWR shopping spree? In which case, yeesh. Or were they inherited/lovingly collected over the years and your friend can't bear to part with them?

I shouldn't talk having 16 Eames chairs, but they're all different, except the dining chairs and they all have a story. Some I found at thrift stores, two I sanded paint off fiberglass, some I traded with friends. But they all seem to work together, in a 1200 sq/ft condo.

That being said as my aesthetic changes and evolves I find my self moving towards less well known designers. As well as up and comers. For me the issue usually comes down to cost. I'd love to get a set of Moooi Smoke Dining chairs, but not at $1800 each. I bought 6 Eames padded side chairs for $20 apiece, and they look great.

What is great about the vintage Herman Miller stuff is it's still relatively inexpensive. And well-designed furniture will always work in harmony with other well-designed pieces.

I have a bit of a chair fetish, so I am not put off by this. Plus, it's not like there is only one Eames chair design. A few fiberglass shell chairs at the dining table, a lounge chair in the living room, an executive office chair or two in the office, a plywood chair by the bed, a fiberglass rocker in the nursery, some wire chairs on the covered patio. Pretty soon, you've amassed 19 gorgeous chairs. More power to you!

I agree with s and the r; saying "eames chairs" means an awful lot of designs (esp if you're on craigslist and anything mid-century is called eames sometimes). If you mean 19 fiberglass shell chairs, it's one thing, but if you're talking a wide variety like the above posts suggests, then it's a different story.

Full disclosure: I have a chair fetish too. Especially iconic designs. Purr....

Maybe they, you know, like the chairs. I'm actually a little tired of the "one iconic chair of a type per room" trend.

These chairs weren't designed to be icons. They were designed to be chairs. If a person appreciates the style and the comfort, so be it. Maybe an abundance of Eames chairs in one space can have the beneficial effect of knocking away some of the divinity that's crusted onto them over the years.

And if they have 19 friends to fill them, all the better.

Hey, the history of post war furniture fabrication/innovation is something to remember and Charles and Ray Eames (Saarinen et al) made beautiful objects in the process. But when you live in 2008 and you've got at least 2007 years (if you're just counting the A.D.s) behind you in history...seems a shame to fixate on a period between 1944 to 1969 for furniture, that's all I'm saying.

Not to get all art-historical on all y'alls be-hinds....but stinks of a (DWR) instance of Walter Benjamin, "The Work of Art in the Age of Reproduction".

There's nothing wrong with the chairs. There is something wrong with talking about them all the time. Eames and Ikea are the AT one-note. Not a day goes by that both aren't mentioned at least once.

I think it'd be good and more interesting to broaden your theme and talk less about those elements even when they are present in a room. After all, you don't have to talk about them just because they are there (there are plenty of things to be discussed besides Eames and Ikea).

And I will come forward as a heretic. I don't really care for Eames chairs. I wouldn't take one if it was offered to me for free.

19?! holy cow!

which ones did they have? i'd be keen to see a photo too!

I've seen house tours with a lot of Eames chairs. It's not inconceivable for someone to have a dozen around the house without garnering any criticism. Let's see, start with a leather lounge & ottoman, add two LCW chairs in the bedrooms, six fiberglass eiffel dining chairs, and a fiberglass rocker in the nursery. That's ten eames chairs already. Not quite 19 but that number isn't as high as you think. Spread them out throughout the house and I bet you wouldn't think it was too many.

They're nice chairs. I have 1 eames chair and 4 bertoia knock offs. I should invite some people over to sit in them every once in a while.

I cannot say a word; I named my black cheek zebra finches Charles and Ray Eames.

I, personally, think there is nothing sexier than the Eames lounge and ottoman. A piece sprinkled here and there makes a strong impact. While I personally, would not fill the home with one designer (especially in overabundance) if they can pull it off, more power to them.

(Sally, your friend doesn't read AT by chance, do they? heheh)

I think Eames chairs are ugly. I love lush, cozy environments--I'm more Baroque than mid-century modern.

I have an eames dining set and because of comfort and small size restrictions am considering getting 2 lcw (wood lounge chairs) for my living room.. it might be repetitive but they fit me, and scale well with my tiny house.

In answer to your question, 19 is too many.

My entire, four bedroom house only has 16 chairs of any description, including couches, patio furniture, emergency folding chairs for large dinner parties, and a rotted club armchair in the junk room that I wouldn't let a dog sit on, much less a human.

For your friend to have 19 Eames chairs must mean that every single chair in the house is an Eames chair. That, or they have far too much furniture. Either way, it's just a little bit tacky.

no more mid-century! please! lets try and be original and come up with something unique instead of just stealing from previous decades.

yuck our generation is so boring

On my budget, I can barely afford one. So uh... the person with 19 of them send one my way please...

I think the popularity of mid-century modern pieces among commenters on this site reflects the fact (in my opinion, that is) that such pieces work wonderfully well in small spaces.

I live in a 900 square foot, 1953 rowhouse in Alexandria City, VA, just outside DC. The main level is 450 square feet, which includes the kitchen and living area. A standard sofa and chairs from, say, Crate and Barrel, would simply overwhelm the living arearoom.

However, a Nelson daybed, a pair of armless Florence Knoll lounge chairs (found through dumpster diving), and an Eames plywood lounge chair together creates a great conversational space in my living room. And each piece
has a relatively small footprint. The Nelson daybed and Florence Knoll chairs, for example, are only about 30 inches deep, compared with what seems to be the industry standard of 36 inches.

Having been raised in Southern California (San Diego and Los Angeles - I miss LA sooo much!), I also happen to lgrew up liking mid-century modern design and architecture. It just made sense to furnish my home the way I did.

while i don't like the idea of that many in MY place, good for them. but i also don't understand those who don't see how it is spatially possible... 2,400 square feet is plenty large enough... there's 5 knocked out in that one picture alone.

19 is a lot, but not spatially impossible or limiting (there are at least 15 designs, and variations on several).

but it doesn't bother me nearly as much as those herein who declare themselves above and beyond eames (exclusion for those who don't like mcm). they impress themselves.

It sounds like it could be too much, but the chairs may work in context, especially if there's variety in the designs or maybe they have a giant dining table that requires lots of seating. In a house that's 2,400 sq. ft. the occupants have room to be creative. There's plenty of great furniture from other eras that could keep the place from looking like an Eames shrine.

Side note: I'm glad that I'm not the only one with a chair fetish. Can we form a support group to talk each other down from buying chairs we don't need but really, really want?

my home has 25 sitting places in about 1200 sq ft, including toilets, but excluding beds, tables, stairs, outside furniture, window sills, and floors. i too have a chair fetish and really should edit. but which to let go?

19 chairs isn't too much at twice the size but if they've got 19 eames where do they put the stickley, macintosh, hoffman, thonet, breuer, van der rohe, risom, wegner, olsen, ditzel, jacobsen, ponti, di carli,...........? let alone contemporary design, box store pieces, nameless finds and hand me downs.

i'd have to see it, but it sounds like too much sameness to me.

If these people had Marie Osmond dolls from QVC placed on all 19 of these Eames chairs, now that would make for interesting conversation.

I can say anything as I have too many!
see them here (one of each!)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/82525810@N00/566403454/in/set-72157602940258814/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/82525810@N00/566779613/in/set-72157602940258814/

that's why I started this:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/82525810@N00/2713708961/

and of course I've been diagnosed by chronic modern chairsitis. no cure. LOL!
-joel

Everyone has designers, styles, colors, etc they like, so I don't see what the big deal is. If you have 10 dining room chairs and 4 kitchen chairs, thats already 14. I can see how it would add up. Of course its hard to say without seeing it, but it might not be that bad.
And even if you have 19 individual of something- is it not okay to be a collector? At least they are useful and not 19 globes or 19 old keys, no? I feel like we all say that you should have in your house what makes you happy, but if its all Eames chairs we don't mean it.

I have 15 total (not all eames) I have a blend of new/vintage/ebay finds: bertoias, eames, prouve, emeco, nelson, etc... and I love 'em all! : )
joel

i have 13 fiberglass ones. my first one i found on ebay and didn't pay more than $50 (including shipping). and it was the first padded one i've seen so i snapped it up!
the other 12. by some crazy chance i found a guy who was selling them for $2.50 each! so of course i stuffed as many as i could fit into my tiny car! which happened to be 6 orange and 6 gray.
we're moving into a 1300 sf house and the 6 orange will sit in the dinning area, 6 gray will go to the covered patio, and the padded one will go into the downstairs studio space.

and yes, i'm a chair addict too!

Okay, I'm a bit guilty of going overboard on the Eames. But what can you say? Looks aside - the fiberglass, plywood, and aluminum chairs are SUPREMELY comfortable. They aren't fussy, and they work brilliantly in small spaces. They're super durable, and can be had fairly inexpensively (250 for a plastic chairs vs. 99 for an Ikea chair, or 199 for a CB2 chair)

Its true - a lot of folks default to them - but thats what happens when something is truly great. Yes, there are lots of other great styles and chairs out there, but who are we to criticize what people really like?

If you happen to like Baroque pieces - by all means, go crazy. It will drive you MCM friends nuts.

I should also add that having a designer you like isnt a crime. But if you amass one of everything - one eames, one bertoia, one corb, one saarinen...then you just might as well move into a DWR studio.

A home is about what you like, and what works...not what other people, with different tastes, in different homes, thinks you should like.

I took a look at the Moooi dining chairs. You've got to be freakin kiddin. Who pays $1900 to sit on burned wood? To each his own, but seriously..............

I don't have any Eames at all, but I fully understand how someone could go Eames crazy. I'm madly in love with La Chaise (which is, alas, way out of my budget).

The fact that Eames is readily available from DWR doesn't make it any less elegant. If K-mart wants to start selling La Chaise for $99 until every ticky-tacky in America has one, that would be fine with me. The design is the design -- it isn't good or bad based on who else has it.

I was thinking that my small 762 ft condo would all of the sudden have too much eames if i put some more in our place. We have a lounger and ottoman as well as a stool. I want to add 3 plastic armchairs and I would love a plywood lounge chair. That would be 6 eames pieces in a small space. Where as I agree it may be boring but I love the Eames designs.

Even though I don't think this idea will fly, I'd like to throw it out there: why call out if an item is Eames or Sarrinen or any other highly ubiquitous and obvious design item? Give some credit to the educated and informed readers, I know an Eames chair when I see it and don't need someone pointing it out to me. As for the inexpensive knock-offs and if they are being used, it doesn't really matter, they both have a similiar impact on the over-all space and do not need to be so blatantly distuinguished. Apartment Therapy is about the entire living space and the over-all environments we create. Sure, all the individual pieces come together to make the whole but when folks/magazines etc are constantly calling out 'labels', especially for items that are so obvious, it appears more about their vanity at letting others know they can afford certain items than focusing on the over-all goal, impressions of the space.

An overdose of Eames is far preferable to an overdose of, say, Pottery Barn or Laura Ashley. I would prefer a "modern classic" decor with a little upholstery, something that contrasts without jarring the senses.