Highest bidder
Laura
This past Saturday was another Berea College Surplus auction. I know we've mentioned our compulsion to attend this event in the past. Much of the furniture in my house was bought at previous auctions... We got there early to scope it out. At first, I didn't really see anything I wanted:
I was looking for a little table that I could trim the legs of to make a kid sized table for the upcoming year's homeschooling. I thought one of these would be perfect:
I got out bid.
Then I saw a tangle of chairs that made my stomach lurch (in a good way):
Why yes, these are vintage Herman Miller designed by Charles and Ray Eames. They aren't in perfect condition, but totally fixable. Katie and I stayed at the auction till the sweat dripping end, waiting for these. During the afternoon, we realized another woman was also very interested in the chairs. I proposed we have one of us bid on the lot, and then divide up the chairs between us. This is how I was the sole bidder, and the one to call out "one dollar each!" when the auctioneer asked what somebody would give. I also bought a group of 4 of these earlier in the day, so we ended up with 18 chairs for $21. What an incredible deal, it may be our best ever!
When I got home and was looking up replacement parts, I came across a great post at plastolux on how to restore one of these chairs. I'll definitely be referring to it soon.
Reader Comments (4)
WOW. If this post doesn't have half of the design blog world moving to Kentucky, I don't know what will. What a steal, I'm so happy my 2 favorite Kentuckians got their hands on these.
Such a fanTAStic deal on those chairs!! How awesome! My hometown is the Herman Miller factory base, so we would always see great pieces floating around at sales and while thrifting, but never that cheap!
Awesome purchase! I am a bit jealous! I need to remember to ask you guys when these auctions are. :)
Eames chairs for a dollar each? Lucky, lucky girls!