1967 Lives Again!

It all started with a blue leather recliner; actually, a two toned blue leather recliner.  Furnishing a house with cast off furniture is a challenge I take up with every new location.  It's one of my favorite things to do as we move around.  It is a treasure hunt.  This time, Drake really threw me a curve ball when he fell in love with the very first piece of furniture he saw:  a cobalt blue "Franklin" recliner.  Actually, half of it is four shades lighter.  We finally realized the reason the chair felt so wonderful to Drake was it had been re-stuffed and re-upholstered.  Little problem - the new blue leather doesn't exactly match the old blue vinyl, but....IT'S SO COMFORTABLE.  In fairness, I'm the one who spotted this $25 chair in the myriad of craiglistings, and the owner was one of the people willing to see me the first afternoon we arrived in town.

Now, I'm stuck with a cobalt blue/sky blue recliner.  Yes, sort of like those powder blue tuxes of the 1980's; such a train wreck, and you can't stop staring trying to decide if you like it or not.  When I found the blue plaid sofa, it seemed like kismet, or destiny, or let's face it, just one up-man-ship to show Drake I can rise to any occasion.  The sofa first attracted me because the Craigslist ad was written as if the sofa was talking.  A very unusual approach to be taken by a seller, and a bold one.  It enchanted me enough I kept coming back to it.  My original idea was to downplay the blue recliner by looking for a boring neutral microfiber or leather couch.   In an instance of insane reasoning, I thought I could melt the blue chair into the background by surrounding it with neutral pieces.  Yeah, in a 15 x 15 living area, that would be happening.

As I realized I needed to make the blue monster a 'feature', the more intrigued I became with the idea of creating the authentic post mid century modern look.  Now I have a living room not "from 1957 but from 1967.  It is not 'cool'; it is not 'hip', but it is comfortable and, by gum, it matches!  If you remember, matching was a hallmark of 1967 right down to the wallpaper.  Or, as Drake put it, "coordinated".  The rest of the furniture is pretty humdrum, but my California living room is a beacon of kitsch in a land of hipdom.