New Lights

On Sunday we went to Kaminski's Design/Decorative Arts auction in Beverly. Kira and Brandon met us there. The auction had so many beautiful art deco and mid century pieces! I wanted so many! Mike and I really had our eyes on three things; a teak bar/cabinet, an art decor light fixture, and two art deco floor lamps for the house. 

The first thing up was a beautiful art deco ceiling light fixture, but we were out bid by a phone bidder who paid over $600 for it. Our loss, but I'm sure another wonderful piece will come along. 

Then, these vintage floor lamps came up. They are from the 30s and came from a hotel on Wilshire Blvd. in L.A. They were pretty dirty and to be honest we didn't really take a close up look at them. Mike wasn't really sure, he thought they might be too big. But, I really wanted them, so Mike started bidding. (I don't like to bid alone, I am too frugal, and would have been out once they got over $50, Ha!) We set a budget beforehand and only went over budget just a tad. Turns out they are silver plated with a heavy walnut wood base. And I think they look beautiful in our living room.

The phone bidders that day really drove everything up. Things were starting off  way higher then the estimated value and in my opinion they were over paying for things. Kira and Brandon had there eyes set on a few things including a Chesterfield sofa. The sofa went way higher than the estimate, due to the phone bidders. The auction pace was very slow, painfully slow. They didn't have their stuff together and kept waiting for the phone bidders, delaying the auction, missing phone bids and going back to lots that closed. Which was really unfair to those of us sitting in the room for hours. But at the end of the day, they are trying to make a profit and the phone bidders are their money makers, so I guess I understand. 

After the auction we had a nice brunch at Alchemy with bloody mary's and lots of food. When we got home I polished the floor lamps, which brought out the silver shine. I think they fit in the living room really well. Especially with my awesome chaise. There are some things, I'm probably going to move to the shop, like my vintage suitcase collection, to clean up the living room. 

Have you had any great winning bids? 

~Alicia