Eva Zeisel...

Back in February when we went on our roadtrip with friends Brian and Kevin to the 20th Century Cincinnati show (more on the trip here) Jeff fell in love with a set of Eva Zeisel dinnerware in a Kentucky antique mall.  It was timely that we had just upgraded to iPhones the week before (and that we had Brian and Kevin around to actually show us how to use them!), so there we were....walking around the antique mall, thinking it over, researching it, wondering if we would ever have the chance to buy a nice set again.  I can always tell when Jeff really wants something, and he does have a "thing" for all mid-century dinnerware/servingware/glassware and so it wasn't long before they were wrapping them up at the cash register.  We found out that this set of dinnerware from Hallcraft in the Holiday pattern was reproduced in 1999 in conjunction with the exhibition Lost Molds and Found Dinnerware: Rediscovering Eva Zeisel's Hallcraft . The molds for this collection (Tomorrow's Classic) were thought to be lost and the production of this line ceased in the 50's.  Once we were back home in Northcrest and hanging out with some neighbors, our friend Lukas told us more about it and helped fill in some holes on the research we had done.  He also has a lovely set of Hallcraft Tomorrow's Classic in a different pattern.  Here is a portion of it, including my favorite, the serving platter.

Ebay search for Eva Zeisel:

searching for...the perfect dining room lighting

Owning a mid-century modern home is like being on a 20-year restoration plan, forget that 5 year plan to get everything just perfect.  This may be due to the number of projects that my husband Jeff and I have on our list, in various stages of "done-ness", or our willingness to search ebay and craigslist relentlessly in an effort to find the perfect mid-century fit for our home at a reasonable price.  On our list of the latest things we are searching for is the perfect pendant lighting to hang over our dining room table.  One of the very first things we did when we moved here in 2008 was to change out all the lighting.  There were some travesties of the 80's that included a louvered, smokey glass pendant light in the kitchen and a quintessential brass chandy in the dining room.  We installed some "interim" lighting to make it look like home until we can find the right match.

(dining room now: current lighting, embroidered drum shade; vintage walnut dining set, Kudzu Antiques; fabric on chairs, Thomas Paul; platter, Eva Zeisel "Holiday" line.)

We love the look of the Nelson bubble lights, produced for the Herman Miller line in 1947.  We imagine them in a trio, hovering above our table. 

There are also so many interesting pendant trios out there, like this one found in a google search.  This is a really amazing light, and would match our kitchen and dining rooms wonderfully, too bad it was already sold.

In the meantime the search will continue until we find that absolutely perfect and semi-budget friendly vintage fixture!