#79 Modern Furniture
March 2, 2008 by clander
When white people envision their dream home, a key part of the fantasy involves a least one piece of furniture designed by a famous architect from the 1930s.
Architects like Mies van der Rohe and Le Corbusier designed iconic modern furniture that has inspired virtually everything made by Ikea and Design Within Reach, both of which are key suppliers of furniture to white people.
But as with all things, white people will do whatever it takes to secure authenticity including paying thousands of dollars for a small piece of furniture.
If they are able to acquire this prized furniture, they will forever refer to it only by the designers name. “I spend hours in the van der Rohe, just looking through these beautiful books of his work.”
Referring to a white person’s expensive chair as a ‘chair’ is considered poor form and will likely result in a loss of trust and/or respect.
The best strategy for avoiding this faux pas is to look for the most uncomfortable chair in a white person’s home and ask “who designed that?” If they say “Ikea” or “Design within Reach” you can call it a chair, otherwise refer to it only by the name they give you.
It should also be noted that many white people are unable to acquire this furniture, but that does not mean you cannot use this information to your advantage.
In situations where you need to improve your connection with a white person, just mention how you hope to be successful enough to one day afford an original piece of furniture by <insert obscurely named architect>. If they have heard of the designer they will nod in agreement, if they have not, they will also nod in agreement and make a note to look it up later.
In either case, your status will rise.
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Wow, I’ve actually begun using this stuff on white people and it really works.
I enjoyed your post and I’m one of the people you are writing about…
I’m a white person who loves mid century modern, post modern or what ever you want to call it, furniture.
I’ve loved it for 50 years! Way before it was cool to love it!
“I’m a white person who loves mid century modern, post modern or what ever you want to call it, furniture. I’ve loved it for 50 years! Way before it was cool to love it!”
^^White people like liking things before they are cool.
Ha! So true!
Stumbled on this site while doing research on barcelona chairs for an article I have to write…came up in a search…spent the last hour reading comments!!! I’m white, have one black daughter (five other kids…white)….single working mom who furnished my house with the rich white people furniture left for curbside pickup and getting used stuff from friends for the last 25 years or so (before I broke my back). I hate modern furniture. I hate writing about modern furniture. I have soooo totally seen the people you’re writing about…I’m over it…I have better things to do with my money…well, I have to get back to writing like I’m a rich person or something..just want to say I love your site!!!! And it’s great company party advice for us poor people too! I wish I kept in touch with my gay friends who could help me write these articles…
Great post, look forward to hearing more. Amazing to see how upset people get over a Blog post about Furniture. I guess it takes all kinds.
I like Shawn’s comment about just referring to almost anything as ‘mid-century modern’. Nice tact! If you can just remember a few designers names (Hans Wegner, Harry Bertoia, etc) you will have this approach mastered!
Good taste in furniture need not be that expensive there are some great designs at reasonable prices, I often choose unusual designs that can be less expensive than you think, a friend actually has conservatory furniture in the lounge that he bought at auction and it actually looks very good, suprisingly. You just need to take the time and make an effort to look around.
I’ve enjoyed your insight on this site, but I think you’ve missed the mark on this one, big time. White people’s tastes in decor vary widely and most fall into the tacky category, depending upon the region in which one lives.
I think you could have been more accurate by saying “white people like granite counters” or “white people like Sub-zero refrigerators”. I think these are funnier cliches to make fun of. And the fact that white people will go into debt to have these features in their homes.
One of the more funny things white people do is put in tiled granite counters in their kitchens when they can’t afford a slab stone counter. They think that they will impress other white people with their “granite”, however it actually does them more harm in social circles because their white friends now know they couldn’t afford the genuine deal.
Back to my point, implying that modern furniture lacks design value, and is somehow only for white prestige, misses the mark. It also hints at jealousy of those who can afford good pieces of furniture.
white chick and I prefer antique old wood stuff. Anything before the 1900′s. I dislike chrome, metal, brass and glass crap. Maybe in the back of my mind, I’m thinking, in bad times, I could warm my house with wood? Who knows, but I’d guess it’s the survivor in me speaking out, go wood, you can burn it, you can cook on it, yea, go wood, have a picnic.
http://www.mbrputra-art.com
tessss
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