I had just left one auction house and was passing another one when my car wheeled itself into the parking lot after I spotted the “Auction Today” sign out front. I figured it wouldn’t hurt to drop in and hang in the back while the auction was underway.
When I got inside, though, there was no auction. The place was open for previews for a sale that was scheduled to start at 8 a.m. the next day. So, I commenced a walk-through just in case I decided to come back. The first room of tables didn’t hold my attention, but I found lots to like on tables and glass cases in a second room.
After hanging out at the tables and handling items for much too long, I knew it was time to go. Instead of taking the shortest route to the door, I took a detour through the furniture just to see what was there. As I rounded the corner, I instantly spotted this bright and bold chair that was the color of a lemon turned on high. The chair – its matching stool in its lap – sat atop a table, off the floor.
The chair was a marked contrast to the wooden furniture at this auction house and the one I had just left. At the previous one, an outside ramp the length of the building was crammed high and tight with vintage, antique and modern wooden furniture. There were very few pieces of color.
That was not the case at this second auction house. To the right of the yellow chair, but sitting slightly higher, were about a dozen mint green plastic scoop chairs (similar to the Herman Miller Eames chair designed around the mid-20th century by Charles and Ray Eames). To the left of the yellow chair were four bar stools whose pink leather seats had black piping.
This was not the first time that the color of an item had grabbed my attention more than the item itself at auction. Interestingly, two of them were yellow: a pitcher and a dining room set. The other included cobalt blue glasses and a lime-green flower frog in the shape of a swan.
I don’t necessarily consider yellow my favorite color, but I suppose that the brightness of it evokes a warm feeling. I could see that yellow chair lightening (both literally and figuratively) an arrangement of chairs and sofas for someone who was as bold as it. Guests would naturally be drawn to it. Those lovely pink bar stools would make any margarita taste good (and I don’t even like margaritas).
Seeing so much color made me wonder what others I could find mixed among the tons of furniture. So I went off to discover. This is what I found:
