The pink velvet armchairs are a no-go. The others are good. And don't forget that IKEA has some great items that do very well in MCM decors for a fraction of the price.

Have you looked at CraigsList? In the NY area, you should be able to find some neat things.

I love that milo baughman sofa! I agree with the others on ikea and west elm. If you have the money, also check dwr.com or hivemodern.com out. DWR has an email online store too and if you hit the store right, you can buy floor samples sometimes. I think the knoll sale is coming up too with 15% off and free shipping. I've also found some great deals on things on ebay, although it seems like it's getting harder to find cool midcentury stuff. Also, if you live in nyc, I'd haunt all the cool mcm stores you guys have there! I know the prices are high, but my advice is to always make a cash offer. :)

Chairish is another website you could use that allows you to search for items available for local pickup. They have a lot of MCM stuff in a wide price range.

And Craig's list, but don't search for MCM or you'll pay a premium.

Or check out www.allmodern.com

Thanks for all the help on this people! I really appreciate it!

Anyway, I took a look at West Elms website and found some great looking furniture(although pricey). Perhaps i'll look at IKEA/Chairish/Craigslist next. Scripli also has some less expensive stuff from vintage/consignment stores as well.

Here's some West Elm stuff I found:

I have a chair that is almost the exact replica of the Milo Baughman chair although it is not scooped at the bottom. A friend gave it to me for free when she was clearing out her mom's house. My point is, your best bet for the real wood, real value stuff is garage sales, Craigslist, Goodwill, antique stores, etc. but you'll have to scavenge, which takes time, but could be fun. Do you have a car available where you could go "antiquing" on the weekends away from the city? Because the prices in NYC are probably going to be out of reach, but drive out a bit (in the right direction) and it will be a different story. I used to live two hours outside of NYC in the Lehigh Valley, there were several good used furniture stores in the Valley, plus the antique route, plus Goodwill, which I used to shop on my way to places, i.e. make a Goodwill run.

There's Design Quest, where I got a lot of "Danish Modern" stuff back in the day, but it is very expensive and IKEA is the place to go for the cheaper knockoff version of that look. Also furniture outlets. Most of my stuff I got hand me down and then recovered or refurbished somehow.

Check out estate sales, especially the kind where they only hold open days once or twice a month. You'd be surprised how many people are getting rid of the classic 1960's/'70's Danish modern teak units. I just saw a beautiful fold-out closet/vanity combo, about 4' wide by 6' tall, that would have made a perfect hideaway laptop desk. Flawless condition, solid teak, for $325.

Milo Baughman did most of his designs for Thayer Coggin; many of them are still in production. I considered him one of the greatest furniture designers ever. Mies van der Rohe did many beautiful designs - his Barcelona chair is iconic - but I never found his furniture or architecture very comfortable in real-life terms.

I recently replaced all our LR furniture. A very clean-lined, small sectional (chaise lounge and ottoman) from EQ3, and a second-hand leather club chair from an estate sale that was a steal at $125; both have that MCM "look":

We have kept our '70's teak bookcases all these decades and still love them. One thing I really appreciate about Danish modern/MCM is how well it goes with a beautiful rug atop wood flooring. We collect Orientals and Chinese rugs and they go beautifully together. Otherwise, use something abstract and graphic.

Walls/ceilings were neutral, flooring (whether wood or carpeting) was too, so accent rugs, window coverings, light fixtures, and accessories were used for punches of bright color. Save up for a really great light fixture - think modern, European, or even retro Jetson:

Just FYI cherry and light walnut stain blend well with MCM teak. Don't mix Danish teak (which is actually Thailand teak) with Brazilian teak; it's a different species and the color isn't as complementary.

We needed a desk chair for a small spare bedroom so I wanted something sleek and in-scale. I wouldn't use this (below, photo) as an everyday chair, but for the price it was an excellent buy (you can read my review dated Jan 2, 2016). The look is very clean and sleek, the chair is surprisingly solid (for something inexpensive; our DR chairs are actually Herman Miller wheeled office chairs); rolls very easy.

http://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/Mid-Back-Wood-Swivel-Conference-Chair-in-Leather/10137781/product.html?recset=534dc1c5-97aa-41d0-be31-6d39ad8ecb90&refccid=OEDQKLJK3XHK56SDQQAXT6NNAI&recalg=828,512&recidx=1#reviews

Have fun with your redecorating!

DD2 just bought the dresser from the same West Elm collection as the night table you posted. It is extremely heavy and well-made. She saved shipping costs by picking up at the store. Took three of us (DD2, DH and myself) to flip over once leg/base was attached. I was afraid if we dropped or held it wrong the weight would have broken a leg. She bought during a sale, so if that's what you want, sign up for emails (usually get X off your first purchase). She bought a bed from them also, and it just appeared one night - online sale. I grew up in a furniture store family and was impressed with her purchases from West Elm.

I don't have a car, but i could always rent one. Also, I've never been to an estate sale so i'll have to do some research and find some happening in my area; perhaps i can find some nicely priced high quality furniture.

I'm worried about how Milo Baughman chairs may be uncomfortable. As much as I want to spruce up my apartment, I still have to live in it so I want a balance of comfort and nice aesthetics.

Real Milo Baughman chairs are very comfortable - but they also run in the $1500+ range. With any knockoff, you must sit in it to decide how comfortable it is for you/your guests.

IKEA has its uses, just remember much of its construction doesn't last more than a few years. It's great for fill-in pieces; their Poang chair, for example, is very comfortable and now comes upholstered in leather. Get it with the medium brown stained frame and I defy any of your friends to realize you only paid $160 + tax for it. It has beautiful lines to go with MCM or DM.

Consider this a long-term work in progress. I'd strongly suggest you make up a diagram of your space, including all measurements (windows, including height from floor as well as width/height).

Then make a list. What do you want to keep, and what can be replaced?

THEN start looking. You need to fall in love with something. It could be a chair, or a lamp, or a rug, or a piece of art. Even a vase, perhaps! Once you have that item to focus on, work your purchases around it.

Start training your "design eye". Look everywhere: thrift stores, garage sales, furniture departments, magazine ads.

Be careful of distractions. It often happens that you'll find something wildly exciting that doesn't go with your overall plan. It is perfectly normal to love several different styles or color schemes....but save them for another room. Scattered focus is the enemy of good design.

It's like building a wardrobe. You can do it haphazardly, and every morning have to toss through your closet to find something halfway decent to wear. Or you can do a little planning and exercise some self-restraint, and then it takes you 2 minutes to get dressed no matter what's going to be happening in the next 15 hours.

Jakkom offers some great advice, try to make an adventure out of looking for things you might like in your apt. Get out and do some shopping at some cool places you find out about. Come here and read posts that interest you, you can get some great ideas. When I had my house, I used to keep a little slip of paper in my wallet with a list of some of the kinds of things I needed for the house, so when I was out and about, I would be able to remember if I needed something or not. It's kind of nice to know that while you have a perfectly adequate floor lamp, you're really looking for something the same basic height and size, but way cooler. That's why I started out with hand me downs thinking I could always upgrade piece by piece. In the end, I have found that the quality of the hand me downs has often far exceeded any new things I have seen in the stores, and the price sure was right for the hand me downs! Over time, it has developed into my "look" which I call MCM Grandma! For example, an old lamp that was anachronistic in my house for years and years but I just never found a replacement for, is now super hot again and the young folks who come over think I'm uber hip!

OMG Jakkom on the prices for the Milo Baughman stuff, I'm going to have to take a closer look at my chair and find out if it is an original or a knockoff. I know it is of the MCM era, not a repro. It has the original faux naugahyde dirty white vinyl covering. Sadly, it got nicked in two places during my last move. Not sure at this point whether I am going to recover it or sell it. It's very comfortable, despite its lean modern looks. Despite it being comfortable, SO hates it, at least in its dingy white vinyl incarnation, and it doesn't go very well with most of my other stuff, although I pride myself on being "eclectic." We'll see how my furniture culling goes, it may be time to pass this chair on to someone else who will love it properly. I kind of like it, it represents to me the humor of something that was a complete garage sale can't get rid of item a decade ago and now is really hot, and also something of quality and value, albeit "out of date" by casual standards and yet still has intrinsic good/worthy style. "Character" I guess would be the operative word. Oh, BTW Bigeze, that's another way to have fun decorating your place, seeking out things with "character" which I think can be fun. Unless you just want to go out and get everything and have it be done and over with, which I can also relate to and understand. I'm often torn between the two instincts.