Tomorrow’s House owner Michael Templeman spent most of his teen years watching his sibling collect mid-century modern furniture and joined him on a few shopping outings.
When he was 14, Michael bought his first mid-century modern piece at The Green Ant, an Eames fiberglass shell chair. From then on collecting became a passion. After a decade of studying and researching, Michael has taken that love of mid-century modern furnishings and turned it into a profession.
“My first shop was an antique shop in Portland.” Michael remembers. “From there I opened a shop in Boise, and then came down to Salt Lake. Salt Lake has a growing market for high end mid-century modern which is what I wanted to sell. I felt like it was a good opportunity to help the market grow with some of the other shop owners in town.”
Initially Michael’s shop was located next to The Green Ant on Third South. The need for growth led Michael to his current location. “I wanted a more upscale building that I could use to present my furniture in more of a gallery setting. A friend was renovating this old house on 800 East, and when I saw it I immediately fell in love with it and decided this would be my next shop.”
The new shop boasts two levels and hosts an in-house upholstery shop in the basement, furniture rentals as well as the ability to rent the space for events.
“What I love the most about mid-century modern is that it’s art, but functional art that you can enjoy on a visual level and sit on or eat at. There were so many styles and so much creativity in this era.”
Tomorrow’s House is located at 411 South 800 E. Open Mon-Sat, 11am-6pm. Closed Thursday.