Thursday, May 3, 2012

Time to catch up a bit...Always something new and sometimes unusual in A Modern Line world...

I'm going to try and cover a few projects that have been in the works lately that some may find interesting:
First up is a mid-century modern bedroom set that I had initially passed up on a CL posting w/no pics. After contacting the seller for more information, I finally saw what was available and had some interest. Little too high for my budget awhile back, but still interesting...
In the meantime, I had a customer that was looking for a MCM king headboard with a bedroom set...Hmmm...maybe a match?
The headboard was advertised as a full/king. I've worked retail furniture for years and have never seen this animal! Full/queen. Sure. Full/King never! The set looked worth the hour drive to take a look, so off I go...
Here's a few pics of the set. I'd already removed some of the hardware for the re-do so you will have to use your imagination...





Here's the headboard as it came to me. This was originally meant to be used as shown, with the nightstands sitting in front of the drawered ends of the headboard. Strictly for a full size bed and after measuring at the sellers place found it to be about 16" too long for a king size. It would have looked totally strange with the extra 8" sticking out on each side if used for a king size bed. I'm an hour out of town with my trailer hitched and only some thrift stores between where I was and home and no solid prospects on filling either the truck or trailer. OK, even though I couldn't get the seller to budge much, I decided to pick. It only gets stranger from there.



The set consisted of the dresser, mirror, two nightstands, chest and headboard. Most of the pieces were in pretty good vintage condition. A few small veneer issues, but nothing major. The headboard was the main problem. I contacted my potential customer and explained the situation on the headboard. They loved the set but I needed to resolve the overly long headboard situation. Had to fit a king! Call me a bit crazy, but the only way to make this work was to carve about 16" out of the center of the piece and reassemble! I advised I would have to put some trim pieces in to cover the cuts and they came up with a great solution. How about some nice MCM diamond patterns... I liked the idea and the game is on...



First some reinforcement blocks...




Patient is prepped and prepared for surgury and we remove the suspect extra length and look to rejoin. Not as clean as I'd planned but acceptable...



My customer didn't have a problem with some center cuts on the shelf showing as they were likely to have something centered in the shelf anyway and the diamond pattern cover trim looked great...
Structurally very sound and the whole set has been delivered to their new home. Yup, they loved it all! Posting about their very sweet 1969 ranch later...

Next up is a really nice find for some lucky customer...A 1964 Kent Coffey dining room! I'm not sure if the Coffeys ripped off the Broyhill Brasilia line or the other way around, but this is one super nice set! I've personally found the Kent Coffey manufactured pieces to be just a bit better quality than the Broyhill pieces. They both worked out of Lenoir, NC and were certainly competitors. Anyone want to offer their opinion?





This set is in great condition and ready to take to a nice MCM home!

I've got to admit, I've made some errors in judgement in buying in the past and I'm hoping this is not one of them! A very nice couple stopped by the store the other day with a project piece(s) they had initially intended for a DIY project but ran out of steam and room to complete. Now I personally have more than enough DIY projects to keep me out of trouble for a long time, but...




Even though this sectional was sans it's original seat cushions, I just could not pass it up! Yes, it's going to have to be completely reupholstered even though the orange and gold brocade looks great, not good enough to put in the store...Have yet to find any manufacturing or design attribution but this is nearly 12 feet of 1950's swell! The good and bad news... I know my upholsterey pros can take care of this! They can bring this lovely piece back to it's glory. The bad news is the what it's going to cost...I'll keep you posted when it gets back up to speed...
I have a danish style sofa that's currently in progress for a total rehab that I'll post about sometime soon...Too many projects and too lttle time...
As always, thanks for taking a look...










11 comments:

  1. Devon Cobb-TappanMay 4, 2012 at 7:48 AM

    I LOVE that sofa!!! I've been looking for a good asymmetrical rounded one for awhile, are the couple just paying for the restoration or consigning/selling as is? If you see any similar one keep me in mind!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I purchased this for the rehab. It should be up for grabs in 3-4 weeks. I will put you in our wish list book at the store!

    ReplyDelete
  3. That is a fantastic job on the headboard; what a great idea with the diamonds!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks! My customers are using a diamond motif in several different areas of their ranch and it worked out great for the headboard redo!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I've never heard of such a huge headboard! Great idea for customizing it. The sofa is going to be spectacular when it's redone. If memory serves, the Brasilia line came out in 1962, so I'd say that Kent-Coffey cashed in on its success.

    ReplyDelete
  6. The headboard was a pain to get home in my truck. Too ling for either the truck or trailer and it just had to hang out the back of the truck. The date sounds right on the Basilia and I too would guess Coffey road Broyhills coat tails on this as well. Still need to pick out the fabric for the sofa. I need something really nice but probably a more neutral color. Any ideas??

    ReplyDelete
  7. Yikes to the upholstery bill ahead but I'm sure it will be worth it, fantastic sofa. I've seen similar sofas done in solid navy and one in a navy that had white piping that looked very simple but sophisticated(I preferred the matching piping the girlfriend liked the white). I know that's a lot of a dark colour but if you have a large enough room for this sofa there's usually enough light to offset.

    ReplyDelete
  8. David, thanks for your opinion! This sfa needs something that will make it really pop like the original, but maybe not as decorative as the Hollywood regency look it currently has. I've found if you get too carried away with prints and colors there is always someone who doesn't like. On the other hand it really needs something special! You don't come across these everyday!

    ReplyDelete
  9. The headboard is beautiful. Absolutely love it. The sofa is pretty killer too.

    On a side note, you seem to be one of the more knowledgable individuals in regards to Heywood Wakefield and refinishing so I wanted to ask you a question. I've come across a HW Sculptura double dresser at a decent price but it looks like it has been stained walnut. The stain is even throughout, but based on the "Wheat" stamp on the back it obviously was done by whoever owned it last. My question is, how much do you think this devalues the piece and in your opinion would it be worth trying to remove the stain or best to leave it as is? Any insight you could give would be greatly appreciate as I'm not that versed in HW.

    ReplyDelete
  10. OMM, I've been refisnishing H/W for about the last ten years plus and although I've had a few requests for other than than the wheat and champange for a darker danish look, I simply tell customers that if you are planning on keeping for yourself, that's fine. But if you have plans to sell down the road or just flip, most collecters would probably pass and you should look into refisnishing yourself or professionately. I love the Sculptura set and have a vanity in storage awaiting my attention!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Thanks for the input! I personally prefer darker pieces for myself, but this piece caught my eye since it was just over $100 at a junk store. It's in good to great shape and I hate to leave something like that behind but wasn't sure if I would be wasting my money trying to find it a new home without refinishing it. The price is very enticing though.

    ReplyDelete