Broyhill Brasilia sacrilege...Brasilia fans may want to look away! Status? basketcase, at least for me...

I normally try and keep my posts to more of the positive aspects of MCM collecting and rehabbing and refinishing all manner of fun MCM stuff, but I just had to share with you on what you don't ever want to do to a well built piece of Americana. WTF was someone thinking?? Judging from the less than perfect linguistic skills of this particular seller, there's no telling! This an actual Craigs List posting my wife came across today. I think she was trying to punish me or something. She knows how much I like the Brasilia line.

 

5 DRAWER DRESSER IN GOOD CONDITION.SOLID MADED. 100 DOLLARS OR B.O. MAY NEED TO BE STRIPED AND/OR REPAINTED. PLEASE E-MAIL OR CALL 727-768-6499. ITS NAME IS BRIEVILLE.

And here's the link if you think you may have an interest: http://tampa.craigslist.org/pnl/fuo/3141542443.html

 

It's too late now to look away!

 

Made me want to put my face in my hands and sob! Sadly this will likely not sell to someone with better skills that myself to save it and will probably turn up at the landfill. If I had a strip tank I might give it a shot, but at the asking price it's a better bet that someone will throw another coat of paint on it and maybe it will enjoy a few more years of abuse.

What a shame!





Broyhill Brasilia curio curiousity, solid walnut Bissman nightstands-stunning! and maybe a bit more...

As usual, I'm behind in posting once more. It's all these projects that seem to jump out of the woodwork! First up, we have the saga of the Bissman solid walnut tall nightstands. As I'd never worked on solid walnut pieces before, I kinda knew that I might see some challenges I'd not encountered before. These didn't disappoint!

 

 

Here's where we started our adventure. Worn but still in great shape structurally. Just need some new clothes! Little easier said than done...

 

Initial sanding went pretty well with just a bit of whiteish residue. No problem, I was thinking about a little stain and that should cure that, right? Wrong! This residue promptly stuck it's ugly head through ever test area I threw at it. I think this was a wax build up from over the years that had embedded itself into the grain. Back to the sanding and start from scratch...

 

After quite a few more hours and uncounted sanding disks, I finally removed 95% of the wax. In the long run it was well worth the effort as you can see below. I did a test run shooting with a clear satin lacquer and it looked so pretty I didn't have the heart to touch this with any stain. I even considered just putting down some teak oil sans any lacquer. I may try this next time though...

 

Believe me when I say these pics do not come close to showing how great these turned out! If someone wanted an absolutely drop dead gorgeous desk, these would be beautiful separated with a custom cut glass top! No large file drawer, but can you see it?? 

 

Now about that Brasilia curio curiousity thing...

My wife stumbled across a small Broyhill Brasilia china base and deck that was not labeled as such on CL a few weeks ago. The seller had simply listed as vintage and the pics weren't too bad and the price was reasonable. The listing was quite a few days old and about 45-60 minutes away. Set up an appointment and expressed I was very interested. Please hold and there's a very good chance I'll take off your hands. Upon arrival, there were more than a couple of issues with the pieces. Two of the drawers would not open and close properly and there was some pretty major tattering of the veneer on the right side of the china top bottom edge. And the whole thing was kind of sticky to the touch. Yup, this thing needed some work and the seller wouldn't budge on the price despite the problems.

Well, I'd driven the distance so I went ahead and took this on. Sometimes I'm a glutton for punishment. As it turned out the seller had simply taken it upon himself to just wipe over the piece with some stain to "enhance" it's beauty and cover some of the damage. After we had removed the deck from the base in loading, he offered to throw some stain down on the balance of the base top that he hadn't already fuc**d up. I politely declined his very generous offer and now know why the pieces were so sticky to the touch!

As the base was the fastest fix, I set the top aside and refinsihed the top of the very scarred up base and marketed in house as it stood.

  I really planned on getting the top done and in place for the complete china but the day I took this in it sold as a base piece for a TV stand. OK, now what do you do with a china top and no base? Here's my solution to the problem. Whether or not you love this or hate it, I like this particular turn of events and it can always be undone!

 

One of a kind, and will fit with the rest of your Brasilia motif, I offer up a Broyhill Brasilia curio cabinet! The china deck deck on this particular setup really doesn't have any particularly Brasilia inspired lines except the hardware. Here's the end product with some 14" pencil legs that were  freebies from a friend. They were blonde but easily refinished to match.

 

 

With the 14" pencil legs in place, this piece stands at just over 5 feet tall and about 46" wide. Plenty of room to decorate with some smalls above or some nice art to compliment over it. Complete with some cheap crap Chinese Wadell hardware from Lowes (had to return one of the mounting brackets that didn't make the threader, gotta love the quality control from oversees!) and some new studs in the legs to match, this baby is really sturdy.

Let me know what you think of this particular redo for a china deck. Everyone coming through the store is always looking for credenzas w/o the tops and I think this idea may fly for those looking for a small curio cabinet. Now I just need to find more of the 14" legs as anything shorter may be a bit awkward and look a bit too stubby for a curio...Look forward to any input either way!

 

I'll save some of the other stuff for a later post. Please feel free to comment and follow along. I seriously enjoy the input and although I do monitor posts, as long as they are not spam I will let them go, for better or worse! I can take the constructive criticism in stride and appreciate your input! Also, if you feel so inclined you are welcome to repin any of the above to your Pinterest Pages for others to critique!

 

 

 

 









 



Bissman night stands? and a Heywood Wakefield end table redo along with some other fun and funky stuff!

 There is always something pending in A Modern Line world! Finally got caught up on other customers projects and started jumping back into some things I needed to get done. Yes, some around the house projects are always pending, but they seem to take a backseat to the fun stuff although I try and work some of these in to keep some balance.

Awhile back I acquired a pair of Bissman "nightstands"? and a M793G Heywood-Wakefield end table. I had not seen the Bissman pieces before, but they definetely caught my eye as they looked so much like the H/W Encore suite.

Finish was mostly intact but a little too rough to market as-is. These are some tall pieces for nightstands @ 32" high unless you have a high bed. I've considered marketing this as a desk and getting a piece of glass cut for across the top but I'll leave this project for a prospective buyer. I plan on stripping down for a total re-do.

Obviously Bissman cared a lot for the quality of the furniture they produced. Here's a couple pics of the drawer glides that the factory installed. All the drawers of these pieces work just like new! Rubber backed steel bumpers in all the drawers and inside cabinet. Quality all the way around!

One more pick for the attribution:

Solid Walnut? Absolutely! No veneers anywhere in these pieces! From what information I could glean from searches, Carl Bissman first designed homes and moved into the furniture business. There seem to be a limited number of pieces still available although all seem to be of exceptional quality. Maybe the business model made the furniture too well and the customers wouldn't need to ever replace. This was well before the planned obsolesence of todays furniture and everything else!

Next up a quite abused M 793G Heywood-Wakefield end table that was acquired from the same source. This particular table is being reproduced by the new H/W company (we are now dealers for them) but this is the vintage model. The plan is to do in the "champagne" finish unless someone catches me before the finish goes down and wants in wheat. Not nearly as bad as some of the pieces I've done but still may prove a bit of a challenge!

As I've mentioned in earlier posts, I'm not a fan of 50's cream/blonde veneered furniture although I did manage to bring life back to some fun atomic styled pieces awhile back. Here's the earlier post if you have an interest: http://amodernline.blogspot.com/2012/05/1950s-atomic-furniture-fun-and-happy.html

My wife acquired this desk because of the fun lines. Good price, not so much fun to work on. I probably would have passed, but once it's here you have to do something with it...

Veneer was pretty much shot and as much as I hate to paint anything this had to have some redo so here's the result. Love it or hate it, it will hopefully go to a new home. Low dough price and would make a great piece for a kids room and not have to worry about how long it will last or how it stands up. Way more solid than anything built today and easily redone to fit your decor! And all the laminate top and edges are still in great shape so no worries about drinks and the like...

Hopefully back with the finished results on the Bissman pieces as well as the H/W end table soon.

A Modern Line



Bit remiss about posting, but not for lack of projects. Just time!

First up, I have to say that our chair contribution for the exhibit at the Tampa Museum of Art was not only fun but we managed to liberate some of the chairs we brought forth to new homes in the following days! Thanks for all who made it out to this great event! And we made lots of new friends that had never heard of the store. Win-Win!

Yes, all of the above have already found happy new homes along with some others! Can't say I'm surprised!

In the meantime we have had quite a few new very sweet pieces come through, and waiting to come through the door! How about some vintage bullet planters that needed a little TLC?

Much better in melon and avacado! The real deal...

Four Kofabco barstools. Yup, 70's and ready for your own 'Jungle ' room. Totally rehabbed and ready to take home! These adjust from 24" all the way up to 30" and every two inch height in between. Nice touch for specific dimension requirements!

Last, but not least is a super nice Danish Modern room divider we recently acquired. This is in amazingly great condition and ready to fill someones larger space for some separation issues. Found flat against a wall as a bookshelf, this shines from all sides!

Along with this really nice room divider, we picked up a dresser, that in the pics looked to be Brasilia or the Kent Coffey 'Perspecta'.

Coming up next post, another incarnation of another manufacturer that "borrowed" the lines and it fooled me! Very Best Furniture? And some nice Lane tables with tile inlays. Work in progress!!



Art After Dark "Please be seated" at the Tampa Museum of Art!

As I mentioned at the end of my last post, A Modern Line was invited to supply some retro seating for an art exhibit in conjuntion with our own Tampa Museum of Arts exhibit of 100 years/100 chairs from the twentieth century. This display is courtesy of the Master works collection from the Vitra Design Museum and includes some of the iconic chairs of the last century. It's a definete must see for anyone who loves the designs of the period!

Excited to be involved with this project, I've put some time and energy into fullfilling our mission. We plan on having at least 20 chairs at the event for attendees to hold them up, or down as the case may be!

My upholstery pros just returned this really nice Thonet bentwood chair with new cushions and fabric! I refinished the frame and they added the great new cushion! I'm guessing this may have been inspired by Alvar Aalto but can't find any attribution.

Two really nice Ingmar Relling for Westnofa from Norway pieces that are consigned at the store.

Vintage black leather on bent rosewood! Siesta and Lounge chairs. 

The always iconic Eero Saarinen for Knoll. Pair of these are going to the show.

Probably late 50's/early 60's Chromecraft swivel chair. Original fabric still in great condition. Threads of gold runnng though the material.

Not the best pic, but nice occasional chair by Regaline out of Miami. Really nice lines. Early 60's?

No attribution, but still great lines! One of the most comforatable chairs we have on the floor. I left the patina intact on the arms. Lovely as it stands.

Channel back 60's swivel chair from Carter Chair. Yes, it is comforatable...

Mart Stam design from the mid 20's. Hard to believe that this was designed this early. They have an original at the museum. This is likely a late 60's/early 70's production in leather and chrome.

Pair of fun and funky atomic fabric dinette chairs. No attribution, but wish I had a couple of more for a complete set. Great for a two seat dinette though!

Can't say that every chair we are providing has some great attribution, but it all will be be fun, funky, and some kind of retro stuff that will fit with the evenings festivities.

It's not all about us...There is going to be some great two dimensional art as well as some "art" chairs that should be great as well as film and perhaps some dance and music!

Check out Art after Dark facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=tn_tnmn#!/events/314973571925653/

 and the Tampa Museum of Arts page here:

http://www.tampamuseum.org/exhibitions/

If you're in the area, we look forward to seeing you on July 20th from 8 PM till 11 PM!