New Dining Set and Previews of upcoming restorations.

Summer has arrived with a vengeance here in PA!  I went from not wanting to hang out in my garage all day because I was freezing to death, to sweltering in the sun!  Progress is being made slowly and I will work through my projects.  My latest save is a gorgeous 1959 Drexel Counterpoint dining set by John Van Koert.  It is amazing!  Great lines feature a cherry top and mahogany ends and legs.  It has a very Danish look to it.  It is not mint, but cleaned up well.  I only have 3 chairs and not sure how easy it will be to add to them but any walnut or teak chair would look nice and currently trending are fun mismatched looks in the dining room.  I priced this set less than a recent sale for the table alone and am happy to be able to offer such a great set well under value.  I am also willing to recover the seats for you in black vinyl or any fabrics I have in stock.  You are welcome to do it yourself with fabric you have or buy as well.  My etsy listing is for pick up or regional delivery only in eastern pa, nj, ne md and de areas.  If you are in love and require shipping, my chairish listing should be live shortly and they will arrange your shipping.  

 https://www.etsy.com/listing/385045644/drexel-counterpoint-1959-dining-table-3 click here to view the etsy listing.  This is for pick up or regional meets/delivery.only. This gorgeous kilim rug is also available!

Shop chairish for shipping.  Chairish.com/shop/madmodworldvintage The original linen seat covers are stained with some holes, but I will recover to order!  Choose from black vinyl or some colorful fabrics I have in stock.

The table is totally customizable!  40" wide by 60" in length, but add three 12" leaves to max out at 96" long!  Great for entertaining!  Also note there is a great locking feature to lock in the top when using no leaves.  No accidental separation!   

Profile with all 3 leaves inserted. 

The locking device is easy to reach at one end of the table.  Turn the handle to lock or unlock when you are not using any leaves.

View of top. 

Items in the queue. 

i am sitting on 2 awesome Heywood Wakefield end table sets that will be refinished.  4 total floating top step end tables, 1 large corner end table and 1 coffee table.  I will probably sell in sets of 3.  If this is something you are looking for, reach out!  I can use either wheat or champagne and will refinish to order.  I also have a cool Heywood magazine table in my booth space at Fleetwood Antique Mall that is priced 'as is' or with me refinishing it.  Reach out if it is something you are interested in.  

Recent acquisitions in the restoration queue. 

Keep your eyes on the etsy shop!  I can tell you my last few listings sold fast!  A pole lamp in under 24 hours!  I have another ready to list!  Here is a preview!

Kick ass atomic pole lamp listing soon!   

Consulting.   

You have some items you want to sell but have no idea what it is worth!  Fear not!  I will gladly do market research for you so you know what you can expect and what your selling options are.  I have been available for friends and family but would gladly spread the love to my clients and fans. Reach out if you would like assistance and we can come up with plan of attack at a reasonable fee.

 Thank you!  

Thank you to all who have purchased from me!  I enjoy working with you and the best compliment you can give is sharing my info with your friends!  Your referrals are welcome and appreciated!  Xo Malissa  

This week- coming adventure in Pyrex Swapping!

Next weekend I am going to be heading to my first Pyrex swap meet in the Baltimore, MD area!  I am really excited to meet up with other collectors and their families.  Should be a fun time and I already have a few trade deals hammered out so will have lots to tell when i get back!  For those of you who are interested, I will definitely do a write up on the experience!  This is a nicely organized event and I believe they are expecting about 75 collectors/shoppers plus family and support!  I am pretty much all packed- Pyrex wise, and will add some other goodies of interest from my inventory as I pack the van. 

Not sure what is up the with weather this week but it is cold and yucky once again in the Northeast.  I have a list of projects to do but am waiting for warmer sunny weather to spend days in my garage working.  Before I start my next restoration, I have a few things to finish on items I have listed.  The chrome dinette chairs I just listed will be taken apart so I can clean the chrome underneath.  There was a lot of surface rust on them, but it cleaned right off with some tricks.  I can get the underneath better by taking the legs off to finish.  I try my best to clean things up and these were very labor intensive, but I want them to look great for their new home.  That said, I also found out about another rust removal product I would like to try on the vinyl.  One chair has some rust stains on it.  Hoping this might do the trick.  Generally they are in ok shape and the pattern on the vinyl is so awesome!  Here is a look.

Set of 4 Dixie Dinette chrome kitchen chairs in fabulous atomic vinyl!

LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!!!  <3 <3 <3  Close up of this awesome pattern!  Dark blue, light blue, grey, metallic gold and silver.  It is fabulous!

Diamond Chair update:  I have this chair listed in a few major markets because, well, I know it is not for everyone.  I received a message from a lovely woman, Mary Thorp, who found my listing and thought enough to reach out and let me know she approved of my restoration work.  It makes me truly happy for feedback like this.  This woman founded the Harry Bertoia Research Project, which catalogs known pieces of his work.  Ms. Thorp is a lecturer, aficionado and expert on Bertoia.  Knowing how much the artist and his works are loved and admired, I am very proud to have gotten a response out of someone who is an expert in this area.  If you are lucky to own any original pieces of Bertoia sculpture, you may register them with her page.  Mary is an asset to preserving the legacy of the artist and his works.  Fabulous!

I think things are starting to move again.  I have had some sales over the weekend and things are shipping out.  A little relief in a stressful time as my husband is still on strike…..we are 5 weeks into it and growing weary and poor.  Thank you for your support as every sale is much appreciated!  Have a great week and look forward to a great review of the swap next week!  

xo Malissa

Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend.

Welcome to the grand finale of my latest restoration!  I spent Friday trekking to my friend's to retrieve my diamond chair, now all welded and super shiney in it's gloss black powder coat finish.  I started the trip by swinging by WXPN's free at noon because it is totally free and a great place to hang out when in Philly on a Friday!  ​I almost talked myself out of stopping for foam thinking I could fill with cotton I already had. As I was waiting to get on my ramp to cross town I realized that was a dumb move as the supplier I go to in Philly is a wholesaler and if I get home and decide my cotton idea sucks, my only choice is Joann's and that place is overpriced with a not always stellar selection.  So I got off 676 at 8th and headed to Katz's Upholstery.  I decided on 1/2" foam and got 2 yards.  I took my roll and headed to NJ.  My friend was at work so I collected my chair, left him a Vanagon part I picked up for him the night before at our local supplier, used the restroom and headed to an estate sale he tipped me off about.  Due to my slow recent sales and our strike situation, I was not in the market for much but I did snag 2 pair of vintage Sears binoculars and a cool melmac ash tray.  

I left town with a kick ass cherry pie and headed back to PA, just in time to take my kids to a dance at their school.  ​Of course I was thinking about my chair while my kids were dancing to 'shake it off' but the work would have to wait!  

Saturday I got to work on the cover.  Over the last week I opened the seam maybe 12" or so, then dumped out the powdered foam, scraped as best as I could at what was stuck to the fabric inside and washed in the tub by swishing in cold water with a mild detergent and rinsing a few times.  I did test the fabric and it is indeed wool.  I hung over the side of the tub to dry so as not to stretch the fibers.  

Washing the cover.  Yuck, eh? 

My first step was to cut the foam.  Remember, I am using in a 3-D contoured situation, so I realized I would need to compensate.  I started by cutting the left side to match the side of the chair.  Using a bag of flour to weight the seat down, I followed with the right side. There is excess foam now that needed to be removed so I decided I would cut a V out and the center top and bottom, then spray adhesive to close it up.  ​

Removing the foam excess to contour the seat. 

My spray adhesive idea worked well once the glue started getting tacky.  I placed the foam inside and evaluated.  I thought a little cotton would help fluff it out a little so cut a piece the width of the chair and put on top of the foam.  The kids tested and said yes, the chair was comfy and they loved it!   

Kid tested. 

So this morning I got to work sewing it all back up and then took my pics.  I did decide to list the chair because I have a lead on another I could repeat this on and would like to save it if I find a home for this one.  So here are some pics, see listing on etsy for more details if you are interested and please send friends! If you know anyone looking for furniture and appreciates my era, please send them to my shops!  I would greatly appreciate the referrals! ✌🏼️  Thanks a bunch and thanks for all your support!  I had a great April in the mall!  Xo Malissa https://www.etsy.com/listing/279478194/knoll-harry-bertoia-large-diamond-lounge

Naked.  Look at her shine! 

In her threads. 

Besides the foam deterioration, the cover is in great condition!  Charcoal wool with some orange ombré into white threads through like stripes.

The shock mounts were cleaned and conditioned.  They would be expensive to replace but luckily, these are still in great condition.   

Original label dates this to the 50's.  I suspect this is an early production chair.  So happy I could help it get ready for it's next 70 years! 🎉