Adventures in Sourcing- Danish Style.

I have been fortunate to have been contacted by a local interior designer to assist in finding the perfect vintage dining table for her client. It has been a great experience and the family was fabulous. Shortly after this, I was contacted by a lovely gentleman from Long Island that was referred to me and he was looking for a tall order…..8 matching danish dining chairs, 2 captains chairs and 6 side chairs. It has been a busy few weeks and I will tell you how this all goes down.

Case Study: New with Old, mixing modern with classic Danish Modern in Kutztown.

First off, I was presented with some facts about the dining table hunt. Family purchased West Elm banquette seating and needs a pedestal style table so legs are not in the way of feet. Next, table needs to start small yet expand quite large to accommodate holiday gatherings. Ok. Next, they were thinking teak as the wood choice. It did not take me long to know exactly which table they needed. A more common Danish design in which the legs formed a pedestal under a round tabletop that opens with the legs expanding under the ends in it’s oblong transition.

The table is iT’s shorter configuration is A great size in a small room.

After discussion with the client, they agreed this sounded perfect. I am not in a Danish hotspot. Waiting for this table to turn up in my circle is just not an option. I got on the hunt and the goal was to find this table under value….which I would consider $800-1000. I turned one up….in Syracuse, NY. It was very reasonable and looked to be in great shape. The seller was willing to work with my shipper so I contacted Scott and Jill, who live up that way and travel up and down the east coast moving furniture, with occasional trips to Dallas and Ohio. They have delivered many items for me and are lovely people. After getting their price and adding a nominal commission, my final price was at the lower end of retail. Perfect. With the client’s blessing, I made the purchase and started rolling. When you use a shipper, private or white glove moving company, you can expect this process to take many weeks. I will get a general estimate when I book but things can change as they get closer to the date. Private shippers are also available in the evenings so there is a chance that your delivery will take place at night or on a weekend. They do their best to accommodate your schedule and will reach out to you when they are finalizing their route. The table was delivered and I wished Scott and Jill well in their travels until I need them again. It was in beautiful shape and had some great features like locks to keep the table closed when there were no leaves in use. I oiled it with Danish Oil and prepped for delivery. When it finally got to it’s new home, the new seating was waiting. It looked great! I enjoyed seeing where it will live and the features in the home that were laid out by the designer. She has a great colorful eye and the space was really put together well. If you are looking for a specific piece of vintage, and want me to hunt it down for you, I would be happy to assist. My goal is to obtain under value so that with the addition of shipping and commission I am still at a reasonable number for you.

Fully expanded, this table can ACCOMMODATE a crowd. Note the legs expaNd with the table. PEDESTAL tables can be tippy without this ingenious design feature.

Case Study: Longing for Danish Dining Chairs in Long Island.

In this custom sourcing adventure, I will say I was pleasantly surprised to get involved with a long distance client. He was referred to me by a friend of a friend. Thank you for referring me!

My client is planning a large family reunion in his home for Thanksgiving. It is very important to him that his guests are accommodated and his style is impeccable. He knows what he wants and sends me a pic of style. 8 dining chairs, 2 must have arms. Danish. This is totally a first dibs kind of request in that to find a set of 8, you can’t find them without buying from another dealer, who most likely built the set themselves. I started to look. I quickly found a very lovely set and reached out to the seller. These super high end Erik Buch designed chairs for OD Mobler are absolutely stunning! Popular enough that you can build a set if you need to. Sturdy and ample, unlike other Danish chairs I have dealt with in the past. After communicating my intentions, I have a buyer and will be mediating the deal, I am a professional seller, I will be sending a shipper, yada yada, I am greeted with a willingness to proceed.

JUst beAutiful! Aged teak with lovely joinery, extra soft foam work makes them super comfy and unlike most Danish, they have very large seats! Worth the splurge!

My client loves the chairs. I negotiate him a much better price than advertised and keep in mind, I am saving the seller fees, which he is passing on to us. I find out some history on them. The seller used them for the last 8 or so years, he bought them from a military family in Colorado, who brought them back from Europe. He is in Chicago. I get the negotiating squared away and then contact my east-west coast shipper, Jackie, and it turns out she was heading my way and could get them for me. I love when things go smooth. A week later, I have the chairs and am seriously in love! Oh and my seller was so amazing, he offered me 2 additional chairs that need to be restored at a price I could not refuse so they came along as well! They will be getting new upholstery and added to my inventory! My meet up with the buyer is scheduled in a few weeks and I hope he loves them as much as I do! It was great to help him find his dream chairs and overall, he paid less than some sets of 6 out there with all my help.

Great side profile!

I am pleased to offer sourcing services. Think of me like your personal shopper. On another note, I just brought back a chair from the upholsterer you may want to see!

Rebuilt with new foam, new seat cushion and new fabulous upholstery! Mid century gone modern. Very much in love wity my latest restoration!

Handsome from every side! Gorgeous designer fabric in white velvety tweed and high sheen teal or peacock overstitching in a random abstract allows thE light to dance off beautifully. I never was one for white furniture but the touch of blue is faNtastic and it adds light to a soace instead of draB. I am thinking about ordering more for my pearsall couch i love it so much!

LoTs of details! Piping or welting, notched seat cushion and Although it us mid century in stature, it is wider than many era chairs. Next to my modern couch, you can see she is smaller than today’s overstuffed and overplumped styles. Great when you have an older home with smaller rOoms!

Beautiful from behind too!

What a difference from the day I dropped her off! I also have a nice swIvel rocker ready to go! If you want to customize your own mid century beauty, i can heLp you get it done!

This chair is now available for purchase! You can get an instant shipping quote in my Etsy shop. My guess without checking is about $299. If you are east coast I might get it a little cheaper with a private shipper but in cases like this, chairish may be the way to go. I can help you make sense of the logistics if you reach out to me! I do not expect this amazing piece to be here long! 💗💗💗💗. XO Malissa

Shop and save! Lots of markdowns in my Etsy shop! Sale runs through oct 31.

Lights, Camera, Action, my weekend on film, in the credits and providing a prop for an upcoming release.

This week was such a whirlwind! I am exhausted from selling 3 days plus a day of set up at a local event. I still have a van to unload today. Here’s a run down of my week!

Day 1 of Extravaganza: dealer day. I looked up from my table, cocked my head, smiled like a Cheshire Cat and said, “I know you!” To Mike Zohn of the smash hit ‘Oddities’ which follows his picking and selling adventures for his Manhattan shop, Obscura Antiques and Oddities along with his partner, shop mates and a cast of freaks, weirdos and performers coming in the shop looking for the strange and unusual. It truly is one show my family enjoyed together while it was on Netflix. Mike said it is currently available on Amazon for streaming and there is talk of more filming to come which is exciting! He was a super nice guy and I enjoyed our brief chat as I have seen him at a few of their Oddities shows but never approached him to chat. I made it to the black. That means I earned enough to pay off my rent for the event in accounting speak! 😂

Mike Zohn (Oddities) after i chatted with him looking for TREASURES. He Was carrying a real sweet ouIja board with him which surely was pre parker brothers.

Day 2- my favorite eats in the market, Nancy’s Mediterranean Food, sent out a wagon full of goodies to work the crowd for breakfast and I was thrilled to grab a piping hot breakfast turnover. They need to add bloody mary’s to the menu next time!

Every day i arranged DIFFERENTLY and swapped some merch. Day 2 and 3 i brought in my vintage camping delights.

I got tipped off from the gal working the gate that Carson Kressley would be here Saturday with a camera crew filming for a pilot. Well, I glanced back at the Vanagon, looked down at the rainbow striped Benetton rugby I just bought….and was like…it’s ON! I will lure him over like a moth to the flame.

My dollar clearance tarp was A huge hit! Most things i sold over the show were $5 or less. I was there to cLear out old stock but did bring a few low end Restorations to show Shoppers and the feedback i received was aMazing!

I got set up on Saturday. It was busy! I was digging through my medical boxes with an Obstetrician and his wife. He was finding some exciting obsolete items to use for teaching and educating those around on what things were used for. In the midst of this (and please note, I found a box of anal dialators in the morning and left it out on the table), Carson shows up and spots the dialators and away he goes! You could not plan this if you tried! He was totally unscripted and all events were actual. The crew would occasionally direct on where to stand or make us pose in front of the van and once I heard his gal say….ask about xxxxxx. Well if he got any other interviews as good as mine went, we are in for a fun show! This was definitely for a pilot on Discovery channel I think. No name mentioned. We will have to wait and see. I did sign the release to be on the show, Carson grabbed my card on the way out after gushing over a chair I restored. Overall, it was super fun and I hope his crew got me at a better angle that my husband did! He got a 20 sec clip I had to copy this still from! He’s fired from being my paparazzi! 🤦‍♀️

The doctor is In the blue shirt. Carson holding the anal dilator. I believe that is the technical term as well. Ha.

After an exciting Saturday ON FILM, I was excited to head back to behind the scenes. Earlier this year I offered to source a few vintage items needed for a local film project being shot right here in Reading, Berks County. Although she did not need much, the producer guided me to find some things she needed for some flash back scenes in the 80s. They were shooting over the summer and now it was time for the pre-screening. The film was readied in rough form, to be viewed by those who made this vision come to life. The actors were there, the crew and friends. So many great local businesses volunteered their spaces for on location shoots too. It truly was a community effort! The film was fantastic! I gushed when I saw the placement of the quilt I found for them, which happens to have been made by my husband’s step mother’s mom! The plot was great and the imagination even greater. From here, the film will be tweaked and finished….formatted properly, etc then entered into the film festival circuit. They estimated another local screening open to the public in about a year, then it will be available to buy or stream, however they plan to distribute it, which has not fully been determined as of yet. I will definitely keep you posted on the future of this film and am hoping to get a still shot of the quilt scene in a few weeks!

Dust Nuggets movie pre-screen at hamburg strand. Packed house of cast, crew and friends.

Credits from the film ‘Dust Nuggets’ scrolling on the big screen at the pre-screening with cast and crew.

One last thing! Last summer I sold a Lyons Industrial Tool Cart to a production filming in Philadelphia. Because I delivered the item to them, I met the gal who sourced it and a gal that worked for the facility they were using to film. The movie release got pushed back to November 22nd. She was turning my cart (with another) into a kitchen. So it will probably have a butcher block or some kind of top on it now and I will most likely have to wait until video to really ‘find it’ in the background. The movie looks great as the trailers are starting to come out. Go see 21 Bridges this fall! Shot in Philadelphia.

Looking forward to working with more film studios in the future! XO MALISSA

Collectors Consigning with Collectors- musings for my newest venture.

I am so thankful my friends and past clients, Danny and John, chose me to help them downsize their collections as they embark on a new adventure in condo living.  There are many times in life when you are faced with your bulging collection and space, time and storage issues.  I am using this experience to set up spreadsheets, procedures and thoughts for an official contract for future consignments.  

My thoughts so far, this is a lot of work.  It is probably not worth consigning small, low value collections.  This is for mass quantities of high end stuff or a combo of both.  I also will be faced with what to do with the residual items as time goes on?  I was thinking after an agreeable amount of time, slashing prices.  Contacting local dealers to buy out the remaining items, etc. My goal is to realize the highest values for your stuff as the market will bear, pack and ship safely and deal with the customer service, make appropriate bulk deals with shoppers.  

What can you expect?  Well, it’s hard to say until we get rolling.  The Barbie market has really surprised me.  Collectors are ravenous and willing to buy multiples for combined shipping. These are all in mint condition and never removed from the box.  I have competition on these listings and am pricing in line with recent sales and things are moving faster than my own inventory! That is great news!  I try to keep my shipping costs low and I am begging friends to save me smaller to medium boxes, packing pillows and other materials.  So far, so good.  

Here are some additional thoughts.  I make more money buying bulk at low prices and selling high myself than I do consigning.  I do not always have the cash to purchase mass quantities of inventory and especially high end inventory so consigning works great as it is no upfront cost for me.  Here’s probably the best thing so far.  I picked up 2 carloads of inventory last week.  I listed the furniture first then the Franciscan Starburst as that fits what I normally sell.  My own fan base was excited and I sold some china out the gate.  Next I started the Barbies on eBay.  I have gotten though 3 boxes in 3 days with close to 15 boxes total.  Since I started listing, I sold over $1000 worth of stuff and raised my consignors over $600!   I know in the estate circles I buy in no dealer would pay this much for this massive lot.  I have not even touched the surface! So much more to go!    Keep watch on these fabulous items in my eBay shop at eBay.com/usr/MadModWorldVintage and the mcm items will be headed to my Etsy shop.  If you think you have a large valuable collection and would be interested in consigning with me, you can reach out at anytime to get on my list! 

XO MALISSA