Flokati- it's a rug, it's a throw, Vietnamese silk lanterns.

Last week, I headed out with my friend Laurie for yet another urban picking adventure. We make a day of it with the goal of heading to our favorite estate company and then thrifting and shopping the whole way home.  This trip did not disappoint and although I would say I am not really in spending mode right now, I got some great items at a relatively low cost which always is good!  The highlight of the trip is always a great view of Manhattan from NJ.  I find that shopping in this area gets me a different selection of goods that are not readily available in the more country area I typically shop.  

My favorite picks are the two Flokati rugs I bought home.  I already have one of my own, so both of these are listed for sale.  The Flokati is of Greek origin and is made of wool.  The pile is left long and it has a great shag.  They are used as a throw over a couch, bed or bench and as a rug.  They have some weight to them too.  These are both in excellent condition and have no stains or issues.  One is a larger rectangle size and the other is smaller and almost square.  Take a look and see if you can accommodate one.  They are great for MCM purists, boho and eclectic decors and more.  They add a real nice texture to a space and are a great neutral cream (natural wool) color. Both are listed in my etsy and chairish shops. Great holiday gift!

WIKI: A flokati rug is a handmade shag wool rug. Making flokatis is a long-time tradition of the Vlachs in the Pindus mountains. The natural color of a flokati rug is off-white, but they may be dyed different colors. The entire rug is wool, including the backing from which the tapered shag emerges. After the rug is woven, it is placed in the cold water of a river to fluff the shag. They continue to be handmade in the mountains of Greece and are regarded as desirable in American modern decor and children's rooms.

Next up, to go along with my recent Asian kick, which, by the way, is TRENDING right now!  I buy what I love, but so many times I come home with stuff and start poking around or get an email and whammo, there is my new found style, already being marketed and discussed in one of my markets!  I just got a mailing from F Schumacher, fine purveyor of fabrics, wallpaper and accessories that I have a trade account with and they are launching a fabulous fabric panel line all with beautiful Asian designs.  I do pay attention to current trends in the design world as that is how I stay relevant.   So I found some beautiful Vietnamese Silk Lanterns.  In Hoi An, they celebrate every full moon with a beautiful lantern festival in which thousands of silk lanterns are hung about town all aglow.  I picked up 3 of these lanterns, all with an inner bamboo frame system that collapse for easier storage and shipping.  They are VERY large and I find them very attractive in a grouping but am pricing individually.  The smallest one needs some glue and I have not repaired it yet so have not listed it.  You can find them on etsy.  

I get lost in this beautiful painting. The black background is actually green foliage and pink accents. It was amazingly done! 

I have worked through the art and ming tables I picked up the other week and most everything is live on etsy and chairish.  I hung the paintings in my living room for safe keeping while they wait for a home and I am in love with them.  The details are lovely and it really classes up my space.  I know whomever takes them in will love them just as much.  I added everything I know about the artist, which sadly, is not much.  Most of it from observation of being in her home and not necessarily facts about her art career.  

I just accepted an offer on the Adrian Pearsall Jacks end tables.  The kidney shaped cocktail table is still available.  I will hopefully be looking to bring some of the upholstered items from this lot home shortly.  I keep going round in my head about them.  For as much as I'd love to restore them and then list them for sale or even coordinate the restoration for the buyer, I really do not have the kind of budget to invest into them without having someone lined up to fund it.  I may just offer them as is for the buyer to do their own coordination.  I have a house full of items I have a lot of money invested into and they just do not seem to find homes fast.  It makes me sad but it is what it is.  I cannot tie more money up into things that sit for a year or more.  That said, if you really love them and want me to help you get them done, I will gladly and enthusiastically take on the project.  

As the push to the holiday season approaches, I will be trying to get through some back stock to list and may even thin some of my personal collections.  I did just list an amazing tension pole lamp that I was planning on keeping but decided since I have another to restore that can replace it, I will let it go.  Keep checking my Facebook and instagram for latest additions to the inventory as I usually post it there first.  

Heading out for the weekend so any sales that come in will be shipped Monday.  Have a great weekend!  xo Malissa

Caning, Asian influences, shopping with a friend and good housekeeping practices because it's the LAW.

Greeting! After a busy few weeks, I have just completed restoration of a homemade oak rocking chair with cane seat and back I picked up earlier this year.  I took it on because I have successfully replaced sheet cane early in my restoration career and decided I was ready for another go.  I am happy to report it all went smooth and the chair is now available!  Here are a few pics from the process.

The first pic is the chair as found with a blown out back.  Step 1 was removing the old cane and spline.  The best way to accomplish this is with a $40 steamer.  The steam loosens the old glue.  I would say it took the better part of an hour to work the old cane free.  Then I visited my local basketmaking and caning supply shop (yes, that is a THING!) called the Country Seat and they helped me match up the cane and spline to the right sizes.  The spline has to be big enough to fit in the channel tightly as that what keeps the whole structure intact.  Then I returned home ready to work.  After soaking the new cane and spline in water for about 20 min, I got to work using the wood pegs to insert the cane into the channel.  Working from side to side and and making it taunt.  Once I had it all lined up and inserted as I liked, I would trim off the excess, cut the spline to size beveling my ends for placement.  Then adding wood glue in the channel, inserting the spline, pounding in with a rubber mallet and my peg and wiping off the excess glue.  Overall, this project took about 3 hours of my time.  The chair looks fantastic!  If you have an eclectic style like I do, you may fall in love with the texture of caned and woven goods. Sheet cane replacement can be tricky, but it is a lot easier and less time consuming that outright caning!  Stop by my etsy shop if you want to read more about the chair. CLICK HERE

While I was at the caning shop, I picked up some material to repair a 1930's Heywood Wakefield rattan rocker.  It is shown on my Diamonds in the Rough page.  I am going to get started repair the one arm that is a little dogged up and then redoing the seat.  I have some golden yellow fabric I thought would be a good choice with the aged orange finish of the rattan, but I am open to  using a pattern.  If you want to claim this baby now I will finish it per your specifications.  Amazingly enough, the rattan is actually a very tight twisted paper and not a reed at all!  When I snapped off a piece to take it along to the shop, I was suspicious and the woman at the shop confirmed it!  I will be replacing with a reed in the area that needs repaired and hoping I can do a close match of the orange paint to blend it in.  These kind of details are always challenging and fun for creative types like myself. 

NEW ITEMS.

I just picked up a few new items that I am getting ready to list.  I love to know the history of what I find so being able to select things from the home they lived in is a fun yet melancholy part of securing my inventory.  I was able to visit a home that is getting cleaned out after it's owner recently passed on.  She was a working artist who made her living selling prints and original oils.  I am still trying to get more info on her business but she did copyright everything she sold so there were definitely savvy practices being followed.  Her home was filled with late Bombay Company furnishings in near perfect condition.  I picked up a pair of 2005 era MING style end tables in a black finish with gorgeous burl tops.  I quite enjoy the Asian style and think it would be a great match in an eclectic or boho décor.  This will be photographed and listed in the next 24 hours- hoping for no rain and a little sun! I also picked up 2 very large original oils on canvas in beautiful gold gilt lighted frames.  They are both floral subjects.  One is marked Not Copyrighted DO NOT SELL.  The other has been copyrighted and her notes show pricing and editions for canvas and paper reproductions including her asking price on the original, $4,000.  I am trying to get some more info regarding where her work was being sold and what galleries she had relationships with.  

One  of my friends mentioned they wanted me to look for a couch for them.  A few hours later a lovely living room set gets texted to me from an estate guy I buy from. Well turns out my friend was as smitten as I and trusted me to handle his deal. He got my full services including condition evaluation, pick up/delivery and a complete cleaning and sanitization.  He is handling a structural issue with the couch himself.  My Facebook page blew up after I posted the pics so I think lots of people loved it! It is Bassett Premier, often misattributed to Adrian   Pearsall.  It is in amazing condition too! Looks great in his home and I get to visit them. 💕

Speaking of sanitizing, in other exciting news, I decided to apply for a license from my state to be able to tag my own used or restored upholstered goods after I clean and sanitize with one of 2 products the state authorized to be used. I chose Steri-Fab, which is an insecticide, germicide and fungicide.  I will vacuum and steam all upholstered goods and follow with sanitizing all areas I can get to, I am certain that not all places do a thorough job with this especially thrifts, who are required to tag and any other retailer you shop with in PA.  I was letting my mall handle it for me but decided it would be something I would do for every customer I ship to. I am already following procedures but am waiting for my license to be approved so I can order the yellow tags. Buyers can remove them after receiving the item but it is piece of mind for all of us! I welcome local people to use my services! I would gladly sanitize and clean something you found or are selling commercially so you can comply with the law. Message me and we can talk about it!

HALLOWEEN

Just to let you know I have some fabulous NEW Halloween kitchen towel from Primitives by Kathy available locally at my Fleetwood Antique Mall space and currently a few styles are on ebay.  Please stop by and check them out!  ebay.com/usr/madmodworldvintage

This towel available NOW in my ebay shop or locally at Fleetwood Antique Mall!

order now so you get yours in time!  

Thanks for reading, your comments and emails!  XO Malissa

Another mass attribution debunked, getting a little crafty.

I follow my gut when I am buying. I inspect a piece to look for telltale signs of 'better maker' construction, crave brightly colored interesting pieces or am looking through the hideous original upholstery and already imagining how to redo it.  Before I delve into my latest research, I'd love to show you these great little X BASE benches I just picked up.  I believe they are redone in this gnarly plaid flannel.  I see them with more tailored accents like buttons and piping and possibly a pillow top.

These great little accents are real popular in the interior design crowd.  I will be honest, I only took them on because they were a pair.  Some things are better in pairs....and these will be fantastic with new threads!

They would look great in a bold color like raspberry or teal, but I could also see them in the cream velvet I picked up a bit ago. I am full of refinished goods right now that I already invested into so cannot fund the upholstery work in advance of a buyer.  Here is a great chance to get involved in the project! I will coordinate the restoration for you and you can select your fabric! I started a section on my web page to feature items I have waiting for restoration.  Any of these items can be custom restored for you.  I will take them on myself as my budget allows but if you see something you love let's get it restored for you! 

THE LILY. 

Last week I featured a few new acquisitions in my write up which are listed and ready to go.  The one table, the Gilded gold lily, sent me on a research mission to uncover it's past.  Many dealers including the allmighty FIRST DIBS folk attribute this gorgeous little number to Arthur Court and I was going to try to crack this case.  

Chairish removes the background from the cover pic I send them so all of their listings look uniform.  Because my fees are highest in this market, I prefer to do all sales on Etsy if possible. Chairish has very good white glove shipping rates through plycon, however, so I always price shipping there on my largest or fragile items and would encourage clients to purchase there if that is the best rate for them.

Arthur Court, still around, is known for cast aluminum serving pieces, decor, and other small items for the home.  There are no mention of any furniture in the current inventory.  While this Lily base is cast aluminum, I have no reason to believe Arthur Court had anything to do with it.  One or two listings mention Drexel, so I take that and run.  Being at eBay at the right time led me to a piece of ephemera of interest.  It was a 1969 magazine ad for Drexel's Et Cetera line of embellished furnishings featuring no other than my Lily on the pic! No matter how large I made the pic, I could not make out the text.  There was a lot of text. I bought the ad!  I am a firm advocate of keeping a library of research materials and will splurge on catalogs, books and other items that feature my finds.  I appreciate those who take the time to cut this stuff out and preserve the history. Ads are sometimes the best resource we have to piece together the history of these items.  

a great ad, the back features an awesome Formica kitchen ad! In Orange and yellow mod glory!

The magazine, Better Homes and Gardens I believe, was dated 1969.  I learned that my lily has it's original glass, is definitely cast aluminum and was called a cigarette table.  Small in stature to use next to a lounge chair, and the petit table top to feature an interesting ash tray with enough space to hold your pack, a lighter and a cocktail. As cigarette smoking slowly fell out of vogue, so did the use of the association. Like many trends, they come and go.  There are still those who enjoy a puff here and there and also those who like to recreate that type of space just to keep the era alive.  Whether you choose this piece to accent your nightlife or to bring some incredible lifelike nature indoors, it is sure to charm you and your guests.  

My favorite part about the ad is the official description.  'The Gilded Lily-for real. This cigarette table reflects the originality in Drexel's famed Et Cetera Collection. A bunch of Gilded Madonna lilies bursts into full bloom to hold the glass top.'  💕 

So what about the designer? Well, I figured out the answer to that as well.   The caption under the pic ends in italics 'Designed by Drexel Design Staff'.  Arthur Court, the most tagged company (or person) on this piece.....no way.  Just another mid century modern urban legend. It is great when we enjoy certain designer's work.  I do love carrying highly collectible works from the era's best.  But ultimately, these are pieces you will be living with, passing down or reselling later.  Take the time to delve into the history.  I really try to find out about my items because I am intrigued and do my best to pass that info on.  Misattributed items does no favors to the artists who created them and it certainly is shifty, lazy and no better than a used car salesman. ✌️

On a final note.  I am in the process of stretching some of the amazing Frank Lloyd Wright reissued prints onto canvas for hanging. I figure there are some non crafty folk out there who would like to admire these great designs without having to sew or be creative.  If they sell quickly, I will invest into other prints.  This fabric is very expensive.  On the St Marks Print, I used a large frame as the print repeats every 17".  This way you really can see it.  I love it against my brown wall.  I will be doing the smaller blue print on smaller frames and at a reduced price as I can get more out of a yard.  Look for the listing on the smaller ones (11 by 14) over the next few days! 

Malissa

16 by 20 St Marks Print in natural linen with black print, 1955 reissue Frank Lloyd Wright for Schumacher.  3 are available but I can make more.  Fabric yardage available in 1/4 yard increments at $40 per 1/4 yard.  LISTED IN ETSY SHOP.

Large canvas priced at $75 each plus ship. This is an awesome opportunity to get some yardage or a ready to hang piece of fabric art before the stock sells out!