July 4th fireworks, madmodworld style.

First off.  Mom has updated me that she has the muslin pretty much done on the seats of the Dunbar chairs.  I will have updates after the weekend.  Here is a pic I took this week when she was patterning.  The old muslin is on top and pinned to the new piece.

I spend my days sourcing and restoring cool mid century pieces, but in reality, I collect Heywood Wakefield.  My house is full of it.  I know, I have found some very cool stuff, but I do enjoy passing it on to those who appreciate it and like a bird aficionado, I keep a life list of designers I have had in my possession!  I will occasionally offer Hey Wake for sale and I am comfortable restoring it as I have many pieces under my belt now and as I purge things from my collection, I will list them.  I will add some of my restores in time, to my past saves page.

I made a Craigslist deal to buy a lazy susan coffee table.  It was super cheap and I was up for the road trip.  My seller works for a very high end antiques restorer.  They do turn of the century and prior and scoff at mid century!  haha  After some shop talk, he offers up a magazine table and an end table.  So my 5 hour round trip was now netting me 3 new pieces!  They all need restored, but for the price I paid, I will put the time into them. 

Lazy Susan table, magazine table and floating top step end table.  All need restored.  Coffee table is not original finish, but usable for now.

Lazy Susan table, magazine table and floating top step end table.  All need restored.  Coffee table is not original finish, but usable for now.

I look forward to knocking out some projects and will have a pair of step end tables in a 'rarer' form for sale once I swap out the one above in my living room.  The only Heywood I have available currently, is a set of nesting tables I restored.  I have no place to properly display them and they are so cute!  If anyone can use them, I have them priced very competitively at $500.  Most sketchy condition ones go for that price on ebay and a lot of sellers try to get $1000 for them.  If you are interested, please check them out in the shop.  I packed them for a tire kicker so they are ready to ship. 

After my return, I decided to take a look at the pair of American of Martinsville (Merton Gershun) Aluminum X inlay tables.  So weird as it is, these are 2 different sizes! The smaller one sits about 2" shorter and is also an inch narrower!  I have found none that size in my quick searches and there doesn't seem to be a lot of info out there on this series.  I got to work cleaning them up but one of the things I spent some time on is the X's.  The lacquer over them had yellowed with age so I spent some time with Q Tips and lacquer thinner removing it.  I am very pleased with the result!

The tables are a gorgeous deep walnut.  Besides the X clean ups, I also tried to clean up a scorch mark on the one top.  I was able to reduce it's presence.  Added 2 coats of lacquer over each to fix some finishes issues.  They have very nice patina and are ready for a new home. As far as step end tables go, these are low profile and very sleek!  I love the design.  This series has many pieces to add including dining sets and various living room pieces.  If you are looking for a nice set to collect that turns up at decent prices, this one should be on your list.  The legs remove simply for shipping.  The listing is up so please check it out for more info.  I have them priced per pair but I would be willing to split if buyer only needs one. 

I have been adding lots of new listings over the last few days so please pop in the shop and take a look.  Also I am featuring a coupon code valid through TOMORROW, 6th on everything in the shop excluding furniture.  Please grab the code on the promotions section of this website for use at checkout!  Thanks friends and more updates coming soon!  I will be working (on request) a write up of preparing and shipping with Greyhound so be on the lookout! xo Malissa