Many more compagnies joined the club later on.
Axel Andersens Møbelfabrik
A.P.-stolen
Brande Møbelfabrik
C. F. Christensen A/S, Møbelfabrik og Trædrejeri
Dansk Møbelindustri
N. Eilersen A/S
S. B. Feldballe
Møbelfabriken ”Frem”
Hafnia Møbler A/S
A/S Albert Hansen's Møbelfabrik
Firma Carl Hansen & Søn
Firma Fritz Hansens Eftf.
Sigurd Hansens Møbelfabrik
Hansen & Guldborg
L. Heltborgs Møbelfabrik
Hundevad & Co.
Poul Hundevad
Jason Møbler A/S
Firma J. C. A. Jensen
P. Jeppesens Møbelfabrik
Aksel Kjersgaard
Koefoed's Møbelfabrik
Møbelfabriken A,/S Kolds Savværk
A/S Mogens Kold — Møbelfabrik
A/S Brødrene Juul Kristensen
Munchs Møbelfabrik
J. L. Møllers Møbelfabrik
Næstved Møbelfabrik
Oddense Maskinsnedkeri
Odense Stole- og Møbelfabrik
Firma Magnus Olesen
Georg Petersens Møbelfabrik A/S
Ry Møbler A/S
P. Olsen Sibast I/S
Firma Skovmand & Andersen
Slagelse Møbelværk A/S
Sorø Stolefabrik
Firma Andr. Tuck
Uldum Møbelfabrik
Møbelfabriken Vamo
Vinde Møbelfabrik
Brødrene Christiansens Møbelfabrik
CS Møbler
A/S Fredericia Stolefabrik
Fårup Møbelfabrik
Gern Møbelfabrik
Gudme Møbelfabrik
Firma M. P. Hansen & Søn
Haslev Møbelsnedkeri
Firma K. Knudsen & Søn
Komfort
Firma Søren Ladefoged & Søn
Chr. Linnebergs Møbelfabrik
Pandrup Træindustri
Silkeborg Møbelfabrik
A/S Randers Møbelfabrik
Sørensen & Christensen Møbelfabrik
Søborg Møbelfabrik A/S
Thisted Trævareindustri A/S
Søren Willadsens Møbelfabrik
What price should I ask for my vintage Mid Century Modern furniture? This is the most important aspect of the successful sale that most sellers struggle with.
There are many components to the price that should be thought over in order to successfully sell your vintage MCM furniture. I will explain in detail the most important ones.
AUTHENTICATION. You will be successful in sale if you know what do you have. It is much more difficult to sell if you do not know what you sell. Only a small part of the vintage MCM furniture sellers are the original buyers; the largest part are the family members who inherited furniture or are helping their elderly parents to downsize and move. Another large part are the second buyers who purchased furniture directly from the owners, auctions, estate sales or antique & vintage stores. In most cases, furniture origin information is not available.
Where you start? By looking closely on the back side or bottom of your piece to see if there is any manufacturer's signage. If that's the case, you are in luck, just google to find all available info.
However, in most cases furniture is not stamped or labels are lost. How to authenticate in such cases? You will start by looking online to find the same items, that a reputable dealer/ auction house already authenticated. Vintage sales catalogues from the manufacturers and stores are the great resource, but these are not easy to come by.
When searching online, you need to know what keywords to use. Usually it is not difficult to see what the item is meant for (a table, chair, sofa, dresser, bed, buffet and so on). Do you know what material it is made from (wood: teak, walnut, rosewood, oak, birch, beech, maple, etc or perhaps some kind of plastic or fibreglass, fabric, leather, laminate, chrome, glass, etc.)? Once you start "googling", you should find at least similar items, and see what keywords you can "borrow". This might lead you to information about the country the piece was made in, perhaps the years, and if you are lucky - manufacturer and even the designer. Sometimes one can google for days and not find the item. The reason might be that that this information is not available online or you are not using correct keywords. It is very important to understand is that the large part of vintage items can not be authenticated (perhaps they came from small manufacturers, that were never "famous"). There are online forums and groups that you can join and talk to the members who are more knowledgeable. Sometimes you will find the country of origin, and even manufacturer, but not a designer - check our online store to see how many pieces are not authenticated.
There are companies, who provide authentication services. If you have high end pieces, it might be worth to check with them but even they will not be able to answer all the questions.
A lot of people use 1st dibs for authentication purposes and price guidance, although information there is most certainly not 100% correct.
Most important, the 1st dibs prices are inflated, and as a rule, you need to divide their price by 4 to get something close to the market price for "normal" people. The buyers are not stupid, and will not buy at 1st dibs prices.
When looking for comparable items and prices, it is important to check the local market - stores and private sales. Again, buyers will not pay retail prices on Marketplace or Kijiji. They understand that private sellers do not have lots of expenses, and in many cases, inherited items for free.
Another component is furniture condition. If you are selling for cheap, the buyers do not expect great condition, but for the big bucks their expectations will be high. When checking your furniture, look with the eyes of the buyers - they will be looking for the defects, so should you. The goal is to understand what would be the cost if any repairs are required. Sometimes furniture, like sofa, can be in great shape, but upholstered in outdated fabric, so the buyers will want new upholstery which will be costly. The buyers will also not care about your sentimental value and will not pay premium for that.
Sometimes you have a high quality furniture that you paid a lot of money in the 1960s, but it the style is not trendy or popular these days, you will not be able to sell it for what it might be worth. Large teak or rosewood wall units are the best example of such a case.
]]>There are also ways to sell without doing much, except taking some photos and sending by email to "dealers" like us or retail vintage stores, or having the auction company to do the work for you, or talk to consignment store. Estate sale companies also offer these services. Your options will depend on your furniture, condition and desired price.
]]>I wanted to write about selling your vintage Mid Century Modern furniture for a long time, but it is really difficult to find a time for the blog, when there is so much refinishing work (that pays the bills). Anyway, I am here now for you.
You can sell your furniture by yourself on Kijiji, Marketplace, Craiglist or similar websites. They are free to post, and this is your chance to get most of the money (if you are willing to take your time and do something. I will come back later to explain about that).
There are also ways to sell without doing much, except taking some photos and sending by email to "dealers" like us or retail vintage stores, or having the auction company to do the work for you, or talk to consignment store. Estate sale companies also offer these services. Your options will depend on your furniture, condition and desired price.
If you are selling a well known (perhaps designer) furniture in really great condition, and want to maximize the sales price, make high resolution photos (3 MB at least (so that people can properly see your furniture from different sides), write a detailed post including all info you have about the furniture (origin, age, wood type, condition, dimensions); also let customers know if you can deliver, or is it pick up only (location!), what are the payment options (etransfer or cash) and post on Facebook Marketplace or Kijiji.
Some important details to know: if you have a set of furniture (dining room, bedroom, living room), try to sell as the set only. Why? Because there always be some items that everybody wants, and some items that nobody wants. For example, the beds are more popular than the dressers. King and queen beds are popular, double and single beds are not. As for the dining sets, sideboards, buffets, credenzas (not all, depending on their style) are more popular than table and chairs. Often we see the sellers stuck with the remaining parts of the set. Exception should be done for large wall units - these are very difficult to sell for any price, not just price that reflects they value.
To be continued.
]]>Buying vintage MID CENTURY MODERN furniture can feel a bit like a hunt, and the joy when you find some elusive piece of furniture you always dreamed about is long lasting.
Depending on your budget, you will find different places for you to check out: retail stores, online stores, auctions, estate sales, antique markets and private sales.
If you just starting, getting your first apartment, and have a small budget, you might want to look for not restored vintage MCM furniture from private sellers on Facebook Marketplace or Kijiji and Craiglist or similar. If you want to be successful at your “hunt”, you need to know some important rules of the “jungle”.
Please note that I only write about vintage Mid Century Modern furniture, not antique, art deco, etc. I also write about Canadian market, which is different from the American or European.
Market players. Besides the owners of the furniture or their families selling on these markets, you will see multiple small resellers. Some do nothing to the furniture they acquire, just post them for bigger price, some do not do much for furniture but rather take their time to stage them for their Instagram photos. There is also a 3 kind - who do some restoration. Interestingly enough, often their prices are better than those sold by the owners...
The main rule is ASSUME NOTHING.
Below is a great example of the private listing on the Marketplace, selling a vintage MCM table and 4 chairs for $2000.
What is not true: there is no teak at all; Walter of Wabash was an American maker of wooden extension slides, not the tables. Table legs and chairs are made of ash, and tabletop is laminate. Nice vintage Canadian made set, just not worth $2000.
Here is another seller, offering vintage stereo cabinet that clearly needs refinishing; it is made of walnut veneer, but in order to justify $2000 price point seller says it is solid teak. Depending on condition of stereo components you can buy similar piece for $50-$200.
Plenty of honest people say that they do not know much about the item, or that they think the furniture is made of teak, but they are not sure, whilst some are not that honest. Buyer beware; there is no returns here.
Here is expensive coffee table:
Compare to our teak coffee tables that are refinished to perfection (cost $600-$700):
https://midcenturymoderntoronto.com/collections/tables-desks
And here is expensive table, which is neither solid teak, neither Danish, and most likely needs some work:
Similar teak dining table, refinished to perfection (cost $1500), we sell for $2000.
https://midcenturymoderntoronto.com/products/refinished-mid-century-modern-teak-dining-table-w-2-leaves-62-100
3. Scammers. Whilst most people think that Marketplace and Kijiji are "safe" places, you might encounter many scammers looking to steal your money. Below are just a few examples.
How do we know these are scams? Because these are our photos and our furniture, that we sold, just not to the people listing them.
4. Condition - not as described. A bit TLC required
As a rule of thumb, it does not make sense to buy furniture that requires repairs or/ and refinishing if you can not do that yourself; I am talking about money here. In most cases you would be able to buy our refinished furniture for less, plus, you will not need to take your time at all to do that; you can order online from your sofa and get furniture delivered next day.
Just to give you some idea about the costs of repairs and refinishing, count at least $1000 for the refinishing medium size sideboard or dresser, same for the dining table, $80 to re-glue one joint of the chair, $150 to refinish one chair (not including any repairs). Obviously, the actual cost will depend on your item, condition, the re-finisher and your location but these should give you some idea before you do anything.
Some damages can not be fixed at all: burn marks, intense water damage causing veneer lifting, bubbling, veneer loss, deep scratches and gauges; you also want to be careful with structural damages.
Another important fact about repairs and TLC - if the table or a top of the storage furniture has only a one or a few dark spots or scratches, and seller says it can be easily removed with a light sanding, that is again not true. First, if you sand just the part with the damage, it will be very visible comparing with the rest of the furniture. If the damage got through the finish, the only way is to strip the piece with the chemical stripper and sand afterwards, and after apply the finish you desire.
If scratches are not deep, and you know that the piece has an oil finish, you will be able to remove them with very fine steel wool and Danish oil or teak oil. That will not help if your piece has a lacquer or polyurethane finish.
Next time when you see listing for furniture that requires a bit or a lot of TLC, you will know that there is no such a thing as easy repairs, otherwise, the sellers would fix their furniture themselves and ask for more $$$.
5. Great vintage condition - that is very subjective. Often, when you come to buy furniture in great vintage condition, you find it very far from great, but sellers say it is great for their age, just need cleaning and some TLC, which they never done themselves.
Some think that wobbly chairs are still in good condition (they say these just require gluing, but in some cases you have to dismantle all chair to properly glue one joint). It will take more than one week to refinish set of 6 chairs or so (if you know what you do and want to achieve "like new" condition
Also, be especially careful when you buy furniture located in the basement - in most cases something will be broken, something damaged (that is why it is in the basement after all), but you will not be able to see much because of the bad lighting. You will see all, however, next morning once you check it at your home.
6. Sometimes sellers change their minds and decide not to sell, but do not let you know in time, and let you drive all the way. The last example, Peter Wiebe (peteralanwiebe@hotmail.com) at 47 Devineridge Ajax. How would you feel if situation were reversed and you had to drive for 2 hours back and forth on hwy 401?
]]>Buying sofa can be a daunting task, there are many choices, many price points and sometimes it is hard to understand what the quality of the item is. Most people know what a nice-looking made in China sofa, bought for $700 – $800 will last only 2-3 years. And perhaps that is OK, provided that you know that. When we, as the customers, want cheap, that’s what we get; the manufacturer must use the cheapest materials to achieve the price point. To compare, just to reupholster your own sofa here, it will cost around $1000 just for the labor; add at least 10 yards of the quality fabric, high quality foam, and you will get $2000-$3000 sofa. Clearly, not every vintage or antique sofa is worth to reupholster.
One of the most important factor in the quality and longevity of the sofa is its frame; however, in most cases customers do not get to see it. What you want is a hardwood frame. The good upholsterer will dismantle and strip the old sofa to bare frame, fix what required (usually there is something to fix), check and change the springs or webbing if needed, refinish exposed wood parts, and will put new upholstery.
There is much more to consider when buying sofas. Danish designers made a lot of efforts to make their seating ergonomical, which you should feel immediately - their backs and seats envelop and support your body perfectly.
Besides construction, you want high quality foam and, of course, fabric that will last. Thankfully, these days one can find stain repellent fabrics, so it is much easier to look after your white sofa. The most known brand name in so called Performance fabrics is Crypton, but there are plenty of less expensive choices.
Talking about soft furnishings, it is great to pick up the upholstery color from the rug or favourite painting. If you already have sofa and chairs that are not matching, look for the rug that will have both these colors to tie- in everything.
There are different kind of vintage Mid century Modern sofas – some are made from beautiful expensive wood, like teak, walnut, rosewood that is completely exposed – here you can see every detail and will see immediately if something is broken.
https://midcenturymoderntoronto.com/products/refinished-mid-century-modern-solid-teak-sofa-bed-lounge-chair-will-get-new-cushions
Other sofas have upholstered backs and seats, sometimes sides as well; they also have springs or webbing as well as cushions made of foam on top. These are usually the most comfortable.
There are more kinds of vintage MCM sofas, like fibreglass ones. The most know example in Canada is iconic Scoop series (tufted sofas and lounge chairs), manufactured by R. Huber & Co. Circa late 1960's. They are incredibly comfortable. Due to the increased demand, it is getting harder and harder to find one. They are also expensive to reupholster (count at least $1000 for the sofa, just for the labor).
]]>
Experimenting with Charles Eames, Eero Saarinen co-developed new furniture forms and the first designs for furniture of molded laminated wood. In 1940 Saarinen and Eames took part in the "Organic design in Home Furnishings" competition mounted by the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
While Charles Eames continued to work on molded furniture in plywood, Eero Saarinen later chose other materials. For Knoll International, Eero Saarinen designed a great many pieces of furniutre, including the 1946-47 "Grasshopper" armchair with bent armrests of laminated wood. In 1947-48 Eero Saarinen designed the "Womb" collection, which was supposed, as the name suggests, to make those seated on it feel as secure and cozy as a fetus in the womb. The "Pedestal Group", dating from 1955-56, is an Eero Saarinen collection of chairs and tables made of plastic and featuring only one central leg ending organically in a round disc on the floor. The "Tulip chair" also belonged to this group, with which Eero Saarinen wanted to abolish the "miserable maze of legs".
In 1951 he designed the "Saarinen Collection" for Knoll, consisting of several office chairs, one of the first lines in designer office furniture.
Eero Saarinen's architectural masterpiece is the signature TWA-Terminal at J.F. Kennedy Airport in New York (1956-52). Between 1958 and 1963 Dulles International Airport in Washington, DC, designed by Eero Saarinen before his death in 1961, was under construction.
Son of a shoe-maker in southern Jutland, Hans Wegner, finished his formal training as a cabinetmaker with master cabinetmaker Stahlberg in 1930 before starting at Teknologisk Institut in Copenhagen.
He soon moved to the School of Arts and Crafts in the Danish capital where he became an architect in 1938 and started teaching in 1946.
In 1940 he joined Arne Jacobsen and Erik Møller in Arhus, to design the furniture for the new Arhus city hall. He started to work with ‘minister’ cabinetmaker Johannes Hansen in 1940 and showed his first furniture in the famous Hansen store on Bredgade 65 in 1941. Johannes Hansen was more than twice as old as the 26-year-old Wegner but the unique collaboration between the two became the undisputed backbone of Danish furniture design and the main reason for its worldwide recognition in the fifties and sixties.
The Copenhagen Museum of Art and Industry acquired the first Wegner chair in 1942.
In 1943 he started his own design office in Gentofte. A year later he designed for Johannes Hansen the first of a long series of ‘Chinese’ chairs. A series of at least nine chairs inspired by portraits of Danish merchants sitting in Ming chairs. Although most of them were designed for Fritz Hansen Eftf. the one designed in 1950 and produced by Carl Hansen & Søn in Odense became the most successful of all Wegner chairs.
The most well known is the one used by Kennedy and Nixon in their famous CBS TV debate of 1960. The friendship between Hans J. Wegner and another pillar under the Danish furniture legend: Børge Mogensen, produced a child’s chair and table that was still in production when the child it was designed for, Børge’s son, was over 50 years old. Almost as sculptural as Finn Juhl’s chairs, and as flawlessly proportioned as Børge Mogensen’s Hans J. Wegner is the most innovative and prolific of all Danish furniture designers.
He received almost all major honors given to designers, from the Lunning prize in 1951 and the Grand Prix of the Milan Triennale in the same year to the Prince Eugen medal in Sweden and the Danish Eckersberg medal.
In 1959 he was made honorary Royal designer for industry by the Royal Society of Arts in London.
His furniture is part of all major design museum collections in the world: The Museum of Modern Art in N.Y., Die Neue Sammlung in Munich and twenty other Museums.
Ohlsson received more than 30 awards including the Triennale Exhibit in Milan and the Good Design Show of the New York Museum of Modern Art. He lead the operation that has given DUX furniture its international distinction. In addition, his timely, but timeless designs are some of the world’s most copied. A patented, knockdown armchair, has been widely copied and mass-produced by more than 100 furniture designers.
Folke Ohlsson made a significant contribution to the widespread acceptance and tremendous popularity in the United States of modern Scandinavian furniture design. In recognition of his work, he was awarded Sweden’s Royal Order of Vasa decoration by King Gustav VI Adolf in 1964.
The Ohlsson family moved to this Atherton, California home in 1960.The home designed by architect Bill Houd reflects not only Ohlsson’s own designs, but also the designs of his friends and his taste in the decor of the time.
Møller completed his apprenticeship as a cabinetmaker in 1939 and went on to train at the Danish Design school in Århus. Later, he founded the furniture factory J.L Møller Møbelfabrik in Århus, Denmark, in 1944.
In 1946, the first chair, aptly titled No. 1, was developed, and over the next 13 years, with furniture being shipped as far as the US, J.L. Møllers Møbelfabrik was pressured to move to new and bigger premises on L.A. Ringsvej in Højbjerg, on the outskirts of Århus.
Model 71 dining chairs and dining table by Niels O. Møller; two armchairs, four side chairs. Teak and leather. 1951.
Møller designed the No. 71 chair in 1951 and it became one of his most popular designs. He went on to design other dining chairs and tables, coffee tables, sideboards and cabinets and serving carts but the No. 78 chair, launched in 1962, is considered his most impressive design, its subtle and elegant features rendering it a standard for design and quality of production.
In 1981, Møller’s company received the Dansk MøbelIndustri’s Furniture Prize. The citation for the prize mentioned J.L. Møllers Møbelfabrik’s ability to combine the best craft traditions with modern furniture manufacture.
Niels O. Møller passed away in 1982 leaving a legacy of excellent craftsmanship to his sons, Jørgen Henrik Møller and Jens Ole Møller, both trained as cabinetmakers. Jørgen Henrik Møller attended Copenhagen Design School in the mid 70s, where he designed chair No. 401 and armchair No. 402.
Jens O. Møller died in 1994, but J.L. Møllers Møbelfabrik continues to this day, managed by Jørgen Henrik Møller. His eldest son, Michael Møller, has joined his father and acts as a representative of the next generation, continuing a crafting tradition pioneered by his visionary grandfather, Niels O. Møller.
Most authentic Mid Century Modern teak tables are oval with 1-2 centre leaves, round with 1-2 centre leaves, draw leaf (extends with 2 leaves that are at the end of the table) – these are perfect for narrow spaces; you will also find some rectangular tables as well. Some models will be self storing or have a centre butterfly leaf, with some the extensions leaves will have to be stored in closet, etc.
We prefer extendable dining tables, since they are so versatile, and work best in today’s small spaces. You can see all these design options at our online store at https://midcenturymoderntoronto.com/collections/tables-desks
If you have an open concept room (living and dining room together), you may want to get low back chairs, since by letting your eye to easily pass through a frame the chairs will take less visual space, and the room, in turn, will feel larger and less crowded. Tall person would be most comfortable in the high back chair; in that case you may want to consider using two high back chairs at the ends of the table. Many people choose armchairs for their end chairs and get matching or not matching side chairs. If you have not matched chairs, using the same upholstery fabric will unify them into nicely looking “set”.
If you have a separate dining room, your options for the chairs are not limited. The most comfortable chairs are those with cushioned backs and cushioned seats; however, you will also learn, that most Danish MCM chairs are not only beautiful to look at but very comfortable as well (even with the wooden backs), and that’s because of their ergonomic design. If your room is rather plain, you may want to choose the chairs with interesting back, like these:
In the open concept room, you may want to make sure that your sofa upholstery works well with your dining chairs upholstery. We always have both sofas and chairs where you can choose your fabric. If you already have a sofa, let us know and we will help to make sure that dining chair upholstery would look nice with your sofa upholstery.
Talking about soft furnishings, it is great to pick up the upholstery color from the rug or favourite painting. If you already have sofa and chairs that are not matching, look for the rug that will have both these colors to tie in everything.
]]>If you are looking to furnish your home with vintage Mid Century Modern furniture, but do not know very much about the style or furniture, it can be a daunting task instead of a great pleasure.
If you have a reasonably good budget, your journey can be very easy: you contact us and tell about what you want for your home, perhaps the feeling you want to achieve, what rooms you are looking to furnish, send some photos, let us know what colors do you want for the soft furnishings, and we will do the rest.
We can even help to add/ find some non vintage items that would be a great fit for your home (rugs, for example) as well as help to incorporate the items you already have. We helped many families to create their unique homes; quite often, we managed that just by exchanging emails, photos, and phone calls.
If you are in Toronto, and have some available time, we will be glad to meet you and talk about your needs.
One way or another, the fastest way to familiarize with MCM furniture is to visit a retail store, where you will be able to see a variety of furniture and ask questions. Afterwards, you will know what wood you prefer: teak, walnut, rosewood or perhaps a maple or oak; what design table would be best for your particular needs, what kind of dining chairs (low backs, high backs, wooden backs, upholstered backs) would work the best for you and your home. The sideboards, credenzas, media TV consoles will be much more straightforward – know your size requirements, and just choose the one you like the best (make sure it will look good with your other furniture).
]]>Adrian Pearsall founded Craft Associates in Pennsylvania in 1952 to manufacture his own designs. By the late 1950s his designs incorporating walnut became hugely popular. Adrian was prolific with his designs and even at the height of production, allowed for custom work, making it very difficult to archive all of the interesting designs that were distributed throughout the world.
Pearsall’s influences included Vladimir Kagan, Nakashima and Knoll. He then added a confident flair of his own by utilizing fabrics, materials, bold shapes and colour combinations that had never before been seen in the mass market. Craft Associates went on to become one of America’s most prominent furniture designers during the mid-century ‘atomic age’.
Known for his daring designs which brought high style to the masses, he is credited with the creation of long and low gondola sofas, free-form walnut and glass tables, and the popularization of the venerable bean bag chair. As an industry testament to his achievements, Adrian was nominated for inclusion into the American Furniture Hall of Fame in 2008.
]]>
Kai Kristiansen is a Danish furniture designer best known for his smooth and geometric Mid-Century Modern cabinets, tables, and dining chairs. Working in oak, teak, and rosewood, the designer produced popular, pioneering pieces including the FM Wall Unit, Model 42 Chair, and Model 31 Chair.
Born in 1929 in Denmark, Kristiansen originally trained as a cabinetmaker and went on to study under famed architect and furniture designer Kaare Klint at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen. The designer opened his own office in Copenhagen in 1955, a space he shared with his contemporary Illum Wikkelsø in the 1970s.
In 2016, Kristiansen partnered with Great Dane Furniture, an Australian Importer of Danish furniture, to launch a reissue of his designs popularized in the mid-1950s. The designer continues to collaborate with designers and manufacturers, and lives and works in Copenhagen, Denmark.
https://midcenturymoderntoronto.com/products/coming-refinished-danish-mcm-teak-sofa-2-lounge-armchairs-and-ottoman-by-kai-kristiansen?_pos=2&_sid=c5ce5a7f6&_ss=r
]]>Danish industrial designer Erik Buch (pronounced Buck) was born in 1923 in Copenhagen. Buch used simple organic, smooth lines to craft distinctive mid-century modern designs. Like many of his Danish contemporaries, Buch combined fabric, and leather with nicely grained woods, such as polished teak, oak, and rosewood.
Buch first found success with his now-iconic Model 49 chair (1949). The chair features a curved “floating” seat and a classic Scandinavian modern aesthetic. Many of Buch’s designs are named after the year in which they were conceived, especially those produced by the cabinetmaker and furniture manufacture Oddense Maskinsnedkeri. (Oddense was renamed O.D. Møbler in the late 1960s or early ‘70s, which is reflected on the labels of later Model 61 productions.)
It is believed that Buch passed away in 1973, though some sources state 1982. Little is known of his personal life, but his professional legacy remains as his designs continue to be appreciated on the vintage market for their high-quality materials, solid craftsmanship, and Scandinavian aesthetic.
https://midcenturymoderntoronto.com/products/refinished-danish-mid-century-modern-teak-arm-chairs-by-erik-buch
]]>https://midcenturymoderntoronto.com/products/refinished-danish-mcm-teak-sideboard-by-johannes-andersen-for-silkeborg-perfect
]]>The good news is that it is not complicated; I always compare applying Danish oil to the furniture to applying lotion on your body - both do not require training or long practice:-)
]]>So you just got your new (vintage) furniture lovingly restored by us; the next step is to make sure you know how to keep it looking that good.
Good news is that it is not complicated; I always compare applying Danish oil to the furniture to applying lotion on your body - both do not require training or long practice:-).
But the first thing is to always protect your furniture from water, cold and hot drinks, plates and pots. It is easy if you have thick placemats, coasters easily available, especially for kids and guests.
There are 2 things you may want always have (I posted links to Home Hardware but check Home Depot or local paint store if more convenient):
1. Danish oil (we like medium walnut for most of the pieces; it will not change the wood color but will enhance it). It will be enough for years and years to come. Natural Danish oil or other colors will of course, work too.
https://www.homehardware.ca/en/947ml-medium-walnut-danish-oil/p/1895266
2. Fine or very fine steel wool:
https://www.homehardware.ca/en/6-pack-superfine-steel-wool-rolls/p/1665059
You will also need a soft cotton cloth (old tee shirt is our favorite) and gloves (similar to those that medical nurses use). Please do not use any store-bought cleaners, save your money and your furniture.
You will use Danish oil a few times per year to oil your furniture (it depends on humidity, sun exposure, usage, etc). The rule of thumb is to oil than you see that your furniture looks dull and dry, needs cleaning or got scratches.
Cover the piece with oil (like a lotion), let it dry a bit (10 min or so), dry with a soft cloth and use next day. If you apply too much and it dries, nothing bad will happen - when it is completely dry, use your steel wool like a sandpaper (lightly) until the surface feels nice and smooth.
Do the same if you get scratches. If you feel the piece needs more cleaning, apply Danish oil with the steel wool instead of cloth.
You can also use teak oil (not for outdoor teak), wax or Lemon oil instead of Danish oil or try interchanging these.
For routine cleaning use clean soft cloth (can be slightly damp, just not leave water standing). Do not use store bought polishes like Pledge!
Most likely it will take less time for you to oil the piece than it took for me to write this post-:-).
Thank you for visiting us!
All the best,
Asta
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I hear that very often...they do not make that any longer. It is true that we live in a very fast going and disposable world, but it is also true that there are many choices for anything we purchase these days - and that includes the same quality as in old days. It is also true that our parents and grandparents used to save money, get married, buy a house, perhaps buy a bedroom set one year, saved some more, bought a dining set, a car and so on. And most of them lived with the same furniture all their life.
Nowadays we want everything fast and cheap, and once we get that, we are surprised that things do not last as they used. But do not we get what we paid for? What we have chosen?
Talking about the furniture, at some stores and online we can find a nice looking media unit for $159. It will be made of MDF and painted on top. Sometimes it is solid paint, sometimes it is painted to look like wood grain. So that's basically pressed wood dust and paint. How can this last longer than one year? The step above is MDF or particle board with a paper veneer, reconstituted wood veneers, but none of these will last. And of course, there is no workmanship in this kind of furniture. But it is cheap, we do not need to save, and we can have immediate gratification albeit not lasting long.
We have another choice - buy high-quality furniture. Quite a few Danish companies continue making their quality pieces, but can we afford that quality we want?
Below you will see a few online sources for newly made Mid Century Modern furniture.
The least expensive Hans Wagner chair is USD 2215. Yes, that's correct, just one chair, not all dining room set. Not so nice Borge Mogensen dining chair price starts from USD 785. And they are not even made of teak. Well, there are teak pieces too; for example, Gunni Omann credenza in teak costs USD 5700, Eric Buch teak barstool will cost you USD 975.
Which choice will you make? Cheap made in China? Expensive made in Denmark? Or perhaps a third one that we offer here - restored vintage furniture made of beautiful and expensive woods, workmanship we all desire and at a fraction of a new price. Just keep in mind that resources are very limited, prices keep rising, and the last we heard was that rich people in China want authentic vintage Danish furniture too...
https://www.midcenturymobler.com/getama/
https://www.midcenturymobler.com/fredericia/
]]>If Kijiji sellers say their furniture is made of solid teak, it just does not make it true… Buyer beware.
This is a common misconception, fueled even more with sellers on popular classifieds as Kijiji or Craiglist claiming their MCM furniture is made of solid teak (or rosewood or walnut). In fact, however, almost all high-end Danish furniture (not including chairs, legs, handles, and frames) is made with teak or rosewood veneer placed over less expensive wood like pine or plywood or particle board.
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This is the question I get very often, so I decided to write this post to answer it in greater detail.
It seems that we in North America think that high-quality furniture is necessarily made of solid wood. And it is a common knowledge that Danish Mid Century Modern furniture is high quality. If you like me enjoy checking 1stdibs.com from time to time, you probably know that some items fetch over 100,000 USD. That surely must mean they are solid wood?
This is a common misconception, fueled even more with sellers on popular classifieds as Kijiji or Craiglist claiming their MCM furniture is made of solid teak (or rosewood or walnut). In fact, however, almost all high-end Danish furniture (not including chairs, legs, handles, and frames) is made with teak or rosewood veneer placed over less expensive wood like pine or plywood or particle board.
If Kijiji sellers say their furniture is made of solid teak, it just does not make it true… Buyer beware.
When I am talking about veneer here, I mean a thinly sliced layer of real wood. It should not be confused with laminate or paper veneer that is being used on some cheap furniture today. Paper veneer is not repairable. Lots of cheap furniture is also made of MDF with wood grain or solid color painted on top. Medium-density fiberboard (MDF) is an engineered wood product made by breaking down wood residuals into wood fibers, combining it with wax and resin binders, and forming panels by applying high temperature and pressure. I noticed that some furniture stores say 100% wood content when they write about mdf furniture. Is it still real wood?.. Probably not.
If care is being taken, furniture made with high-quality real wood veneer on plywood will last longer than solid wood which will crack or warp in time. Using veneers also made it possible to create stunning designs by playing with the patterns in the wood grain. Most mid-century Danish teak furniture which still exists today is made with veneer surfaces on plywood, secured with solid wood edges and frames. A true testament to the quality of well-made veneered furniture.
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