Goodwill Hunting

Completely accidental double post. Sorry.

If my camera was working, I would snap a few pictures. Possibly I will remember when I get a new charger.

I am not sure it counts, but while I was working at a contemporary/modern high end audio/video store, I was able to talk the owner out of a BO table that has been the A/V center of my homes for years. It's finish was badly cracked from exposure to the sun, and one leg is a bit shaky as the wood it is attached to is not as stable as it once was, but it is still the one modern piece of furniture I have been unable to discard after some years of moving about.

I seem to find nice chairs at second hand stores, but since my reupholstering is limited to store bought pillows, I have always just imagined what it would be like, and sit for a few moments, then move on.

I do have one roundish (for lack of better word) chair that I cannot remember how I acquired. Sometimes I think it just appeared in my house. My dog loved it, and nearly wore it out. When the dog passed away, I was going to get rid of it, but I still have it. Again, my capacity for reupholstery is even less than my skill for gardening (dont ask) and so it has a cloth thrown over it. Viola, slip cover.

Another chair I found in a pile of compostable wood at a local university one evening during a four wheeling incident. That is a long story, but to shorten it, my buddy says to me go get a piece of wood from that pile over there and when I arrived over there, I found a nice looking chair. When I returned with it, he was astounded, but not for the same reason I was. Instead, he asked me how I intended to cut it up to put pieces under the tire. To sum up, it survived the night as well as all of us did, with some mud on it, and beer spilled on it. Now, it is a nice chair in my kitchen. Some sanding and some lacquer did it wonders.

Nice chair, btw.

I just scored two danish made chairs at a furniture pawn shop. I browse the store weekly. Too bad there wasnt four, or I would have enough for a dining set.
The tag that was on them says they were from House of Denmark, but all I found on them was a tag that said made in denmark. Not proof of purchase exactly, but that's okay. They need the screws tightened, and recovering, but that is about it.
Total for two: 21.20 including sales tax.
I picked up some fabric, but I am still not sure it is right for them.

Alas! I have 4 of those chairs marked with the Danish seal, but I need straps for them. Does anyone know where to get any? I've been to the local mod stores, but they always tell me to let THEM know when I find them. One of my chairs was modified with lawn chair strapping, but it looks horrible even though I'm the only one who knows it's there. If anyone has extra stretchy rubber straps with the metal hook ends, I'll be your best friend-or I'll pay you for them. Tamie.Dramer@PruRealty.com

Hmm... well, different chairs I think. This is a more standard upholstery style, with cushiony stuff on plywood.
I would think you could make some new ones out of leather maybe?

Trying to talk my wife into a heywood wakefield table and chairs we saw at the same shop. :zz:

My upholstery friends got the straps for the repair of my chair but I don't know their source. The webbing fits into little slots with metal 'wedges' (just like the existing intact straps) -- only a few were shot...wow, there's some painful sentence structure for ya. I think it is past my bedtime.

Probably an upholstery place could order straps for you. They do exist...but maybe only sold to the trade?

Great score on the danish chairs at the pawn shop. Never been to a furniture pawn shop! Going to see if there are any in my city.

Yes, I doubt those are the same chairs, or even the same company. Many, many, many chairs say made in Denmark

... almost as likely as two products that say 'made in Japan to be the same brand.

Most any upholsterer should have those straps you speak of. If they are like what I am thinking they are some sort of canvas?

If so, I had some repairs done to a sofa that used those. Some old Bubba from the hills did it for me and ordered the stuff himself.

I just found in my city, a store run by Habitat for Humanity. They have a lot of recycled building materials, etc. There are hundreds of really nice items ranging from worn out to new. I grabbed a nice Kohler cast iron sink with white porcelain over it for 10 dollars. A chandelier that is a vast improvement over what we currently have for 15 dollars, and a new tube of Goop for 1.50. There is a large assortment of old doors, windows, sinks, cabinets, appliances, lighting, plumbing supplies, it's just incredible. They also have lumber that consists of odd lengths, slightly bowed, and perfectly good stuff.
I think we are going to save a bundle on some things for our remodel.
Oh yeah, we picked up the heywood wakefield gateleg table with four chairs, and another made in denmark living room chair for just under 300 dollars. Whoo Hoo!
:grin:

When I get my camera working, you are in trouble. I have a bunch of pictures to post. ops:

mramsey - from some michigan chatter, I understand that I live in the same area as you. I have been to the Habitat ReStore in the past (fun). What stores have you had luck with in finding furnishings?

Ha! No way am I going to tell you!
Just kidding.
Dicker and Deal on Kalamazoo has some nice items sometimes. They always have some interesting stuff in the basement, if you are able to recover furniture, you can get some interesting projects there. Unfortunately, I am not much of a reupholsterer, so I just sit on the old stuff and think what it would be like with some nicer fabric, a down cushion... :cool:
Of course you are probably familiar with Triolas on Mt. Hope, big price tags, but some really extraordinary vintage furniture.

There is also MSU salvage, believe it or not, they will occasionally have something that was hidden away in somebodies office, or in the back of some classroom. Interesting desks, chairs, and even filing furniture. With a little imagination, some of the cheapest stuff can be turned into something your friends will either laugh at or love.
I am on the southeast side of lansing, I am told you are around here as well.

A lot of furniture uses jute webbing. Pretty easy to find.
I've had some incredible luck at local thrift stores. A 70s Charles Pollack/Knoll desk chair for 5 bucks, a 70s Warren Platner side table for 3 bucks, a 50s Paul McCobb 4 drawer desk for 30 bucks and an early 60s Eames 670/671 rosewood lounge chair ottoman for 35 bucks.

For your Danish furniture a great place to ID it is this site:

[url href=http://www.furnitureindex.dk/]www.furnitureindex.dk/[/url]

I fixed one of those chairs with a square of black canvas stretched over a wood frame made to fit the inside of the chair. The canvas sags just enough to make a nice indentation for my butt.