Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Kent Coffey "The Greenbrier" 9 Drawer Dresser

Not only was Kent Coffey Furniture prolific in their furniture designs, they came up with some very interesting and kinda fun names.  It seems every time I'm researching something I find another Kent Coffey design.

This one is a little more "retro" than I normally go for but I thought the design was nice and has the unique feature of the sliding door.  Not only does this feature add style points but I think it also allows for the potential of using this piece as a TV stand.  The center drawers could be removed and electronic components such as cable boxes or video games could be placed there and hidden from view when not in use.  The diamond shaped cane piece can also be removed from the door to reveal remote control sensors, etc.

One thing I've noticed about the Kent Coffey pieces that I've done is they did a great job with the veneer lay-ups.  The drawer fronts are always matched and the color and figuring is pretty.  This piece is no exception.  I would say, judging by the finish that I stripped off, this piece looks better than new.

I did restyle the crescent shaped drawer pulls.  They had a faux wood paint on them which, not only was worn, but was a muddy brown that did not look nice with the newly refinished walnut.  I opted to paint these a copper metallic.  Copper is the currently trending metal finish and I think it also matches well with the retro style of this piece.

Dimensions: 64"W x 32"H x 20"D
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Mid Century Walnut 9 Drawer Dresser by Drew Furniture

This piece has an inspection stamp on the inside of one of the drawers with a date from January 1962 making it nearly 53 years old.  However with its nice, clean design and newly restored finish you wouldn't know.  The walnut veneers now really shine and show off their beautiful figuring.  This mid century piece is ready to stylishly store your things well into the middle of this century.

Dimensions: 60"W x 30"H x 19"D

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Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Baughman Style Burled Olive Cube End Tables

I bought these hoping to find a place to use them in our house.  I love Baughman stuff, especially the stuff that incorporates interesting woods.  These weren't actually designed by Baughman but designed and built by a local craftsman in 1979.  Although I haven't seen Baughman's cubes in person I'd say these are likely at least as nicely made.  They are built of furniture quality voidless plywood and veneered with real olive ash burl.  The main difference between these and the Baughman pieces are that Baughman had the burl on 5 sides.  On these it is on 3 sides.   The top, front and back all have the burled figure on them, the 2 sides have olive ash without the figuring.  They are in perfect shape and have an oiled finish on them.

These would be a great addition if you are looking to mod-up a living room or bedroom but don't want to spend the $2k that the Baughman cubes go for.

Dimensions are: 20" x 20" x 20"

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Mod Lane Walnut and Oak Bedroom Set

When I asked my friend Midcenturymike to help me get these, he questioned my judgement.  They don't really look mid-century, which is really his thing.  I like mid-century as well as more current modern styles (mod, pop-art, brutalist, etc.).  What I really look for is unique, nicely designed, nicely made and good materials.  So, when I saw these I really wanted to get them and restore them.

To me the best way to describe the style is pop-art retro.  They aren't really something that you would see from the 50's or 60's, so not really "mid-century".  Although the block-y design is similar to brutalist, the legs are too whimsical and give it a much lighter stature than brutalist.  They look more like something that Alexander Girard or Verner Panton would have penned.

The cases are all walnut veneer on a double layer construction to give them a chunky, weighty appearance.  The front edges of the cases are solid oak and the applied blocks are oak veneer on hardwood.  There is a lot of material in these so they are heavy.  Had I left the oak its natural color it would have been very blond and would have had too much contrast with the walnut.  I chose to dye the oak a color that ties to the lighter sap wood color in the walnut.  This gave the pieces nice visual continuity while still providing contrast between the two materials.  As is typical with Lane pieces the walnut is beautifully figured.  The walnut used on the drawer fronts of the highboy is a bit lighter than most and looks similar in color to the oak.  It also has a "sunburst" or "sunrise" figure to it.  The 9 drawer low dresser and 5 drawer highboy offer large capacity and would be perfect for a master bedroom.  The king headboard has 2 padded cushions with a neutral brown textural fabric.  These cushions easily unscrew from the back and could be recovered without sewing, the fabric is just wrapped and stapled.  You could use a couple of king pillow shams and tie the design into the bedding.  Or I would consider using a fabric like Maharam's "Letters" to make it feel even more mod.  The nightstands offer open storage on the inside.

This set is unusual, it wasn't until more than a year of owning them that I was even able to find a pic on line.  I did see a listing for the low dresser on 1st dibs that had a price of $4300, but it has sold.  That piece had been lacquered in a chocolate brown and hid all the nice materials.

 https://www.1stdibs.com/furniture/storage-case-pieces/dressers/brutalist-sculptural-chest-drawers/id-f_945640/

If you are looking for a unique, nicely made, mod-styled bedroom set with lots of storage space, this one is awesome.

Dimensions:

9 drawer dresser:  68"W x 30"H x 18"D
5 drawer dresser:  38"W x 52"H x 18"D
Nightstands:          26" W x 21"H x 16"D
Headboard:            80" W x 45"H
Mirror:                   29"W x 50"H    attaches to back of low dresser

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