We’re pleased to introduce a new retailer who is enthusiastically listing their items with us. Red is a great store in Fredericksburg, Texas that mixes vintage pieces with the clean minimalist lines of modern pieces creating a very eclectic and delightful mix. Take a look at some of the great finds they are listing on lushpad.
We’re very excited to see these fantastic vintage radios for sale on lushpad. We’ve noticed vintage radios seem to be a great collector’s niche for people who enjoy the design of the mid-century, but don’t have the space or budget for bigger furniture pieces. I love especially love the design correlation between transportation and radios during that era.
When we were at the LA Modernism Show a few weeks ago we saw some beautiful vintage Bakelite radios. Bakelite plastic was a wonder-material that allowed designers be more creative with their designs and produce them at a significantly lower cost than before. In the 1930s, a version of Bakelite called Catalin was created that was clear rather than opaque and could be dyed vibrant colours and even marbled to produce more attractive radios than the previous brown and black standard versions.
Bakelite was not a durable material. It tended to shrink with age, and cracked easily, so the radios that are still around are highly collectible. The vintage radios for sale on our site currently range in price from $80 – $350.
With today’s focus on being environmentally friendly and using renewable resources, we think wicker furniture deserves is place in the sun once again. Wicker has a rich history, and has had a significant influence on modern furniture design.
Danish designers were at the forefront of using Rattan in modern furniture design. Arne Jacobsen used this fantastic material in his 1929 Paris Chair (originals now valued between $2,000 – $4,000) and Nanna and Jorgen Ditzel are famous for their Hanging Basket Chair manufactured by R. Wengler in Copenhagen. These highly collectible hanging chairs, the first of which was manufactured in 1959, can go between $3,000 – $4,000 at auction.
Rattan, the material used in making wicker furniture, is harvested mainly in Indonesia, and is a fast growing, renewable crop. Although an arduous task to harvest it, Rattan makes a viable alternative for local industry instead of logging tropical woods in their rain forests.
The process of creating wicker furniture is labour intensive and time consuming. The canes must be heated and curved over a bending iron to make them malleable enough to weave. Once the frame has been set, the canes are woven to create a chair – a process that can take up to 14 hours. The time put into creating each chair is often shown in a higher market value.
Although there is a glut of cheap knock-off wicker furniture on the market – primarily from Poland and Yugoslavia, if you do your research and keep eyes open for quality you can usually find great deals on lushpad for cane, rattan and wicker and also at consignment stores, garage sales and auctions.
So go on, double up on your environmental karma by buying used furniture that is also made from natural, renewable materials.
Content for this entry was provided by Lynne Jensen at Klassik By Lynne. Lynne specializes in Danish Modern furniture in Emeryville, California. Have a look at some of Lynne’s items for sale on Lushpad.
Photo: Julius Schulman
The Stahl House will be available for a rare evening tour on Friday night, May 15th, at 7:30 pm. All tours are by reservation only, and space is limited. Tickets are $35 each (only cash accepted). No one will be permitted in the home without a reservation, so make sure to register on their Facebook page.
We’ve been scouting around for office space recently and we came across these two great spaces. They’re out of our price range for now, but I loved the photos so much I thought I’d share. The photos above are of a live/work space designed by Frank Gehry. The photos below are of an David Montalba designed office space.
The listing realtor has a lot of great architecturally significant spaces on their books!
We’ve been asked by another Lushpad user to help them identify a piece of furniture, so we’re putting it out to you to help. Show us your mid-century modern chops!
Our guess so far is that it’s Italian design, mid-80s. Let us know what you think.
