A reader asked me where to buy mid-century furniture in the Oakland – Berkeley area.  To really enhance your mid-century home what could be better than mid-century furniture.   Form Vintage Modern on College Avenue is a small furniture and home furnishings store that features original mid-century pieces mixed with mid-century inspired new pieces. Sofas and large furniture can be special ordered.  Form glows with George Nelson’s bubble pendant lamps that are now reproduced by Herman Miller.  Coming Soon from Joe and Lindsay at Form is Urban Home!  This will be the place for modern, vintage, traditional, and industrial furniture and furnishings.  Look for the same eclectic style and greater selection that you’ve come to expect from the Form Vintage Modern at affordable prices as this will be the place to consign and buy.  1825 Eastshore Avenue in Berkeley.

Joe Kunis in his boutique, Form Vintage Modern

Urban Home is Coming Soon, December 17th!

Klassik by Lynne at 1313 67th Avenue in Emeryville on the Oakland border features Danish Modern furniture.  This huge warehouse is the place to purchase vintage Danish modern furniture as well as new Danish and Swedish pieces.  Lynne has a huge selection to choose from, from credenzas to dining sets and much more.   Lynne brings in furniture from Denmark by the container!  She visits her homeland often and drives all over the country to hand select and secure impeccable vintage pieces.  On one of Lynne’s trips to Denmark she met an older man who had hundreds of rolls of vintage fabrics saved from the mid-century.  Lynne purchased 315 rolls making it possible for you to reupholster your vintage Danish furniture in vintage fabric!  Lynne also  sells Kvadrat fabrics , (Kvadrat was established in Denmark in 1968 and now holds a leading position in the European market of design-textiles supplying renowned architects, designers and furniture manufacturers throughout the world.)  Kvadrat imports their wool from Ireland and England and spins it, dyes it and then weaves the fabric.  Other textile companies weave fabric in cream color and then dye it, but Lynne feels that dying the thread before weaving makes for a better product.  Chris Howard is the operations manager at Klassik by Lynne and he does an amazing job of restoring Lynne’s vintage finds from her Denmark adventures as well as the furniture that customers bring in.  I fell in love with a simple oak and teak credenza that would be perfect for my home office and I was told that it was a Hans J. Wegner piece.  I asked Lynne how I could be certain that the piece was authentic.  She pulled the Danish credenza away from the wall and showed me a stamp.  She then pulled out a book that showed the various seals from furniture producers and the designer behind them.  On the credenza in question there was a stamp that said 1955, Made in Denmark and it had a logo-ed stamp with a RY.  Sure enough the logo with the RY produced Hans J. Wegner furniture.   What great service and expertise!

bolts of vintage Danish fabric

A page in a Danish furniture reference book. Lynne showed me the various stamps that furniture manufactures used in the mid-century

Check out the vintage PH Artichoke Pendant, manufactured by Louis Poulsen and Poul Henningsen in 1958.

99%  of Klassik by Lynne’s inventory is vintage but she does sell new production of Hans J. Wegner,  Louis Poulsen and Nanna Ditzel.  Lynne says now is the time to purchase vintage Danish furniture as she is worried about the dwindling inventory.  Denmark is a small country of about 5 million people and the demand for mid-century Danish furniture is high.  Danish modern furniture is highly desired and exported to the US, the Middle-East and Japan.