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Erik G. Warner Decorative Salvage on Chairish

Posted on by Erik W in danish modern, mid century, mid-century furniture, minnesota, modern, retro, vintage
Pair of Laurel Mushroom Lamps, 2015.
Pair of Laurel Mushroom Lamps, 2015.

At Erik G. Warner Decorative Salvage we are continually looking for new avenues through which to offer our vintage mid-century and modern items. While we’ve been using Etsy for some time to offer small items, we did not have an online method for sales that we could manage that dealt with the shipping of large items, like our furniture. And then we stumbled upon Chairish.

Chairish started a number of years ago as a way individuals could move higher-end used furniture without running it through Craigslist. Chairish curates the items its sells, so a certainly quality level has to be met. Over the years, Chairish has shifted focus and brought on professional dealers in housewares and furniture along with individuals.

The great thing about Chairish is that it helps arrange shipping of large items for sellers. Buyers pay for white-glove service, which means that the shippers come in and wrap the item being purchased and transport it carefully to its delivery location. For a small business like ours, this is a huge help, so we’ve signed on with Chairish, in addition to our other sales avenues.

Check out the items we currently have available on Chairish.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us directly at warner (dot) erikg (at) gmail (dot) com.

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Update (December 13, 2015) – After giving Chairish a whirl, we have found it isn’t the venue for us, so if you click the Chairish link, you’re not likely to find anything there. Please do check our Etsy Shop, stop in at MidModMen+friends in St. Paul, MN, or contact us directly.

Mid-Century Vibe Becomes Erik G. Warner Decorative Salvage

Posted on by Erik W in antiques, etsy, mid century, minnesota, modern, retro, vintage

Fans of Mid-Century Vibe, we’ve got news. We’re changing our name from Mid-Century Vibe to Erik G. Warner Decorative Salvage.

How did we get to this point?

At the end of November 2014, we lost our workshop space. We took the occasion to re-examine our business, the mid-century market, and Erik’s penchant for picking. We realized that we wanted to expand beyond mid-century modern items. Our business name was not going to allow us to do that, so we decided to rebrand.

After much thought, we decided to use Erik’s name for the business, allowing him the ability to pick whatever is interesting while out on the road. We are still HUGE fans of mid-century and modern furniture and decorative items, so they will always remain a big part of what we offer.

However, Erik describes his aesthetic as “modern with a punk rock attitude,” meaning if you want to throw an early 1900s ornate table into a room filled with modern furniture, go for it! If you want to use a fabulous hospital gurney as a chaise lounge, do it! Don’t let some outside “authority” tell you what you can and can’t do with your personal space in the interest of “pure” modernism. Our design philosophy is that if you want to mix modernism with Victorian, or industrial with Deco, or any other sort of mash-up, you should do so.

If you’re looking for a blended style, Erik G. Warner Decorative Salvage can help you. If you’re looking for a specific piece, let us know. We’ll try to find it.

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A big part of our rebranding has been switching over account names, including this website, Gmail, and Twitter.

Our web address is now: erikgwarner.com

Gmail: warner.erikg@gmail.com

Twitter: @ErikGWarner

Items from Erik G. Warner Decorative Salvage are available for sale through our website Shop. (See the sidebar menu.) When you’re ready to purchase, you’ll be taken to our Square Marketplace page to complete the sale. (You can also shop directly from our Square Marketplace page if you prefer.)

Our Mid-Century Vibe Etsy page will remain live for a couple more months and then will be shut down. Feel free to check items out there in the meantime.

The last big social media account we have to switch over is Facebook, which we’ll be doing soon. Turns out we have to request a name change from Facebook, but we didn’t want to give everyone a big shock by changing it without an announcement.

As we go through this transition, we’ll be acquiring new and fascinating inventory to add to our online shop. We’ll keep you posted as new items become available.

Thanks for your support.

 

 

Mid-Century Credenza Restoration

Posted on by Erik W in danish modern, mid century, mid-century furniture, minnesota, modern, retro, vintage

We thought we’d share the process we used to restore one of the treasures we found. Not necessarily THE right process, just one that works for us. Here are the steps.

Pic 1 - West Michigan Furniture Co. credenza as found, stains on top, compression damage, split front leg.
Pic 1 – West Michigan Furniture Co. credenza as found, stains on top, compression damage, split front leg.
Pic 2 - Detail showing damage to credenza top, including two very obvious black water marks.
Pic 2 – Detail showing damage to credenza top, including two very obvious black water marks.
Pic 3 - Applied Citristrip paint stripper to wood surfaces.
Pic 3 – Applied Citristrip paint stripper to wood surfaces.
Pic 4 - Preparing to deal with water marks.
Pic 4 – Preparing to deal with water marks.
Pic 5 - Water marks were treated with Savogran wood bleach (oxalic acid), applied with a toothbrush per manufacturer's directions.
Pic 5 – Water marks were treated with Savogran wood bleach (oxalic acid), applied with a toothbrush per manufacturer’s directions.
Pic 6 - Before and after treatment of water marks.
Pic 6 – Before and after treatment of water marks.
Pic 7 - After addressing all surface defects (water marks, steaming out compression damage, etc.), all wood surfaces were sanded to a minimum of 180 grit sandpaper.
Pic 7 – After addressing all surface defects (water marks, steaming out compression damage, etc.), all wood surfaces were sanded to a minimum of 180 grit sandpaper.
Pic 8 - Depending on type of wood, some may require pre-treatment with a wood conditioner which will help with even absorption of stain. Some woods (i.e. birch) absorb stain unevenly, resulting in a blotchy appearance if not pre-treated.
Pic 8 – Depending on type of wood, some may require pre-treatment with a wood conditioner which will help with even absorption of stain. Some woods (i.e. birch) absorb stain unevenly, resulting in a blotchy appearance if not pre-treated.
Pic 9 - After pre-treatment, apply stain. For this project we used Old Masters brand American Walnut Wiping Stain.
Pic 9 – After pre-treatment, apply stain. For this project we used Old Masters brand American Walnut Wiping Stain.
Pic 10 - After staining the piece, lacquer was applied as a top coat. We're trying to transition to environmentally sensitive products in our restoration work and to that end, used Valspar's Zenith Waterborne Lacquer. Zenith is a Greenguard Certified product.
Pic 10 – After staining the piece, lacquer was applied as a top coat. We’re trying to transition to environmentally sensitive products in our restoration work and to that end, used Valspar’s Zenith Waterborne Lacquer. Zenith is a Greenguard Certified product.
Pic 11 - The lacquer was applied with a Fuji Mini-Mite 3 HVLP spray system. This spray system makes the application of top coats a snap. With HVLP, there is less overspray, so there is less waste of product. Also, in using the waterborne lacquer, clean-up requires water instead of noxious chemicals.
Pic 11 – The lacquer was applied with a Fuji Mini-Mite 3 HVLP spray system. This spray system makes the application of top coats a snap. With HVLP, there is less overspray, so there is less waste of product. Also, in using the waterborne lacquer, clean-up requires water instead of noxious chemicals.
Pics 12-16 - The finished credenza. The entire project took about a week.
Pics 12-16 – The finished credenza. The entire project took about a week.
The finished top of the credenza.
The finished top of the credenza.
Before & After shot of coffee stains.
Before & After shot of coffee stains.
Again, the finished credenza.
Again, the finished credenza.
Pic 17 - Repaired leg of finished credenza. We did not get a before shot of this leg, which was split down the middle and had to be glued and clamped.
Pic 17 – Repaired leg of finished credenza. We did not get a before shot of this leg, which was split down the middle and had to be glued and clamped.

Links to products used:

Citristrip

Savogran Wood Bleach

Minwax Pre-Stain Wood Conditioner

Valspar Zenith Waterborne Lacquer

Fuji Sprayer

Greenguard Certification