On Saturday morning I popped into the newly opened Again Studio (2300 N. Henderson Ave., near Ross) which specializes in re-invented, vintage furniture from the late 40s through the late 70s.
Laney Delay runs the place. She loves her job, you can tell. So, here we were by a great pair of blue ceramic lamps from the 1960s when Mandy Modano and her house manager, Sheryl Lilly walked in.
Mandy made a beeline for the lamps. "These lamps are the coolest things," she ooohed and awed. She especially loved the original shades. Laney was toying with the idea of replacing them with new ones. "Don't touch those shades!" Mandy insisted. Mike called on Mandy's cell a few minutes later and Mandy made arrangements to have the lamps sent home on approval. Mandy's nice. I met her and Sheryl last year on a photo shoot. Although she's also known as Willa Ford she's really just a country girl who grew up on a farm and doesn't mind shopping on Saturday without makeup.
"My parents house was full of this kind of furniture," Mandy told me. "We were living in the 1970s during the 90s. At one point I told them, this stuff has got to go. So we got rid of everything. I had no idea it would all come back into style," Mandy says. "I wish we'd kept it now." Don't we all wish we'd kept our parents furniture. I tossed a pair of chrome and smoked Lucite tulip chairs back in the early 90s that my mother had suggested, quite smartly, that I should store instead. But by then, having grown up with them, I was sick of the look.(Lane cubist dresser, $1,895; pair of ceramic fish, $295; chair, $450)
The Modanos are redoing their house (rather, Mandy is), and she recently bought a pair of chairs for her dining room, also from Again Studio. She tried to describe them, but they ended up sounding like a cubist sculpture. "The top comes out like this," she said gesturing. "Then it kind of curves around like this. The seat is really wide and makes a V." No matter, I bet they look really great. And they sound big, so Mike can fit in them.
Laney turned on this white lacquer electric piano from the 90s, and it played some fun 60s Bossa nova. "Everyone loves this piano, especially Leslie (the owner)," Laney confessed. "We can't decide if we want to sell it or not." Meanwhile, it's priced at $1,860. (The pair of pink Henredon club chairs are $1,895.)
This pair of James Mont style lacquer chairs go for $1,695. During the past year I've seen chairs similar to these on eBay for under $250 each. Dang it. But then you have to pay for shipping, and it's a hassle. And sometimes things arrived smashed to pieces. I could go on and on.
Another view of the shop. Don't you love the shell-back chairs?
Click on the photos to see the details.
Some sofas and chairs in the store are reproductions of classic styles. They come with 8-way hand tied coil seats and down-wrapped upholstery. Everything is done locally in Dallas.