From Blonde to Brunette

I bought this three-piece cabinet by Edward Wormley for Dunbar in May 2011. I asked my refinisher to give it a walnut stain and to polish the brass handles.

A month later the three cabinets were done, but the sliding doors were missing the flushmont handles. They were lost. I spent the next few months trying to find someone who could make new ones; without the originals it would be very costly.

So, on 1stdibs, I only posted  the drawer cabinet and the open cabinet as a pair to be divided perhaps as bedsides or put together as a small cabinet. Since I hadn’t yet paid my refinisher for the job, the pressure was on to find those handles. In the meantime, I had someone who only wanted to buy one cabinet, which would have left me with 2/3 of my investment up in smoke.


Finally, though, the handles were found and I got my full investment back. Six months later. But the Wormley piece–with all three sections–looks beautiful.

Diamonds in the Rough

Amongst the pile of cardboard boxes and disgarded furniture, you’ll never know what you might find. My refinisher, who I have kept secret for so many years, works out of an office furniture warehouse in Brooklyn. He comes across all kinds of pieces for the office, good and bad. But he has a real eye for the good stuff.

His most recent find–these black leather “Le Corbusier” classics–were in amazingly perfect condition. I love it when that happens. The only thing better than the hunt is the find.