How to Thrift Shop for Vintage Heywood-Wakefield Furniture
Shopping thrift outlets, flea markets and estate income can be frustrating. With the sheer volume of things, how do you know where by to begin? How do you location gems amid all the junk?
As a expert reseller who has been combing by way of thrift merchants for the better part of 30 decades, I can aid. If you’re completely ready to minimize your procuring time in 50 percent, score even bigger bargains or walk absent with brag-worthy finds you can flip for money, study on.
From tough-to-obtain home objects to resale money-makers, everything highlighted in my “Thrift Shop Like a Pro” sequence qualifies as a BOLO (“be on the lookout” for) merchandise. When you discover it, buy it!
Highlighted uncover: Heywood-Wakefield’s Streamline Fashionable household furniture
In the 1930s, Heywood-Wakefield Co. released a line of reasonably priced, high-design and style indoor furniture dubbed “Streamline Fashionable.” Crafted of both sound maple or Northern yellow birch, the sleek new pieces brought the Art Deco and Modernism aesthetic to middle-course residences across The united states.
However the organization went as a result of bankruptcy in the late 1970s, the brand name was obtained by South Seashore Household furniture Co. in the early 1990s. The revived Heywood-Wakefield line of legendary midcentury-type home furnishings is in output when all over again, and it’s more popular than at any time.
For sharp-eyed customers, vintage Heywood-Wakefield can nevertheless be observed in the wild. On a new selecting journey across the Midwest, I toured an old farmhouse and spotted two dust-covered Heywood-Wakefield nightstands. I acquired the pair for $60 and flipped them for $400.
Why buy it?
Heywood-Wakefield’s Streamline Modern day furniture is decidedly midcentury, but not in a fashionable or gimmicky way. Items stand the take a look at of time since the scale is correct, the clean up strains complement approximately any inside design design and style, and the excellent is major-notch.
Heywood-Wakefield is a person of the precious vintage brand names stated in my write-up “10 Strategies to Getting Excellent Secondhand Furnishings.” Immediately after all, you just just can’t conquer superior bones, sturdy joints and reliable wooden development.
The resale current market appears to agree. One particular Heywood-Wakefield birch desk from the 1950s sold for $1,400 on eBay, and a generations-outdated pair of end tables brought $800. On Etsy, this swivel self-importance stool from the 1940s is for sale for $895.
Professional idea: Really don’t pass up Heywood-Wakefield parts in tough condition. Lots of household furniture refinishers are creating new money streams by filming the restoration procedure and sharing films like this one particular on YouTube.
What to seem for
Until finally 1949, Heywood-Wakefield utilised numerous paper tags to establish their pieces. These labels typically read through, “Fine Household furniture by Heywood-Wakefield, Established 1826, Gardner, Mass.” (The earlier 1826 date refers to the founding of Heywood Brothers, a precursor to the Heywood-Wakefield Co.)
Household furniture created in 1949 or later on options a logo that is burned or branded into the wooden. Search for a circle encasing the profile of an eagle. A rectangle throughout the eagle’s upper body incorporates the “Heywood-Wakefield” name in uppercase letters.
The mark can be discovered on the underside of tables and chairs. On nightstands, dressers and desks, glance for the manufacturer on the within of higher drawers, typically on the remaining aspect panel.
Heywood-Wakefield items are also identifiable by the handful of finishes made use of. Commonly light in shade, the company’s common varnishes contain:
- Amber: a ruddy, maple colour
- Bleached: a light blond tone
- Wheat: a pale yellow
- Champagne: a pale pink or blush tone
- Platinum: a blend of blond and light-weight gray
- Westwood: a approximately clear finish with a subtle honey colour
Professional tip: Feel you have discovered a piece of Heywood-Wakefield furniture, but there is no model or paper label? Take a seem at the screws. Starting off all around 1940, the company applied Phillips-head screws pretty much exclusively.
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