We recently completed a full day of browsing many of the mid-century modern vintage furniture shops in San Francisco and Berkeley. Chris Howard's shop was easily the most impressive and productive stop on our list. If you're looking for Danish Modern furniture, mostly teak, along with other exotic hardwoods, his inventory was easily the finest we shopped. From the minute we stepped into his shop, we were warmly welcomed and guided through their collection. Chris and his staff do an incredible job refurbishing and restoring pieces he locates in Europe and has shipped back to his shop, turning them into glowing works of art that radiate warmth and quality (can you tell I'm a fan of MCM Danish furniture?).
As others have mentioned, make sure you tour the warehouse in the back, where many of the pieces that haven't been restored or polished up for the showroom are stored. We spotted a very large teak bar (high sideboard) that seemed like it might be perfect for our front hallway and expressed interest. It needed a lot of TLC, mostly cleaning and removal of a liquid stain running down one of the doors. It definitely had potential, but we weren't totally convinced since this was the first stop on our list, and we wondered if Chris could really bring it back to life. He offered to start on it the following Monday and said that by Thursday, he'd have photos to show us. He did not ask for a deposit and said he wanted us to see how it turned out before making any commitment. We told him we still wanted to visit a few more shops, and would let him know by the end of the day. While we found a few pieces in other shops that may also have worked, the teak bar at Antiques & Modern was really unique. We wanted to see what Chris could do with the it, so we called him back and told him this was the piece we were most interested in.
Later that following week, Chris sent us some photos of the teak bar and we were amazed at the transformation. What had once been a dingy brown vintage piece was now gleaming with that beautiful orange-brown teak color that more closely matched the rest of our Danish Modern furniture. There was no sign of the liquid stain across the front. We agreed to see it in person, which we did, and ended up purchasing the bar. Chris delivered and set it up himself with an assistant and it looks fantastic in our hallway entry.
We've been shopping for and acquiring Danish Modern teak furniture over the past several years. From our experience, Chris has the most extensive collection of high quality pieces, and his prices are reasonable given the huge interest now in this period furniture. He's very knowledgeable and friendly, and will work with you to locate the vintage furniture you've been searching for. read more