Earlier this week we found ourselves finding the perfect set of Hans Wegner dining chairs on Craigslist, but the price was significant enough to give us pause to consider whether we could stretch our budget for them. Of course in the few hours inbetween weighing our options and deciding to take the plunge, the set sold to someone else, teaching us a hard earned lesson of pulling the trigger fast when you see something that falls under your category of perfect. Fortunately, we live in a city with quite a few excellent midcentury resources, and one of the biggest is located in North Hollywood, in a self proclaimed "5,000 12,000 Sq Ft. of Vintage Modern Furniture".
Silica Three midcenturyLA imports midcentury furniture specifically from Denmark and Sweden for sale in United States. Imagine the warehouse section at IKEA, but stocked with vintage era beauties from the likes of Hans Wegner, N.O. Moller, Erik Buck, Arne Norrell, Kai Kristiansen, Arne Vodder, Illum Wikkelso, Tove & Edvard Kindt-Larsen, Peter Hvidt, Orla Morlgaard-Nielsen, Yngve Ekstrom, Ib Kofod-Larsen, Johannes Andersen.
The selection of credenzas alone is dizzying, alongside dining sets, coffee tables, sofas, lighting and lounge seating. The 12,000 square foot warehouse in North Hollywood is packed to the rafters, open to the public every day from 10am-5pm. They do note that if you'd like to specific bed or wall unit setups, to call in advance so they can bring them down for display.
We have yet to find a replacement set for those perfect dining chairs for our new apartment (but we did find a Danish dining table that strikes our fancy, so we're dropping by over the weekend to see it in person), but we're keeping a close eye on midcenturyLA's constantly updated stock online in the hopes something similar pops up between now and our move date (we feel like we should have left a Missed Connections post on CL after losing out). If anything, it gives us a decent excuse to visit retailers like midcenturyLA to daydream about desirable midcentury classics and more unique pieces alike.
Store History
- Founded by: David Pierce
midcenturyLA imports mid-century modern furniture from Denmark and Sweden for sale in United States. Our items range from unique, high quality items such as credenzas, dining sets, and lounge seating to examples by renowned designers of the period such as Hans Wegner, N.O. Moller, Erik Buck, Arne Norrell, Kai Kristiansen, Arne Vodder, Illum Wikkelso, Tove & Edvard Kindt-Larsen, Peter Hvidt, Orla Morlgaard-Nielsen, Yngve Ekstrom, Ib Kofod-Larsen, Johannes Andersen, etc. We are constantly updating our website with new pieces and we never have our entire inventory online at any given time, so check back often for new pieces.
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Oh my freaking god.......
too bad its about 3 timezones away lol, i wonder if they ship
I heart this place so much, I can hardly stand it. I want to literally live in that 12,000 square feet warehouse. I mentioned it in a blog post a few months back...
www.mydesigndreams.com
I'm pretty sure this is what Heaven looks like.
OMG!, It's like furniture porn!
And yet, when a house tour shows an apartment full of this kind of furniture...
Just wondering why they don't have prices on their site. Still a great resource.
My heart is thumping so fast that my breath is getting ragged. Holy cow.
Does anyone know what their prices are like? Are they consignment prices, retail type prices, or higher than retail like a specialty shop? I assume it would be more than IKEA (clearly) but would it be less than DWR? I live one time zone away, so a trip would be an event.
From what I remember of their CL ads, Mid Century coffee tables are like 500-1000 dollars. At that point I didn't even check the price of their sofas.
I have been here and met the owners... the prices are expensive - I mean as much as DWR or more in some cases.... credenzas are around 2-4k, you can't really get anything great for under 1000k (I mean maybe some chairs...)
Beautiful furniture! I don't think I want to see the prices though...
I purchased a Dutch sideboard from them and had it shipped from LA to Boston. I was very satisfied with the item as well as the overall transaction. And I didn't think the price was too bad (certainly lower than 1st Dibs). I recommend them and frequently visit their site to see the latest treasures.
Hello Everyone, this is David from Silicathree (soon to be renamed midcenturyla.com). I appreciate all your comments (and even some of the criticism of our pricing) and would be more than happy to answer any questions you may have. Feel free to email me at david@midcenturyla.com or david@silicathree.com.
I'll try to answer a few of the questions here.
We do ship to any state and have multiple ways to do that.
In terms of pricing, our pricing is definitely retail pricing - we take great care of pieces, inspecting them, repairing them, replacing missing parts, reupholstering most of our seating and refinishing all of our pieces.
This work, coupled with the fact all of our pieces are imported from Europe and the associated costs of bringing this furniture over (its become very popular there in Denmark/Sweden/Holland and thus has more than tripled in cost) means we have no choice but to sell at retail prices.
Our goal all along has been to make an aesthetic accessible, although its very challenging and with many pieces, we are forced to price things based on our costs.
we try to be very flexible in pricing and work on discounting anything we can, to the extent we can. one commenter said our sideboard prices range from $2000-$4000. Realistically our teak sideboards average from $1200-$2200, while some pieces do cost more. (I have some sideboards i've paid more than $3000 for over in denmark before i've even brought them here to refinish).
So i do apologize to those of you who feel we are too expensive, it's not done out of greed but simply out of response to our costs both in purchasing in europe and in getting the pieces in excellent condition.
We hope to hear from you and also to have you come visit our new 12,000 sq. foot warehouse in North Hollywood. Again, please feel free to email any questions you may have to david@midcenturyla.com
cheers,
David
David, what a wonderful reply! I'm so glad to hear that you ship!!!
thanks :-)
I've contacted Silicathree numerous times over the years about items I've lusted over, and David has always been incredibly helpful and open about their pricing and availability. The prices, to me, are not outrageous when you take into account the museum-quality refinishing. If you want a garage sale find, this is not the place to find it.
Silicathree is for when you know you want something in absolutely perfect condition, don't want to hunt for the next six months for it, and can afford the price for the convenience of one-stop shopping. Expensive does not immediately mean rip-off, and I don't think Silicathree qualifies as over-the-top outrageous.
Even if you don't live in LA, their website is total furniture porn. Boom-chicka-wah-wah...
I can now personally vouch for David and Silica Three (now MidcenturyLA) as a new loyal customer. The service is far and beyond the norm, and their knowledge of their wares really makes even browsing a lot of fun. The people at the showroom obviously love and live this era of design and their enthusiasm to discuss all the details is a true perk. Go just to browse and dream...you may find yourself starting a new penny jar to save up for something that will become the foundation of your living room.