White Furniture

Who knew that the Danes had so much furniture? I like wood. I like well designed, and I like cheap. Until a few years ago, when you went looking for great wood furniture, you had to go out to Brooklyn and scour through old, heavy American vintage. If you were really lucky you found a stray piece of California Eames or George Nelson. Karazona Cinar of White on White Furniture changed all that. If you want the full story about how Karazona came from Turkey to build a small empire in low price antique and new furniture in the midst of a recession, read Oliver's article at Ryanbros.com. The short of it is that he manufactures his own versions of classic pieces by Mies van der Rohe, Eero Saarinen, and Isamu Noguchi, and has also amassed one of the more impressive collections of vintage Danish Modern pieces in the five boroughs. His two New York stores, Broadway and White street, feature basement warehouses with row upon row of imported furniture, which move weekly. You have to look, but great vintage tables, desks, and chairs can be had for $100s and not $1,000s. The problem? The new pieces are a bit cheaply made; there is virtually no customer service (which I like); and there is a wide range of quality in the vintage stuff. Real hunting over a number of days is recommended, but they serve espresso in the store, so the shopping is not unpleasant. MGR