SOMETHING OLD / Vintage furnishings add personality and character -- at minimal cost

SOMETHING OLD
Vintage furnishings add personality and character -- at minimal cost
Diane Dorrans Saeks
Wednesday, June 16, 1999
© 2001 San Francisco Chronicle

Every interior needs a hit of vintage style to add character, spirit and a little eccentricity.
Handsome old Art Deco armoires, charming amateur paintings, '30s perfume bottles, ironstone platters, Bauer pottery, old textiles, dusty volumes and funky chairs can all be found inexpensively at second-hand shops and flea markets.
``Flea-market treasures are always much more interesting and compelling than new things,'' said Jacques Pantazes, a San Francisco fashion designer. When he lived in Paris, he spent every Sunday at Paris flea markets. His finds now help furnish his San Francisco apartment.
Jennifer Streit and Christina Ecklund, owners of Prize antique shop in Berkeley, have both furnished their city apartments with collections of vintage pottery, antique linens, miniatures and maps. They like the adventure of shopping at flea markets and second-hand stores. And they love the serendipity of adding to their growing collections that way.
``It's not the rarity or preciousness of an object that is the draw for us,'' said Streit. ``We're looking for unpretentious charm, uniqueness and signs of wear that suggest other lives. We like things with chips and nicks and worn paint. Our look is not too stiff or serious.''
Streit and Ecklund started Prize last year and have filled the store with well-edited vintage goods such as embroidered linens, iron beds, old luggage, globes, painted furniture, ironstone pitchers and platters, chandeliers, vintage office furniture, and everyday furniture from the '30s and '40s.
``Our style is feminine and light, in a pale color palette,'' noted Ecklund. ``We love vintage pieces because they feel casual and comfortable -- as if they have always been in your life.''

LIVING A COLLECTOR'S LIFE

Jennifer Streit first went garage- sale hopping with her mother when she was a teenager. Since college, she has furnished all of her apartments in great style with flea- market finds and thrift-shop trophies.
Her eclectic style developed, she said, from repainting old chairs, repairing worn-out tables, reupholstering benches and using old frames for new beveled mirrors. It has even spilled over to her professional life, leading her and Christina Ecklund to open Prize, a Berkeley antique shop.
In Streit's sun-filled San Francisco apartment are collections of old games, vintage flowerpots, old Scrabble sets, yellowed ironstone plates and platters, and laboratory glass. She also loves petite objects.
``I'm into the smallest versions of everything I like,'' she admitted. ``Currently that means miniature stuffed animals, dolls, tiny globes, little hatboxes, small compasses. They're inexpensive, and they're easy to display on wall shelves and in cabinets. It's like presenting the world in miniature.''
Streit also collects old hotel flatware -- Palace Hotel silver, Plaza Hotel knives, and Pig and Whistle forks are among her passions. She uses a stack of old suitcases as a side table in her living room.
Her favorite find is a vintage French classroom map, purchased for $5, which hangs on her kitchen wall. Streit said, ``I'm always so glad I went to that garage sale.''

TIPS ON CREATING VINTAGE STYLE

Jennifer Streit and Christina Ecklund of Prize, a new antique store in Berkeley, offer the following suggestions for collecting and displaying antique and vintage finds. Enjoy the hunt! -- Be individual. Pick a collection that is unique and personal. It may be as quirky as old motel key rings or vintage restaurant syrup dispensers, or as obscure and extravagant as mother-of-pearl game pieces or miniature portraits. -- Groupings. Collect and display in groupings for maximum impact. There is strength in numbers, and small objects in particular look more dramatic and stylish grouped together. Display similar items such as white vases, old silver hotel spoons, ironstone pitchers or vintage clocks together in a wall cabinet or on shelves. -- Multitudes. Look for various sizes of the same objects, from petite to grand. Globes, glass apothecary jars with ground-glass stoppers, old suitcases and art pottery vases work well together, and the juxtaposition of various sizes creates drama and energy in a room. -- Multilevel. Use multilevel displays to enhance collections. Vary heights of the display using painted wooden boxes, old coffee tins, small glass- front display cabinets and stacks of old books. Give each piece prominence and importance, whether it's crystal or pottery, old cameras or shells. -- Themes. Let the collection suggest a theme for an interior. Early 20th century French wall maps, old field glasses, seashells and suitcases may offer a travel or seaside scenario. Old game boards, college pennants, sporting equipment and vintage sports photos can develop a sports theme. -- Display. Use glass to highlight any collection. Glass-front cabinets or display cases, shadowboxes, glass jars, bell jars and vintage steel medical cabinets make ideal displays.
Cabinets make even humble collections look more precious -- and keep them dust free, as well. Cabinets are especially useful for gathering collections of small items -- compasses, cookie cutters, vintage tape measures, French fans, Japanese miniature clay figures or vintage monogrammed linens. -- Framed. Collect and frame vintage black and white photos, which often turn up at flea markets and vintage stores in boxed lots. Arrange photos in themed groupings on the wall. For example, collect dog photos, images of sports teams, scenery, trees, children's classroom photos, Rome, the Eiffel Tower, obscure fairs, circuses.
Many of these snapshots can be picked up for a song (perhaps $1 to $10). For inexpensive framing, check out Cheap Pete's, which has locations around the Bay Area. -- Reflections: To add depth and texture to walls, hang a collection of mismatched old mirrors with interesting frames. -- School days. Old school maps and chalkboards make instant and inexpensive wall graphics. -- Contained. Use vintage collections to display other collections. Hang an old grocer's scale to display painted wooden vegetables, Mexican paper flowers or shells. Use old wire gym locker baskets as design book containers or to hold magazines. Antique silver trophies, vintage silverplate hotel coffeepots and water pitchers can hold cutlery and chopsticks, or even fresh flowers.

ARTFUL COLLECTIONS GRACE SAN FRANCISCO APARTMENT

``Old things relax a room and make it feel comfortable and homey,'' said Christina Ecklund, co-owner of Prize antique shop.
Ecklund painted the walls of her 1916 San Francisco apartment in pale green eau de Nil paint with satin white trim, to show off her collection of urn-shaped white vases.
``I started collecting art pottery vases 12 years ago, and they have almost taken over my living room,'' she said. ``The urns are all from different decades and from all over the world, but they are very harmonious together. I'm always adding more to upgrade the collection.''
Ecklund, who formerly worked as a photo stylist and interior designer, started collecting pink things when she was 16.
``I had a '50s pink radio, pottery vases, mirrors, plastic telephones and toys all arranged around my room,'' recalled Ecklund, who went to flea markets with her father, also a collector.
Over the years, her collections have metamorphosed and become more sophisticated. Today her taste runs to old fans, miniature ceramic vases, metal dogs, floral paintings by amateur artists, apothecary jars, seashells and restaurant syrup dispensers.
In her bedroom, Ecklund has a glass case with '30s storybook dolls, gifts from her mother. Toy fox terriers rove her nightstand. A group of old tin ladybugs hover on the shelf of her nightstand.
Her collection of 50 pottery urns has spilled from the mantel to a cabinet, and now onto shelves and tables.
``When you group your favorite things together,'' she said, ``it really brings out their unique qualities.''

FASHION DESIGNER'S PARISIAN STYLE

San Francisco fashion designer Jacques Pantazes first discovered flea markets in London in the '80s. After making some scintillating finds at rummage sales in Amsterdam and flea markets in Paris, he was hooked.
``I look upon flea markets as open museums,'' said Pantazes. ``You can always walk through flea markets and rummage sales and feel as if you can afford anything. Everything there has history and is infused with the lives they've lived. You can't say that about the pieces in a new furniture store.
``The true joy is finding a rare and unusual object -- and getting it at the best possible price,'' said Pantazes. ``I always look for mysterious things that are a little classic but bizarre. The point of going to a flea market is finding something no one else has.''
Pantazes, who designs dresses, suits and gowns for Lily Samii in San Francisco, arrived from Paris two years ago with trunks full of vintage items -- glass apothecary jars, shagreen-covered boxes, perfume bottles, Pyrex beakers, an international collection of mounted and framed bugs, Art Deco furniture, luggage, lanterns, postcards, Georgian chairs, fashion photography and decorative tea boxes.
These treasures are now arranged and displayed in his San Francisco apartment.
``I've never acquired anything new,'' said Pantazes. ``I purchased Art Deco furniture because it was not expensive, it's well made, and eventually it will become rare and valuable.''
Pantazes has developed his buying techniques over the years.
``It's best not to get too insistent that vintage pieces and antiques be original,'' he said. ``Reproductions or pieces that require restoration can be cheaper and much more interesting in the end.''
In his dressing room is a tall figured burlwood Art Deco armoire. Beside it stands a pair of 19th century English chairs, a petite Napoleon III chair and an Art Deco dressing table.
``My flea-market treasures have patina and history, and I love breathing in their vibrations,'' said Pantazes.
Oddly, the designer has not yet ventured to local vintage shops, rummage sales or flea markets.
``I have not unpacked all of my trunks and boxes of furniture, so I don't yet have room for any more finds.''

RESOURCES
-- Belmar Co., 2525 16th St., 2nd floor (Florida street), San Francisco; (415) 621-7447. By appointment only.
You can also custom order Belmar pieces at Sloan Miyasato, San Francisco Design Center, 2 Henry Adams St. (near Division street), San Francisco; (415) 431-1463. -- Campero's, 350 Florida St. (between 16th and 17th streets), San Francisco; (415) 863-7793. Fine furniture restoration, by appointment only. -- Ciarlo Brothers, 765 Bryant St. (between Fifth and Sixth streets), San Francisco; (415) 433-1150. Furniture refinishing and upholstering, by appointment only. -- Cheap Pete's Frame Factory Outlet, 4249 Geary Blvd. (near Seventh Street), San Francisco; (415) 221-9442. Also, 221 Third St. (near Grand Avenue), San Rafael; (415) 455-8055; 11 E. Fourth Avenue (near El Camino), San Mateo; (650) 344-1727; 1666 Locust St. (near Civic Drive), Walnut Creek; (925) 945-1666. -- Prize, 2361-2363 San Pablo Ave. (near Channing Street), Berkeley; (510) 848-1168. Antique shop, open noon to 6 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, or by appointment. -- Randolph & Hein, Galleria Building, San Francisco Design Center, 101 Henry Adams St. (near 16th Street), San Francisco; (415) 864-3550. -- Samantha Renko, Samantha Renko Studio, Sausalito; (415) 332-3269. Decorative paint artist, by appointment only.

Diane Dorrans Saeks is the author of nine books on interior design, style and architecture, all published by Chronicle Books. Her ``California Interiors,'' will be published in September by Taschen.