Matt Goes for Mid Century Modern Furniture
To celebrate the 5th season of Vintage Garage Chicago, we gave away $250 "Garage Bucks" to spend at the April season opener. Chicago designer Kevin Grace (HGTV, "Steve Harvey" show) was on hand to help our winner spend his bucks on mid century modern furniture. If there is anyone who knows how to incorporate great vintage pieces into our everyday lives, it's Kevin!
Who knew how lucky we'd be to get Matt Lieberman as our winner!? Matt is a long time Garage customer. Since the first season in 2012, I've seen him shopping with concentration and purpose and I knew he had an eye for mid century modern furniture and decor. I'd see him leaving with bright colors and he always seems to find the coolest stuff I never even noticed!
After the April show, I knew I wanted to write about what he picked with his winnings. I asked for some background for my story and I was blown away by Matt's collector savvy. So, I share Matt's story in his own words below.
Thanks for coming each month Matt, and being such a great customer!
Sell vintage at the next Garage!
A very special thanks to Kevin Grace. You can visit his website anytime at Kevin Grace Designs.
Melissa
Vintage Garage Chicago
My name is Matt Lieberman. I am 41-years-old, the youngest of four children, Deaf, and a proud resident of Chicago, IL. My fascination and passion for all things midcentury officially began in 1987.
In the early 90’s, I attended a deaf high school in Washington, DC, which had been constructed in 1976. As a result of being constructed during this “retro-vintage” period, the campus consisted of several geometric, mazed, and concrete buildings. These buildings were all designed with a yellow, orange and brown color scheme which was shown in the buildings walls, carpeting, and furniture. This was the first time that I found myself slowly growing fascinated by this unique design.
I initially started my collection by buying small items. I focused on dishes and ceramics like Fire King and Pyrex. All of these were bright and colorful. As the years went on, I began to branch out and invest in and purchase larger items like Midcentury modern furniture.
On April 1, 2004, in St. Louis, MO my lucite fascination was born. On that fateful day I went to a retro store and saw something I'd never seen before: Both a blue-green chunky lucite swag lamp AND a yellow-orange lucite swag lamp. I was captivated. I knew I couldn’t leave one behind. Since it happened to be my birthday, I decided I should buy both :). This was the official beginning of my most prominent collection/theme.
I have been attending the Vintage Garage since it started on June 17, 2012. It was also in 2012 that I bought my first lucite yellow & orange grapes at an antique store, adding another important item to my lucite collection. I own 97 table & swag lamps, most are lucite. I have 43 sets of lucite grapes in all colors. I also have an impressive collection of 65 velvet throw pillows, period books and magazines. I currently have almost 300 vintage decorating, interior design, and vintage themed decorative books.
My collection is very color coordinated and I tend to stick to 6 main colors: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, and Purple.
It wasn’t until April 2009 when I moved into my current apartment in Uptown that I was able to fully showcase my collection. This was the first time in my life where I was able to showcase and stage my own themed colored rooms. If you ever have the opportunity to come and stay at my place I will more than likely ask you what your favorite colors are. I ask this so I can incorporate your favorite color into your guest room, as well as customize your specific color to your towels, linens, and decor.
I do not separate a set. A set was designed to be sold together. It annoys me to think of an item not paired with its other piece(s). A set only looks complete when all pieces are together. I must admit that I have made this mistake only once when I separated a set of lamps. I learned from this mistake and have never made it again.
I only collect items prior to 1980 since items after 1980 are typically mass produced and lack quality and character.
About Kevin Grace. He made me feel comfortable, listened to my interests and understood my color choices. He really helped achieve my goals. Kevin was so easy to work with, especially considering that I'm Deaf. He did not let any communication barrier get between us. We constantly talked about jokes, laughed with each other and he let me share my experiences in vintage. We worked really well together shopping for vintage and as a result, I was able to purchase the coffee table set. On top of that, I was able to get the 4th "lost" table added to the set!!
- Matt
