Regular readers will know that I have a penchant for 20th century vintage furniture. What used to be a mild browsing interest has turned into a mission with a purpose as I’ve just recently moved into an Art Deco apartment which deserves to be filled with furniture that, for once, doesn’t come in a flat pack.
My latest project has been finding a two-seater couch for our lounge room. For some unfathomable reason RM insisted that he didn’t want open armrests on the couch so for the past few months I’ve been stalking couches on eBay and my local vintage furniture stores on a weekly basis.
My eBay trawlings led me to the recently-opened showroom of Grandfathers Axe (they also sell a selection of their wares on eBay). It’s a place that you have to go looking for, as there’s no fancy shopfront at all and the windows to the warehouse are a dirty frosted glass, so it looks like an unused storage space. From the street the only clue to the wonders inside is the butter yellow ute painted with Grandfathers Axe parked out the front.
The showroom is very large and filled to the brim with mid-century gorgeousness, mostly from Denmark. There is so much furniture here that it literally fills the walls from floor to ceiling and you have to wind your way through narrow walkways to inspect the items. They have an amazing array of iconic chairs, some interesting bric-a-brac like these ballot boxes and gasp! more vintage tallboys than you could ever want. The prices are fairly reasonable too.
As luck would have it on my first visit to Grandfathers Axe I spotted the perfect couch – brown leather, two seater, low back, closed armrests. It also had beautifully curved back cushions and narrow short legs to reduce the visual weight of the couch. One of the owners, Ed, kindly offered to hold it for me for a couple of days and when I asked about delivery he offered to deliver it for free instead of charging $50. Excellent service.
So our vintage furniture buying is now complete (for the moment). To read about other places where I’ve bought vintage furniture in Melbourne, check out reviews of 84 Smith Street, The Bitch is Back and Smith Street Bazaar.
Grandfathers Axe, 171 High St, Northcote +61 (0) 404451663
Have they moved? When I went to Grandfathers Axe they were in the end of a small industrial lot in the back of Northcote. Good to see they have a bit more space!
They have some really great stuff! I really want some of those knick knack type things – and plan drawers. One can dream – they’re so expensive!
Yay for finding that couch too! I found a great bargain on Ebay with mine – newly upholstered Parker sofa set for $90! I haven’t verified if they are actually Parker but they sure look it. And really comfy too.
I love the name of this shop. I’d forgotten about the story of the grandfather’s axe.
A friend bought a Danish leather couch and some dining chairs from these junk merchants last year. The couch had a peculiar musty odour coming from it that still refuses to go away and one of the dining chairs collapsed when she was sitting in it. Beware with a capital B.
Hi Lucy
I’m sorry to hear that your friend had a bad experience with them, as I’ve been very happy with the couch we purchased. Given that I’ve found their customer service so good, perhaps your friend could contact them and maybe they’d be able to help with some of the problems?
Jetsetting Joyce
Hi Lucy, ed here, from Grandfathers Axe – so sorry to hear about your friends experience – I don’t recall hearing about a problem but we’d be very happy for them to contact us. We’d be very happy to resolve their problem! Ed 0404451663
Same story as Lucy…. A friend bought a few items from these guys and it was very bad quality! Appeared to be cheaper than most shops, but had huge regrets after realizing the bad condition the peices were in! Thumbs down!
Hi Paul – again, so sorry to hear about your friends experience. We do offer full refunds if someone is dissatisfied with their purchase – certainly don’t want anyone to hang onto something they don’t want! Please let them know they can come on down anytime for a refund or exchange.
Ed 0404451663
Hey JJ,
Not overly impressed with this shop, seems like a load of junky stuff if you ask me, with some crazy prices. It’s nothing exciting or new! You are better off shopping at places that stock quality pieces and have a good reputation such as Twenty21, Angelucci, 20th Century Scandinavia, and Modern History!
Cheers x
Hey Linda! Good to pick up on those points, we certainly don’t hold ourselves in the same light as the stores you mention! Paul & Charles, Dean, Carlo and Len have beautiful shops! When we started the business all those years ago, we purposively decided not to duplicate what was already done so well in Melbourne. We offer our pieces before restoration, giving the customer the choice of restoration or as is. Also, thanks for pointing out our ‘crazy’ prices- we’re also wrapped we can bring mid-century design to such accessible prices and not for the rich alone!
Hey,
I would like to give a big thumbs up to grandfathers axe. Ed was very helpful when I purchased a beautiful mid century, modernist 5 seater sofa from him. I think the prices are reasonable for this kind of furniture & people should check things out for themselves rather than form an option on what they read online.
Thanks again Ed!!
Kylie
I highly recommend Grandfather’s.
They really care about making good
design more affordable to all. Great
Customer service too. We have found
some brilliant things in the store.
Hi all,
Disappointed to read all the negative comments about Grandfather’s Axe. If you’re into mid century “junk” that isn’t in mint condition (and thankfully slightly more affordable) then this is a gem of a shop. Not to mention the customer service by the guys that own it. I first stumbled across it in the back streets of Northcote many years ago and have followed them to the current location on High Street.
You cannot compare their product to Twenty21, Angelucci, Modern History etc as their pieces have usually been restored and therefore can command elitist prices.
Recently I was in need of a “new” couch & after hunting all the new mid-range furniture stores in Richmond/Fitzroy/South Yarra etc I found a wonderful vintage leather two-piece lounge at Grandfather’s Axe for not much more than the cost of a new lounge from Ikea. However I had the same problem (as with the fabric armchair I bought from The Junk Company 8 years ago). I got it home and noticed almost straight away: it absolutely stank of cigarettes & mould! In the first instance I was having the armchair re-covered and re-foamed so it wasn’t a big deal. But this was not an option with the leather lounge. So rather than complaining about it I emailed Ed straight away and asked if there was anything we could do. After googling and many helpful discussions he offered to air out the lounges in the sunshine out the back of their shop for a couple of months. And you know what? It worked and now the furniture is back home and ready to face another few decades of use…
PS A little bird once told me (in her words: actual mother-in-law to a proprietor at one of those high-end mid century furniture stores mentioned earlier) there’s no need to turn your nose up to reproductions from the 50’s & 60’s. They are just as good as the real thing because they were produced under license during the same era…