Author: jritter

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Is It Made Out Of Metal?

We sometimes get odd requests from clients, such as: “Can you make me a heavy curtain rod with unique hooks that hangs from the ceiling?”

Our response: “Is it made out of metal?”

 Usually the answer is yes, and we can make it. It’s not just about fabricating things. It’s about the creative process, and that is what truly drives us to imagine new ideas and improve upon old ones. Are we the first people to come up with the idea of the hairpin table leg? Not even close! But we’ve tweaked it:

hairpin legs with feet …and twisted it: unique hairpin legs

…to provide you with unique products that you cant get at Ikea. You usually end up at stores like West Elm or Crate and Barrel. While these stores provide some great inspiration, what you really end up with is a piece that is overpriced and cheaply made in a sweatshop overseas. I recently had a phone conversation with a customer who purchased her entire dining room set from West Elm and spent way too much money for what she got. For the same price she could have supported small business and received a superior product that was hand made right here in Our Country, the United States of America.

custom made curtain rod and hooks

The moral of the story is: If you have a vision for a product and can’t find exactly what you want at the import warehouse, call us! Because most likely if it is made out of metal…we can make it better and stronger!

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Finished Industrial Table Teasers

We are in the process of finishing prototypes for rustic modern desks, coffee tables, and end tables. We will be adding kitchen sized and conference size tables as well. Tons of options to choose from: alder, oak, walnut, mahogany, beetle kill pine, fir, poplar, reclaimed snow fence, reclaimed barn wood, and even some live edge creations courtesy of TC Woods. Heres a sneak peek:

desk1desk2


desk3desk4

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State of the Union

Modern Legs started up as a side show to a welding business just over one year ago. I had seen some of the other table legs being produced and I thought to myself, “With a degree in metalsmithing and 17 years of professional welding experience, I can make this product better!”

I had all of the tools and expertise required to build the legs, but I just needed a venue to get them to the public. The first thing I did was to build a storefront on Etsy.com. Heck, it was free and it only costs $0.20 to list a product. I started out with a single listing that had all of the pricing information for the various sizes of hairpin legs I built. Before long I was spending way too much time answering questions and creating custom listings for every single purchase so I hired someone to build www.modernlegs.com for me. My business exploded and was even mentioned on Wired.com.

MLwelding-32 MLwelding-21 2

In an effort to keep up with customer service, I am proud to say that Modern Legs will be responsible for 5 new part time jobs to the American workforce! Invisible Window is now my on call web developer (with design services provided by Angry Bovine) and Eastern Star Marketing has done a wonderful job getting our SEO tightened up this spring. I have brought on an apprentice metalworker to assist with prep and clean the legs during the production process so my focus can stay on laying down the pretty welds that make my product superior. I’ve also been able to help a friend’s son pay for his first car by hiring him to help package and ship orders. The next addition will be a customer service rep / bookkeeper.

I am extremely excited about these changes that will allow me to spend more time on product development and innovation. Until next time, keep on reclaiming, upcycling, and DIYing!

 

 

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Matt’s Entryway Table

We just received some great photos from Matt, showing us how he used his tall hairpin legs to make an elegant entryway table. Well, let’s let Matt tell the story:

Hi JR

Just received the legs! They are fantastic and couldn’t wait to put them to use! Thought I’d send you a photo of what I made with them.

Thank you once again.

Matt

There is no limitation on how you can use modern leg styles to create a unique piece of furniture for your home. Thanks Matt, and let us know what else you dream up!

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Stem Furniture

I just recently had the opportunity to bid a project for a great San Francisco furniture company called Stem Furniture. In reading through their website, we seem to have very similar design ideas: simplicity and sustainability. Their pieces are crafted from salvaged trees obtained from local timber companies. They accent the natural beauty of the trees and maintain clean, modern lines for a truly unique piece of furniture.

A picture in the blog portion of their website reminded me of my camping trips to the redwood forests of California back in the days when I lived in Vancouver, WA. It was a day’s drive across the state of Oregon to get there, and well worth the drive. It’s hard to grasp the magnitude of these trees unless you see them in person and I often wonder about what it must have been like to have been a logger cutting down one of those giants. The impact had to have felt like a small earthquake!

It was a pleasure to look over their website and be reminded of the beauty of the trees in California, and we wish Stem Furniture and companies like them all over the US nothing but success!

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Product Line Expansion!

Modern Legs is going big! Our line of hairpin legs has been so successful that we are expanding our product line to include finished pieces of furniture as well as custom hand railing. These items will be produced under the direction of JR Design Studio – the creative mind behind Modern Legs. You can see some of the items at our Etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/ModernLegs

 

JR