"Vintage industrial" preserves our past.

• Position: YOUR LIFE - American Furnishings - Brief article

As U.S. industrial strength slowly creeps across the Pacific Ocean and bleeds south of the border, one couple is salvaging the proud legacy of America's past. Dennis and Denise Blankemeyer, the husband-and-wife duo of American Furnishings, are turning found objects from old industrial plants and steel foundries into prized "high design" pieces called "Vintage Industrial." The couple, who reside in Columbus, Ohio, scour for treasure from the bones of the Midwestern Rust Belt. "We feel it is vital that we preserve the tools that made America the greatest nation on Earth? Dennis remarks.

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Work benches from a decrepit Packard Motor Car plant become kitchen islands. Steel parts carts from a General Motors plant in Detroit...