chairs that nurture

I like each of these chairs because they are so deliberately comfortable and handsome at the same time. The the kind of seats you place in your home as a gift to yourself and the ones you love. Their perfect armrests, luxurious woolen and tweed upholstries, and their inviting colors speak of rest and sanctuary. Spouses, dates, parents, and best friends would all approve.

Sadly, I was so excited to the take this first shot that I neglected to record product details. If anyone can name the teal chair, please send me a note or comment. The second image is of the Park chair by Bensen, while the third is the Grand Repos armchair from Vitra.

concrete bench by MICHAEL BROLLY

Concrete modular seating by Micheal Brolly. With the potential to form an undulating ribbon that meanders through an outdoor space, this is not your average park bench.

etch shades by TOM DIXON

Mesmerizing illumination at Tom Dixon's London Underground show, which was part of this year's New York Design Week. More to come on this year's ICFF where I was taken aback by what desingers are doing with lighting and metals.

singer machines as retail decor

I loved this floor-to-ceiling display of old Singer machines in the DC location of All Saints Spitalfields. The British clothing retailer really uses design and architecture to strongly define it's aesthetic, creating an all-emcompassing experience of the brand for shoppers. They've got some cute party dresses too :)

more on crystals, minerals, and gems (oh my)

A latent jewelry-making hobby is what recently brought my attention to the fantastical world of rocks, crystals and minerals. While searching for a stone to include in a pendent, I became smitten with these agate slices. While they can be used as coasters or bottle rests, but I took the advise of the shopkeeper at Rock Star and grouped mine together with other smaller stones in complimentary colors and shapes. It's a simple display, but I find that these little beauties really add magic to this corner in my apartment.

It's no surprise that crytals and minerals are showing up everywhere. They offer a combination of two major trends: organic modern and mid-century glamour. I see these as a natural progression from the decorative coral and drift wood that has been so popular in the past five years.

Agate slices like these are available online at Leif.com, a lovely little online shop based here in Brooklyn. Also Kelly Wearstley, whose style is the absolute epitome of lavish with a twist, often incorporates rocks into both her jewerly and home accessories lines.

texture and light | vintage metallic purse

I wanted to give real estate to yet another one the amazing accessories from Nana's collection. Also pondering what drew me to take the photo...the late afternoon sun shining into the room for those few moments and the beauty it brought to the texture and reflective quality of this purse. What could someone add to a room in order to consistently experience a similar interplay between surface and light? Perhaps a piece of dangling metalwork installed as sculpture or a functional object made of chrome or copper?

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undulating retail display - Washington, D.C.

 at the Camper Store in Georgetown.

Rock Star - NYC

My daytime wanderings have recently lead me to a wonderful shop called Rock Star on 28th street between 6th and 7th - right in the middle of the flower district and a stone's throw from FIT. I plan to elaborate a bit more on this place and on crystals, their decorative uses, and my theories around their resurgence in popularity.

vintage carlos falchi purse

Is style learned? How much of how we see and what we like has to do with the people who raised us? During a recent visit to my grandmother's home, she gave us one of those rare and wonderful tours of what's lurking in the depths of her closets. Sometimes (if we're good) there's a treat waiting for one of us. But Nana knows to hold on to the good stuff....like this amazing Carlos Falchi purse, which looks to be from the late 70's or early 80's. It's to-die-for and reminds me that yes...style doesn't just spring up out of the blue. It's taught, handed down, borrowed (no-give-backs), and cherished.

texture and light | St. Thomas, USVI

DESIGN|COMMERCE SERIES (part 3): Marimekko

During the spring of 2011, Marimekko opened a brand new flagship store in New York, conveniently located just steps away from my workplace. The shop is so incredibly cheerful that it's quickly become one of my favorite spots for a special gift. What's so brilliant about this brand is that it's archive of classic, mid-century prints is it's core asset. The DIY-inclined can purchase actual fabric, but if you love a certain pattern it's even easier to posess in the form of a ready-to-wear dress, handbag, shower curtain, or set of sheets.

Apparently, this flagship is part of a tiered US expansion by Marimekko's corporate leaders that coincided with a public stock offering. Before it opened, the only brick and morter shops that sold their wares were Crate & Barrel stores. I am intrigued by how companies embark on internationalization. It's interesting to see where investors place their bets. In this case, Marimekko's assertion that the US is well primed for Scandinavian escapist design, and the tools for highly individualized nesting feels like a pretty safe one. The video here is from their website and does a good job in telling the brand's story.

turtle/turtle by Cory Grosser

This is just about the most adorable little seat I've ever seen.

Check out the designer's website for more info (it comes in pink and black too).

DESIGN|COMMERCE SERIES (part 2): "21st century Medicis"

The Adoration of the Magi, Sandro Botticelli, 1475-6Happy New Year! The last few months of 2011 were quite hectic and I had to neglect FTF. But it's a new year and there is much to ponder, admire, and (if we're so inclined) purchase!

To kick things off, I'm resuming with Part 2 of the Design|Commerce series. A while ago, I was doing a bit of research on Moleskine, the company that produces the little black notebooks that have become ubiquitous to all manner of intelligentsia and stylistas. The company has expounded upon it's brand image as the gear of mobile sophisticates and is using a kind of social marketing strategy by tapping into it's ever loyal customer base of creative professionals. Last summer, when launching a new line of writing tools and travel accessories, it created a platform for artists to create and share videos featuring Moleskine products.

If you're interested in learning more, I'd urge you to check out Moleskine's own YouTube Channel, and this article in the New York Times. I was struck by something that of the video contributors said of her involvement, that “I kind of view companies as the 21st century Medicis, and I’m happy to work with brands I actually like...Trying to make my aesthetic and their needs gel is often a fun, creative challenge.”

And this caused me to think...that companies do seem to be the financiers that are driving and mediating a whole genre of artistic expression. However, I would like to think that a project like Molekine's has some lasting value and that the artwork it brings forth can be appreciated as more than just a marketing tool.

DESIGN|COMMERCE SERIES (part 1): Luxury and Traditional Craft

A couple of years ago I attended a talk with textile designer, John Robshaw, hosted by Apartment Therapy. I remember feeling inspired, not only by Robshaw's work and career path, but by an amazing concept, which was entirely new to me at the time.

This was in January 2010. The economic meltdown that by now feels like the new normal, was still fresh and stinging in those days. I think some people felt a little uncomfortable talking enthusiastically about the sale and marketing of high-priced bed linens or any luxury product for that matter. At one point, the discussion came around to the question of how to justify operating in the luxury sector in a slow economic environment.

Robshaw's response (paraphrased) was that luxury--when done right--supports traditional craft and maintains a market for artistry that may otherwise be forgotten. So by suppling a demand for handmade items, categorized as luxury products, business owners have the ability to keep trade skills alive.

This thought has been churning about in the past year or so as I've studied everything from Interior Design and decorative arts to marketing and finance. It's an idea that leads to other questions regarding the products we choose, how we value them, or whether craftsmanship should by nature come at a high price.

So what I hope to bring to this online space are some other perspectives on the matter - either my own or culled from here and there. I've tried to get a little fancy by giving this string of posts a name...does DESIGN|COMMERCE SERIES sound exciting enough? Maybe not, but my creative brain feels a bit fried these days...perhaps too much business and not enough design thinking :)

You can read an abbreviated transcript of the 2010 event with John Robshaw here. The images above are from johnrobshaw.com and onceuponateatime.blogspot.com.

Bulb by MINIMALUX

Oh...I am so jealous of anyone who was able to attend the London Design Festival this past week. This event seems to be one of the few out there that celebrates all manner of design work simultaneously - from fashion to interiors, graphic design, and craft. I was too busy to make the trip, but there is always next year.  In the meantime, Dezeen Magazine has some excellent coverage of the most impressive product debuts. This Bulb lighting by Minimalux caught my eye.

Home is where you make it.

Several years ago, my mother relocated to St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands from our hometown of Philadelphia. Lucky for me, I now enjoy a super affordable beach getaway at least a couple times a year.

Visits always feel like a homecoming, even though I never lived there as a child. In just a few years time, my mother has established a welcoming and magical abode, which is now just as famlliar to me as the space where I was raised. While everything from the climate to the furnishings are completely different, the island home emanates even more spirit, creativity, and love than the one before it.

It is truly inspiring to witness a life lived beaufiully and according to one's own terms. I'm so proud of my mother and continue to learn from her fearlessness and joie de vivre.

Dragon Fruit - Farmer's Market in SoCal

I was in Southern California this past week and had the pleasure of visiting a local organic farmer's market. I love all the splotches of brown and beige...the natural imperfections that temper the bright green and fuchia of the husk and meat. These nuetrals would have the same effect in a surface pattern or within an interior space.

And by the way, Happy New Year!

Thank you to everyone who has read and supported the website! This remains a place where I can share what I see and learn...knowing that you have chosen to spend even a moment here is just wonderful.

crash pad expand sofa bed @ ABC

I love how this sofa is barely recognizable as a sleeper, which unfolds to a queen sized bed with a head and foot board on either end (albight a little off-center).  Just shy of 2K, this has got to be one of the most attainable seating pieces for sale at ABC.  It's doubtful that I'm alone in feeling shamefully uncomfortable offering overnight guests the same old air mattress time and again...

Visit ABC for more info.

Wooly Pockets

I have developed this fantasy/plan of turning my living room into a jungle. When I mentioned this to my very design-savvy Mother, she immediately suggested Wooly Pockets. I am just astounded by this very simple product, that you can configure and adapt to create any whimsical plant-based art that you can imagine.

The most popular container seems to be the Wally pocket, which measures 15" high by 24" wide and can be multiplied to form blocks or rows of wall-mounted greenery both indoors and outdoors. The company boasts of a design that keeps interior walls safe and dry...I have my doubts but dreams of an oxygenated space may trump my fears of apartment eviction due to water damage.

Wooly Pockets also makes a curious product called Meadow, which is literally a large flat container that can be used to plant a garden literally anywhere.  Again, I fantasize about having an indoor garden party where guests mill about a grassy noll, perhaps furnished with a picnic blanket and lawn chair. So odd and marvelous at the same time!

Midcentury Coffee Table at CASABAN

I saw this table at Casaban in Brooklyn some time ago. This is a delightful shop located right the middle of residential Bed-Stuy.

The coffee table was already sold by the time I got to it, but that did not stop me from fantasizing about all the beaufiful collectibles I would put on display. Evidently, the piece was sourced in California where the original owners were likely to have filled it up with sand or river rocks. Somehow, I can picture this very easily. It's very North by Northwest.