Tag: <span>furniture</span>

Published September 5, 2011 by

The Winning Bookshelf

bookshelf-design-ideasFor those of you who participated in the Bookshelf Runoff over the summer, thank you for your vote! With your fine taste and discerning eye, you picked the Left Bank by Vivaterra and it couldn’t be more perfect for our living room. The gray-washed wood shelves and exposed rivets give the room a little edge but the classic shape lets me know we’ll love it for a very long time.

With the bookshelf built and in place, the fun part begins: Accessorizing…

bookshelf-design ideasBookshelves are like one big showcase for your favorite things. Little collections, one-off objet, happy photos and quirky art get a new sense of purpose and importance when strategically placed among tomes.

Here a mix of fashion, design, fiction, photography, and travel books become pedestals and frames for beloved objects like our red-handled wine corker from the old bottling rooms of Burgundy to pieces from our camera collection (featuring Mike’s antique accordion Kodak and a cheeky ceramic Polaroid I got him for Christmas).

objects as bookendsReally, anything heavy and interesting is a bookend. Here, a charcoal-heated iron that Mike found in India keeps our literature in place and looks quite sculptural in its new found role.

Bookshelf accessorizingFilling the formerly empty expanse next to our fireplace, our bookshelf of favorite things makes the living room feel like a much more personal place.

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Published May 19, 2010 by

Best New Designs from ICFF

lighting ideasWhen it comes to modern design tradeshows, the International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) is by far the biggest and best in the U.S. The four-day New York show ended yesterday and held up to its reputation with a slew of inspiring products and displays from around the world.

A few of my favorite finds…

Above, 13 wood-veneer pendants from LZF Lamps cluster together to form a show-stopping installation.

modern outdoor seating ideasKenneth Cobonpue’s new canopy lounger for Hive is so inviting, it’s worth the funny tan lines.

unique ideas for bookshelvesBrooklyn-based Faktura turns traditional shelving on its head with the V Bookshelf.

best votive holdersA sweet floral design appears within these bone-china votive holders by designer Hanna Tonek Bonnett. The best part? When lit, the pattern shines through and casts shadows in the shapes of roses.

modern kids chairsBaby Acapulco by Innit Designs is one hip kids’ chair. I took a seat in the little chair and the durable vinyl cords made for a surprisingly comfortable seat.

modern double-use furnitureWinner of ICFF’s New Designer Award, Objeti has come forward with a very clever line of multipurpose furniture. My favorite within their new Aerialist series is the Line bench/table/console. The three powder-coated steel panels can flip to become a cushioned seat, tabletop, or a combination of both.

modern lighting ideasSpanish company Fambuena had a number of gorgeous lights but this geometric pendant was the most dramatic.

modern baby cribFor the modern urban family, the Koo bassinet could not be more functional. Made by Lunar, the front folds down to become a rocking chair.

Which design is your favorite?


Etc Finds

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Published May 11, 2010 by

Rethinking Old Furnishings in New Spaces

wall-decorating-ideasWhen you move to a new home, it’s amazing to see how a fresh space can give your same old things a whole new look and function. A wonderful example of this is Michelle Adams’ new apartment. She is known to most as a founding editor of Lonny Magazine and an acclaimed textile designer, but I’ve always known her as submission #2 of the Happy Chic Home Contest. She entered her former NYC apartment into this contest that designer Jonathan Adler and I hosted on my old blog Design Daily back in 2008. We gave her 3rd place, though if her new apartment design was in the running . . . it would have snagged the gold.

Featured this month in Lonny with a lovely addendum on Decor8, Michelle’s new home is more than double the size of her former 325-square-foot abode. One would think this would be a good thing but she says handling the extra footage was one of the hardest parts about the redesign. Her old furnishings weren’t enough to fill the space and their compact design solutions weren’t necessarily needed anymore. Needless to say, she tackled the challenge head-on with smart shopping decisions and very clever rearranging.

Michelle Adams’ Design Scheme in Her Old Apartment
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Michelle’s Design Scheme in Her Extra-fabulous New Apartment
For the most part you can barely recognize the original pieces in this sophisticated new space but look a little closer and the reuse is inspirational.
new-livng-room-design-ideasA jute rug and a white linen sofa still anchor her living room but the ostrich wallpaper and yellow zigzag curtains bring her furnishings to life.
A long credenza is one of those luxuries that her former pint-size pad could have never afforded, but now she can use it as a grand display for her favorite accessories. This snakeskin tray used to be tucked on a bookshelf; now it’s glorified as a sassy bar tray. The tortoise-pattern lamp was once relegated to the corner of the living room and today it illuminates the details of her art and accents.
headboard-ideasYou may recognize these bedside tables from the former living room design–they were pushed together to make a coffee table. The headboard is exactly as it was but set against a charcoal-colored wall, it becomes that much more dramatic.

With a few moves under her belt, Michelle says, “I look for versatile pieces that can be reinterpreted in each apartment I move to (and eventually HOME!).” I don’t know where she’s off to next, but I know she’ll turn her things into something wonderful all over again.

Lonny photography: Patrick Cline

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Published October 16, 2009 by

Know Your Design Biases

Decor-ideas-Brick-makers-table

I’m a sucker for Frenchie furniture. I love feminine lines, the movement of a curved back, and most decor that could be linked back to the sensuous style of Louis XV. But in decorating, one must know her biases. With my curvaceous Greyson sofa arriving next week (long story, to be continued) and my beloved 1940s French chairs poised to face it, my living room needed a piece to separate the two and break the theme. After hunting for coffee tables for a few months now–it became clear to me; I needed a brickmaker’s table. A rectangular steel base with a coarse wood plank top: it’s the antithesis of girly and just the thing to curb my dainty living room design.

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Brickmaker’s tables have become insanely popular in home design (I generally try not to buy trendy furniture, but I’m hoping the simplicity of this piece gives it some staying power) and Restoration Hardware, Sundance, and Mecox Gardens (to name a few) all have lovely options but steeper price tags than my flea marketers heart can handle.

This is a no frills table; did it really need to be $1,400?

Not according to the upstate New York furniture company, SKALNY. I spotted their booth at the last New York Gift Fair, and to my delight, their brickmaker’s table was retailing at a mere $600. The elm top is made from reclaimed wooden doors and the steel base is thin, angular, and wonderfully industrial. I’m sure bricks were never made here but the raw look is enough for me.

To place orders for so-called SKALNY table #81211, call Sylvester & Co. at 631-725-5012. They can drop ship to any location in the country (table is $600, plus the cost of shipping).

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