From Julie:
I admit it, I’m still under the thrall of my recent Ace Hotel experience, with its raw aesthetic. Hence my attraction to this loft kitchen featured recently in New York magazine.
1. The second-hand Vulcan stove cost about $1,200. 2. The salvaged kitchen island was stripped and refinished. 3. The custom stainless shelving cost about $700. Go to New York Magazine to see the rest of the loft.
1 comment April 29th, 2007
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From Sarah:
If you have a doodle-prone child, here’s the perfect solution: crayon-ready WOW wallpaper from UK company Graham & Brown. Cover a surface with the Frames pattern (left), and let your child go wild. Your budding artiste can paint on it directly or you can pin drawings or photos inside the frames. Another waiting-to-be-colored option: the company’s Flowers wallpaper (right).
Both are available for £20 a roll; Frames at Graham Brown and Flowers at Graham Brown.
A work in progress:
Add comment April 26th, 2007
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From Julie:
To be filed under “Why do the Brits have all the good ideas?” UK company Elica has come up with the Star extractor hood, a glamorous, ceiling-mounted chandelier fixture that incorporates a concealed kitchen fan. Go to Elica for more information.
Below: The stainless steel 3-speed, 40 watt halogen–lit Platinum model is a sleeker but no less stylish option. Go to Elica for specs.
Add comment April 25th, 2007
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When it comes to outdoor dining tables, the first impulse is to head straight to Smith & Hawken and be done with it. But a little sleuthing turns up some interesting options:
The Style Winners:
Our favorite by a long shot (and the most difficult to acquire, naturally): Dutch designer Piet Hein Eek’s outdoor teak table for 1,495 Euros at www.pietheineek.nl
A close second is the Design Within Reach Silver Collection rectangular dining table in teak and cast aluminum; $2,400 from dwr.com
The Sundance Catalog Reclaimed Barnwood Picnic and Benches is appealing; $995 for the set at www.sundancecatalog.com
Gartentisch acacia wood outdoor table ($950) from www.conranusa.com; the design was discovered in the archives of Gebruder Thonet Vienna, a company famous for its bentwood furniture.
Companion Gartentisch bench for $450 from www.conranusa.com
An interesting, angular take on the picnic table: Teak Parke Picnic Table from Arthur Lauer; $1460 assembled, $1420 flat plack at www.arthurlauer.com
Ethos rectangular table of teak and aluminum; 809 pounds at www.birstall.com
Square Teak Classic: The Bainbridge Gathering Table is five-foot-square and seats eight; $999 (or for $1,799 you get the table plus eight stools that conveniently tuck under the table when not in use) at www.thosbaker.com:
Round Teak Classic: Smith & Hawkin Devon Table 60″, $1369 at www.smithandhawkin.com
Rectangular classic for a bargain: Applaro drop-leaf acacia table; $139 from Ikea (in stores only); go to www.ikea.com to view.
Tasteful Stinson rectangular teak and brushed stainless steel table from www.restorationhardware.com for $1550:
For the Design Voyeur: When price is no object, the $7,500, 12-foot long Triple X-Base teak dining table from swanky Southampton shop Mecox Gardens; go to www.mecoxgardens.com
Add comment April 24th, 2007
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From Julie:
Is it possible to commit design betrayal? If so, I am guilty—ready to abandon midcentury Scandinavian design and redo my house in grunge modern. It happened at the Ace in Portland, Oregon (the original Ace is in Seattle; new branches are slated for New York and Miami). The proprietors have rehabbed an old SRO hotel (Drugstore Cowboy was filmed here) in haute Northwest bohemian style, creating a noirish ambience. Fixtures and furniture are either repurposed, commissioned from local sources (Pendleton blankets), or of modest provenance—hardware store clip-on reading lights, for instance. Room rates start at $90 (with a shared bathroom). In the morning, Neil Young or The Smiths emanate from the turntable, and the adjacent Stumptown Coffee Roaster cafe serves high-octane lattes.
Below: In the lobby, a giant low-slung table is fashioned from a warehouse door, the slouchy sofas are covered in surplus army canvas, and tangled flora emanate from glass vessels.
Below: The mezzanine Biz Center features a library of zines and skateboarding mags.
Below: The hallways feature Schoolhouse Electric Alabax pendants.
Below: Images of rooms and baths.
Below: The adjacent Clyde Common restaurant.
Below: A glass chandelier by Esque Studio at the Stumptown Coffee Roaster cafe adjacent to the lobby.
2 comments April 22nd, 2007
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From Julie:
Lately, I’ve been obsessed with the incredibly stylish Signal lamp, a French industrial light designed by Jean-Louis Domenq (see photo below from last week’s Simply Red post) in the 1950s. Conran sells a yellow floor lamp version for $595.
Imagine my surprise when I learned that the perenially lightfingered Pottery Barn operatives have knocked it off, for a manageable $149 (www.pbteen.com). It comes in pink, navy, white, black, and silver. Honestly, the sleuths at Pottery Barn are shameless (see below).
Another odd “coincidence” (note to PB Teen scouts: have you been lurking at Conrans?):
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1. Spot Light for $99 at www.pbteen.com
2. Crazy Triple floor lamp for $490 from www.conranusa.com.
Add comment April 19th, 2007
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From Sarah:
For a while there, it seemed design accessories were all about dogs…fancy coats and kennels galore. This season it appears that birds are in vogue. Hot on the trail of the Takara plastic singing birds is an array of fabulous avian housing that is causing ornothological stirrings within me.
I love these Perch earthenware feeders, $80 and these colorful ceramic egg bird houses, $125 at J. Schatz.
For the truly contemporary bird, there is the modernist, Neutra-esque wooden house from Modern Birdhouses for $195 or these delightful glass feeders below, for $137 each at Grdnbklyn.
Add comment April 12th, 2007
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From Sarah:
The kitchen in my first apartment in San Francisco had simple white shelves and an old porcelain sink. So far, so good. The problem was the hideous knobs on the cupboards. I scoured the city’s hardware stores and was delighted when I found a source for Sugatsune, the Japanese hardware company. I loaded up on a simple stainless-steel knob and transformed our spartan kitchen. When we moved out of the apartment, I diligently removed the knobs and took them with me to our new house. Once again, with the help of lashings of white paint, I transformed the dingy cupboards into something more contemporary and infinitely more liveable. I still believe that Sugatsune rules the roost when it comes to hardware. Here are ten cabinet-pull ideas:
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4. Stainless-steel flush pull with stain finish $7; www.sugatsune.com
5. Hafele nickel plated brass handle $12.93
www.woodworkerswholesale.com
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109. Lansa handle Ikea, stainless steel, $7.99 per pair; www.ikea.com
10. Excel knob, aluminium with alumite finish, $3.40; www.sugatsune.com
Add comment April 10th, 2007
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From Julie:
My dearly departed mother was an oilcloth fanatic, but in her usual way she sought out the most rarified, high-end French oilclothes in glossy white, palest aqua (what Martha Stewart would call “Acuna”), and a fabulous silver number that covered our kitchen table in the eighties. As always, she was ahead of her time.
So when I set out in search of oilcloth to cover our outdoor dining table, I was dismayed by the dismal offerings available locally. Then Janet, my DesignDNA genetic code sharer, forwarded me a link to Lisa Stickley, yet another charming and idiosyncratic London shop (74 Landor Road, SW9 9PH; 0207 737 8067). These heavyweight, handprinted, plasticoated tablecloths are available for 72 pounds; go to www.lisastickleylondon.com to order:
Cath Kidston, the ever-popular UK purveyor of vintage prints, sells oilcloth by the yard ($34 per); go to www.cathkidston.com
A. H. Mercantile operates a site called www.ahmercantile.com offering solid-colored and classic gingham-check tablecloths for $14 or $30 (depending on size; they also sell the fabric by the yard); we love the pale blue and the white oilcloth on offer. Mendels Far Out Fabrics, an SF oilcloth mecca (1556 Haight Street; 415-621-1287), carries these lines as well as my mother’s metallic silver, by the yard (www.mendels.com):
Classic Marimekko oilcloths $48 per yard at www.kiitosmarimekko.com:
Add comment April 5th, 2007
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From Julie:
A clever alternative to the Post-It note, from European company Manufactum. I’d install this stainless steel roll holder (21.50 EUR) right next to the telephone:
Below: In an anti-Blackberry moment, I would also order the Zeuss Italian address index system from Manufactum (107.80 EUR), which holds up to 600 index cards and requires no new technology skills (and is also far more stylish than its US counterpart, the Rolodex):
Add comment April 4th, 2007
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