From Julie:
A technique for countering tedium in the kitchen: varied work-surface materials. In Francesca’s Brooklyn Heights kitchen, designed by Steven Harris, she used Corian cabinetry, marble countertops, and stainless steel counters on either side of the Viking range.
7 comments October 31st, 2007
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From Francesca:
A few items for the grown-up Goth look. No pumpkins, please:
Winter Oak 100-percent linen fabric by Johan Carpner; at just scandinavian.com
Elegant hanging glass globe candle holders; $10 (small) and $18 (large) from mothology.com
Ted Muehling bronze candlesticks; available in a range of sizes ($580 and up) at elementschicago.com
Beads and Pieces bowl by Hella Jongerius (made by Peruvian craftspeople as part of Artecnica’s Design with Conscience project); $695 at mossonline.com
Marcel Wanders New Antiques wood-turned tables in matte black lacquer; $2,596 for the short, $2,364 for the tall; unicahome.com:
Bronze Hollywood sconce from Dutch company Brand Van Egmond; $1,070 by special order at unicahome.com:
Gothic candleholders; from $37 to $48 each at San Francisco’s Paxton Gate, via morewaystowastetime.blogspot:
Black mushroom ceramic vases from UK-based kikiceramics.com
Laser-cut felt wool rug, 3 foot by 5 foot, in charcoal; $199 at brocadehome:
Line your walkway or your outdoor table with Glassybaby votives; $40 each at glassybaby.com:
1 comment October 30th, 2007
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From Julie:
It’s said that God is in the details. Especially when it comes to interiors, we say. Nothing degrades a room more than cheap finishes; tinny switch plates and outlet covers can be especially dreary. Here are some ideas for reasonably priced alternatives:
Spotted Ontario shop May December Home on More Ways to Waste Time; the black switch plate (below) caught my eye.
Find similar switch plates at Arnev Products; these matte-black-finished steel switch plates (below) are available in a variety of configurations at Arnev.
We also like these high-gloss black enamel metal switch plates (below); go to Arnev.
And this brushed-stainless switch plate with gray switches (below) at Arnev.
Arnev.com sells black and gray toggle switches (below), outlets, and dimmers:
Restoration Hardware has a good selection of switch plate covers (most for under $10); we especially like these aluminum ones (below); go to Restoration Hardware.
Rejuvenation Hardware in Portland, Oregon, is a good source as well. They carry retro push-button switches (below), dimmers, and switch plates in a variety of finishes; go to Rejuvenation.
They’ve even made phone jacks, cable jacks, and cable plates (below) tolerable; go to Rejuvenation.
2 comments October 29th, 2007
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From Sarah:
British fabric and wallpaper designer Felix Spicer is one of those people who restores your faith in humanity. It could be the Rilke quotes he tosses about or his debonair demeanor, but Spicer is a throwback to the nineteenth century. He finds his inspiration in his extensive collection of French and Italian hairpins from this period; his painstaking execution of pattern and his meticulous selection of Belgian and Irish linen elevate his work to a rarefied art form.
His bespoke fabrics begin at £98 per meter; go to Felix Spicer.
Spicer’s London studio, below:
Samples of his designs, below:
Add comment October 28th, 2007
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From Sarah:
Storage bins, shelves, desks, filing systems—they all feature heavily in our overscheduled lives. Here’s a selection of items to create the necessary domestic infrastructure.
Both: Sonrisa Furniture in LA offers vintage stripped natural steel office furniture.
Below: Stripped file cabinets in two-, three, four-, and five-drawer sizes range in price at Sonrisa Furniture from $625 to $850.
Below: LA-based Twenty Gauge also offers a huge selection of restored American office furniture, from vintage lockers to architects desks.
Below: We also love these locker basket letter trays ($60) and magazine files ($28); both at See Jane Work.
Below: These perforated storage bins are $29.99 for two at PB Teen.
Below: The storage baskets are designed to fit into PB Teen’s shelving units; both the two-shelf and three-shelf model are $299 at PB Teen.
Below: Pottery Barn Teen offers an attractive locker storage option as well; the 8-drawer dresser frame with wood top is $507; each drawer is $49 (you can mix and match colors); go to PB Teen.
Below: Ikea is always a great source for office organization; we love the compact Helmer drawer unit in silver, white, or red; $39.99 at Ikea.
1 comment October 25th, 2007
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From Julie:
What is it about desk implements that is so compelling? For some of us, it approaches a fetish. Here are our favorite staplers, sharpeners, tape dispensers, etc.:
Red Desktop stapler from Hestra, Sweden; $60 at Kiosk.
Henning Andreasen–designed stainless steel stapler, featured in MoMA’s permanent collection. $75 at MoMA.
Folle classic 1946 stapler; $150 at See Jane Work.
The historic El Casco stapler in black and chrome; manufactured in the Basque region of Spain; $110 at Unica Home.
Stockholm staples ($6.50); Swirl paperclips ($8); go to Conran USA.
And we thought we were odd—check out Pencil Pages, a swap forum for pencil enthusiasts. If you’re looking for a great pencil, the Generaus Cedar Pointe is an excellent choice. Made from California incense cedar, with a distinctive black eraser, they are available from Canoeo, $5 for a dozen.
To keep those pencils sharp, the classic schoolroom X-Acto vacuum-mount pencil sharpener is up to the job; $39.99 at Container Store.
Or for the true fanatic, the El Casco chrome pencil sharpener for a whopping $346 from Unica Home.
Page 1 stainless steel tape dispenser; $40 at MoMA.
From Design Within Reach, UK-designed heavyweight tape dispenser for $60.
For some reason (perhaps it reminds of the first calculators in the seventies) we love this rubber-coated red calculator; $85 at MoMA.
Lagis rubber mousepad in black, white, or red; 99 cents at Ikea.
Can O’ Clips by Cavellini, $5.95 at Stampington.
Aluminum collator; $39 at Canoe.
Finally, to keep track of it all, the Stendig wall calendar; available at Crate and Barrel for $32.95.
1 comment October 24th, 2007
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Our top ten functional (and handsome) task lamps:
THE NEW CLASSICS:
Below: Ballfinger table lamp from Germany; $680 at nova68.com:
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Below: Adjustable arc 109 lamp from Brooklyn-based David Weeks Studio; call 718-596-7945 for pricing or go to davidweeksstudio.com:
Below: Job table lamp from Germany in polished stainless steel with glass-rod-encased base; available in early 2008 for approximately $2,200 from pluglighting.com
RETRO BEAUTIES
Below: The Bestlite series was designed by Robert Dudley Best in 1930; it’s a certified design classic and is exhibited at the Design Museum in London. At unicahome.com for $479:
Below: Designed by Jean-Louis Domecq in the fifties, the newly reissued, French-made Jielde Signal desk lamp is available in brown, yellow, pink, olive green, blue, orange, brushed chrome, and chrome plated; $382.50 and up (depending on color) at lightology.com. The turquouise blue model is available at conranusa.com for $450. Restoration Hardware’s knockoffs run from $189 to $249 (restorationhardware.com), depending on size and finish. Finally, Pottery Barn Teen offers “interpretations” for $69 in several cheery colors; pbteen.com:
Below: Original BTC’s Hector Table Lamp, designed by Peter Bowles, has a bone china shade and a ceramic base with a cotton-braided flex (conranusa.com $195):
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Below: The Anglepoise lamp is an icon of modern design. A broad range of styles and colors are available at hollowaysofludlow.com; prices range from $120 to $600. And, yes, they do ship to the US. A stainless version is available at conranusa.com for $600:
THE ECONOMY STALWARTS
Below: Antifoni work lamp; $24.99 at Below: Antifoni work lamp; $24.99 at ikea.com
Below: The Luxo original L-1 architect’s lamp, designed in 1937 by Jac Jacobsen. Available in chrome, black, white, or gray; $183 at lightspc.com
Below: Artimede Tolomeo Micro Lamp in silver, white, or black. Find it at roomandboard.com for $195:
Pottery Barn Teen offers two good options:
Below left: Lumi table lamp, $59. Below right: Retro Task lamp; $69. Both at pbteen.com:
Our fortunate UK readers can avail themselves of the following three great options. Below left: Bubble table lamp from Heal’s of white glass and chrome; £25 at heals.co.uk. Below middle: Habitat’s haricot green task lamp; £25; go to habitat.co.uk. Below right: Atlantis stainless steel desk lamp; £74.50 at grahamandgreen.co.uk:
1 comment October 23rd, 2007
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From Julie:
We’re big fans of the home office bulletin board. Why didn’t we think of this before: replacing our standard-issue plastic pushpins with these oak or walnut ones from the Container Store ($2.99 for a packages of 20 at the Container Store)? Or these streamlined translucent ones—an art director’s dream—from Muji (£1.75 for a pack of 33 at Muji).
If you are the DIY type, create your own notice board by stretching raw painter’s linen (available at art supply stores) over Homasote fiber board, made from recycled newsprint. Homasote comes in 4-by-8-foot sheets, is half an inch thick, and is surprisingly lightweight. Go to Homasote to find a dealer. Martha Stewart offers detailed instructions for making your own notice board at Martha Stewart.
Or consider these three options from Pottery Barn. Below left: Large stone-colored linen pinup board (36 by 48 inches), $129. Center: Modular linen pinboard tiles, $25 per 20.5-by-14-inch tile. Right: Black wood–framed corkboard (36 by 48 inches); $149. Go to potterybarn.com.
We also like Staples’ no-nonsense commercial aluminum framed cork bulletin boards, which range in size from 1.5 by 2 feet to a 4-by-8-foot behometh; prices run from $24.99 to $239.99 for the big one; go to staples.com:
Add comment October 22nd, 2007
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From Julie:
Spotted Blake Dollahite’s Austin, Texas, house on designspongeonline.com recently. His study is a romantic ideal to strive for: a clean, well-lighted place for contemplative work:
Create your own authorial retreat with Anthropologie’s polished alder wood, hand-forged steel, and glass Intelligensia desk; $1,298 at Anthropologie.
Oak schoolhouse arm chair; $197 at K. Petersen.
Vintage Olivetti Lettera 35 manual typewriter (perfect for doing envelope addresses) go to eBay; My Brother’s Picture Frame; white cast resin frame by Harry Allen; $190 at Velocity Art and Design.
Nikki table lamp (also available with green linen shade); $189 at Design Public; Tivoli walnut radio; $119.99 at Tivoli Audio.
Add comment October 21st, 2007
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From Janet:
Burn bans, global warming, soaring natural gas bills. What’s a fire lover to do? EcoSmart Fire: simply put, a fire-in-a-box that can fit in a traditional fireplace, function as a freestanding unit, or be used in a variety of other configurations, indoors and out. Because it requires no flue and burns denatured ethanol, EcoSmart offers a clean, odorless flame and doesn’t need a utility connection. Go to ecosmartfire.com for retail locations.
In-wall unit; $4,500 to $5,200:
$2,300 for burner unit or $3,300 for unit plus retrofit for existing fireplaces:
. 
The free-standing unit (price range $5,900 to $8,700) is great for apartments:
My favorite: the traditional grate can be slipped into an existing fireplace or used on its own; $3,300:
In situ:
3 comments October 18th, 2007
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