Southbound

When you read this, I'll be in High Point, North Carolina for the Spring Furniture Market. It's my first time to Market when thousands of dealers, buyers, designers, bloggers and others associated with the furnishings industry descend on this U.S. furniture capital. After my trips to the Design Bloggers Conference in L.A. in February and the Architectural Digest Home Design Show in March, I was on the fence about also going to High Point for Market Week. But luckily, I won a contest sponsored by the High Point Market Authority which paid for part of my trip. Being at Market gives me the chance to view new product introductions first-hand, tour showrooms for products not represented locally at the Boston Design Center and network with other designers, bloggers and industry professionals. So expect the next few blog posts to be about the new and great things I'll be seeing in High Point.

Attachment Formation

I'm often surprised by the things that clients choose to base a room design around. Once I had a client who wanted to spruce up her master bedroom. The furniture and carpet were staying (and I might add, were workable). But she had just purchased a new comforter, and she insisted that the rooms's color palette be based on the comforter. Now, the comforter may have cost $200-$300. But the custom window treatments and bedding, paint job, chairs and other furnishings for the space would cost thousands. So the idea of being locked into a color palette by an item so easily replaceable and low in cost, relatively-speaking, seemed foolish. Especially because the comforter, although nice, really limited our options: it was a paisley pattern in olive (yes, olive), ivory and rust.

I have a similar situation now. I'm working with clients who recently moved into a new home. The home's former owners left custom window treatments in several rooms. These window treatments obviously had cost the former owners a decent amount which influenced my clients' decision to keep them. If you knew my clients, you'd know that these window treatments hardly suit them: they're young and hip but the window treatments are fussy and stodgy. So when my clients said they wanted to work with them, I was taken aback. We've slowly started buying furnishings for their family room keeping to the palette the window treatments inspire. Now my clients have decided, after all, that they really don't like the window treatments and want to replace them.

You may say it's the designer's job to educate his or her clients and convey the big picture (a.k.a. project scope). Maybe it's easy if you're Mary McDonald and your clients live in L.A and will do whatever you tell them to do. But in my experience, it's hard to convince clients to abandon their attachments, especially when those attachments relate to money they've spent. Perhaps this notion is specific to New Englanders -- most of my client base. You know, that Yankee mentality ("waste not, want not . . ."). All I'm saying is, if you're going to hire a designer, you should be willing to let go of attachments. It will cost you less in the end.

Oh, Brother! Oops, I Mean Mother

I've always been a big fan of mother of pearl. There's something about the opalescence of shell that I find so elegant and totally glam. Skip the mirror; it's pearl for me.

Hardly a new material to enter into decoration, pearl inlays made their way into furniture in the late Papier Mache Chair1600's. In fact, the Continental Rococo period took its name from the French word "rocaille" referring to the shell shapes and rock carvings that appeared in French furniture and wall appliques during the 18th century. My personal attraction to mother of pearl started with papier mache furnishings from the Victorian era. Victorians made dainty chairs low to the ground to accommodate women with fashionable hoop and bustle skirts. The papier mache versions of these chairs are lacquered with intricately patterned pearl inlay. The contrast of the black lacquer with the radiance of the inlay, while a little frou-frou, is for me just the right dose of drama to spice up an eclectic interior.

Today, pearl decorates many surfaces, from bathroom tile to furniture to lighting. At the Architectural Digest Home Design Show last month, Artsaics displayed magnificent mosaics with mother of pearl tiles. (If you want ideas for bathroom designs, you MUST view their online catalog).

   

In furniture, I adore this chest by Wisteria. It's inlaid with bone instead of mother of pearl, but the look is similar. It's such a great piece. I could see it as a dining room buffet flanked by side chairs or as a living room end table.

            

                 Wisteria Chest with Bone Inlay                                              Wunderley Chest with Mother of Pearl Inlay

Oly Studio has two great tables with mother of pearl inlay. The first, the Agnes Cocktail Table, is among several with a classic border design inlaid with mother of pearl. This table's simple lines yet classic border motif make it work in many room styles. The second, the Twilite Table of black resin, is that favorite size of mine--the same as ceramic garden stools. I'd love to see this table in a room with a predominantly white or pale palette. What a great accent!

                             

                                  Oly Studio Agnes Cocktail Table                                                      Oly Studio Twilite Table

In lighting, shells abound. I love the elegance and shimmer that mother of pearl table lamps add to an interior. These, by Jamie Young and Currey and Company would handsomely grace a night stand or living room end table.

                                                    Jamie Young Lee Urn Lamp                                            Currey and Company Barbados Table Lamp

Decorating a seaside home? Then shells seem to be a must. I love the classic forms of these chandeliers and the whimsical touch they add by being made of shells.

                            

                                Oly Studio Jenny Chandelier                                        Arteriors Home Leeza Shell Chandelier

Feelin' Groovy

When I went to New York for the Architectural Digest Home Design Show, I decided to spend a day at the New York Design Center at 200 Lexington Avenue. This showroom space was steps away from where I was staying and houses showrooms that are not represented at the Boston Design Center where I usually shop. I started at the top and worked my way down. About mid-way I stumbled on the floor occupied by 1st Dibs. Ten years ago, 1st Dibs revolutionized the antiques marketplace by giving dealers, first in select markets and then world-wide, the opportunity to sell their inventory online. Now, in another revolutionary move, it has established a 33,000 square foot display space for 50+ dealers on the 10th Floor of 200 Lex. And unlike other trade showrooms in the building, 1st Dibs@NYDC is open to the public.

Meandering through the space, I was struck by the eclectic range of antiques and vintage goods, ranging from Continental to Asian to American. Now I'm a girl whose design sensibilities took hold in the late 60s and 70s. I don't gravitate to mid-century furnishings because to me, they seem like relics for curbside pick-ups--hand-me-downs for basements or off-campus housing. So I was very surprised to find myself attracted to the lighting that came out of this era. And the thing that resonated most for me was how influential the Cold War and the Space Age were to the designs that emerged during this time.

For perspective, I remember watching my mother glued to the television set during John Glenn's historic orbit of the earth and the release she felt when he safely emerged post-flight from his Mercury capsule. I also remember rehearsing bomb drills in elementary school and the ever-present civic defense logos that emblazoned secure bomb shelters. One of my friends even had a bomb shelter in her basement built of cinder block and outfitted with bunk beds, canned goods, flashlights and transistor radios with an over-abundance of batteries. To me, it just looked like a fun place to play.

Atomic annihilation was not a palpable fear for me back then. But I can see how taking the forms that evoked fear and humanizing them into everyday objects helped assuage the fear for others. Here is a selection of the fixtures I saw at 1st Dibs that struck this chord in me. How do you perceive them? If you're in your 30s or younger, do you react differently?

      

                Italian Brass Atomic Chandelier 1950s               Doesn't this look like a mushroom cloud? Verner Panton Panthella Lamp 1971

          

              Venini Sputnick Chandelier 1960-70s                                                       Murano Sputnick Chandelier

           

Swarovski Crystal Sputnick Chandelier. Less than 2000 produced.                                Lacquered Chandelier

Architectural Digest Home Design Show 2012: Lighting Finds

Time to finish up on the Architectural Digest Home Design Show. But I couldn't leave without featuring some lighting finds that wowed me at the show.

One of the first booths I saw at AD Show was that of Objet Insolite, a French crafter of solid brass fixtures with a hand-forged quality. I'm a real fan of their sconces and immediately recognized one that I had used in one of my projects.

        Objet Insolite Mostra Sconce                      Objet Insolite Ferica Sconce

Next, I spotted the fixtures of O'Lampia, made in Brooklyn but sold on the Bowery. Simple in design, but elegantly hand-crafted, these fixtures have a timeless appeal.

                      O'Lampia Library Sconce                                      O'Lampia 6-Light Neo-Gothic Chandelier                  O'Lampia Grand Floral Sconce

At the BDDW furniture booth, I fell in love with an assortment of ceramic-shaded pendants. Sold at BDDW's Soho store, the fixtures are one-of-a-kind, the work of Natalie Page, a ceramic artist. I would group them over a long reclaimed-wood dining table or hang them singly over a showcase in a gourmet food or bakery establishment. For now, they are only available in white, but I did request more color options.

Last, but certainly not least, I loved the table lamps of Babette Holland. I had learned of Babette's lamps from a flash sale on Fab.com and right away posted about them on my Facebook page (pre-blog days). Made of aluminum in a broad color palette, the lamps are exquisitely paired with just the right color lampshade. My favorites in Babette's collection are the "fade" or ombre-hued lamps--a subtle pop of color for an elegantly-furnished space.